As commerce ministry is consulting industry players on sensitive products for negotiation under free trade agreements (FTAs) with European Union (EU) and EFTA countries, leading milk brand Amul, owned by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), wants milk products, which include butter, ghee and milk powder, to be kept in negative list under the agreements.

The suggestion to keep these milk products out of the list of zero tariff under free trade agreements came during a consultation session organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) today at Ahmedabad.

Commerce ministry has already prepared a list of senstitive items for FTAs. Today the government officials sought industry opinions on which products should be retained in the list of sensitive items and which products not. Based on the demands of the industry player, commerce ministry would push for inclusion of sensitive items in the negative list during the negotiations with EU and EFTA countries. Products falling out of the purview of negative list would attract zero tariff after FTAs are inked.

During the discussion, Amul representative said that above mentioned milk products should be included in negative list for FTAs with both EU and EFTA countries. He further explained that European Union has not allowed access to Indian milk products on one hand, while on the other hand, these countries provide subsidies in the range of 30 to 60 per cent to the industry.

Huge subsidies coupled with zero tariff would affect the domestic industry in a big way, hence, there should some tariff on import of milk products such as butter, ghee and milk powder. "We can be competitive only when if the subsidies offered by EU countries are done away", he added.

Meanwhile, government officials said that Indian consumers can have wide range of products if milk items are made duty free under FTAs. However, final decision would be taken after proper evaluation and further deliberations. The sensitive list prepared by commerce ministry includes milk products such as yogurt, milk and cream in powder, butter, dairy spreads, grated or powdered cheese of all kinds, processed cheese not grated/powdered. 

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