Explained: Why Indian dairy farmers oppose RCEP trade agreement

Providing market access to New Zealand in particular could wipe out their livelihoods

As India moves closer towards finalising its negotiating position under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Indian dairy industry has upped its opposition to the pact on grounds that any lowering of tariff would severely harm its interests.

RCEP is India’s most ambitious trade pact to date. Based on India’s existing free-trade agreements (FTA) with the 10-nation Asean bloc, the RCEP will include all the nations with which Asean has trade deals — China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and —  most importantly from the point of view of the Indian dairy industry — New Zealand. 

The negotiations on this issue