Indian farmers wary of European cheese...

India is facing strong pressure to open up its markets to cheese and other dairy produce from Europe, even though the New Delhi government has expressed fears about how small farmers could be forced into deeper poverty as a result.

Because its dairy sector employs 90 million people, India has advocated that milk and cheese be excluded from the scope of the free trade agreement under negotiation with the European Union.

EU officials nonetheless stepped up their efforts to have India's agricultural markets liberalised during the latest round of talks, which took place in the last week of April. A Brussels source said that moves to open up all agricultural sectors are under discussion. "It has not yet been decided which products will be liberalised and India's sensitivities will certainly be taken into account as negotiations progress," the source told IPS. More...

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