Market Access in Agricultural Trade: Issues Concerning India

Abstract

South Asian countries have a preponderance of agriculture in their socio-economic structure. Besides, agriculture is also the source of livelihood for a very large seg ment of the population in these economies. Hence, the sustained and accelerated growth of the agriculture sector is essential for overall economic development, for ensuring food and livelihood security, and alleviation ofpoverty. With agricul tural trade reforms being ushered in the decade of nineties, the domestic production system started getting exposed to the intricacies of diverse production systems and varying level of supports given to agriculture in the rest of the world. However, since the implementation of World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), the experiences of declining terms of trade, price instability, unequal exchange and inequities, and societal impact on agrarian economies, par ticularly in developing countries, are not on the expected lines. Out of the three pillars of commitments in the AoA, substantial reforms have taken place in the areas of market access. Developing countries' commitments on support was minimal. For the economies of South Asia, where agriculture occupies a dominant place and the food and livelihood security of the agriculturally-dependent popu lation assumes importance, issues of market access occupies centre stage of AOA implementation experiences and negotiating strategies. This paper highlights some of these aspects with particular reference to India.