Indian farmers should not be worried about increased agricultural produce from Germany and the European Union (EU) and there was significant space for the countries to collaborate in training and technology sharing, a German Food and Agriculture Ministry representative told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the 11th Agro-Tech summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Dr. Hermann Schlöder who heads the Trade Promotion and Quality Policy division of the Ministry believed that with India being largely self-sufficient in agricultural produce, Germany is looking to export specialty food products.
“German sausages, beers and Riesling wine, for example, are some of the food specialties we feel it would be worthwhile for India to import. These are higher priced than regular farm produce obviously but we’ve noticed other countries competing for this niche space for which there is a demand here,” he said.
The official hoped for the ongoing stalemate in negotiations over the India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) to be resolved soon. The free trade arrangement has ramifications on agricultural trade where both blocks have been defensive. The 28-member block is India's second-largest trading partner.
The Indian dairy sector in particular had expressed concerns about European dairy products flooding domestic markets while prohibitively high tariffs would keep Indian players out. Dairy accounts for nearly 14 per cent of German agri-exports and was worth 9.3 billion euro in 2013-14.
“I won’t deny that the EU dairy sector has been protected, it was due to a quota system whereby production for German dairy farmers was restricted. The system will now be completely market-oriented from next year. Our dairy farmers learnt over the last few years that the world market can be one that fetches them higher prices. The meat and cereal sectors have already been subjected to a step-by-step reduction in protection. We don’t want markets distorted anywhere,” said Dr. Schlöder, warning that an expansion of Indo-German agricultural trade would only be possible once sanitary and phyto-sanitary restrictions were overcome.
“Ultimately, the EU has to coordinate between 28 member States. Germany is an important player and we are keen to see the BTIA passed in the near future,” he added.
(The writer's visit to Chandigarh was hosted by CII)