Previous Page Table of Contents Next Page  5 Issues of concern
and implications for agricultural development and food security
From this discussion of India’s experience during the
implementation period, it becomes clear that there are some very
serious issues for India arising out of the agreement.  First,
since India does not subsidize its agriculture, it is in India’s
interest that domestic support in those countries that subsidize
their agriculture heavily is reduced significantly to the levels
that are specified under the agreement as de minimis levels.
Export subsidies should be eliminated completely. This is
because both domestic support and export subsidies, taken
together, make exports from countries such as India
uncompetitive and affect them adversely. It is quite evident
that reductions in export subsidies and subsidized exports by
the developed countries will have greater implications for
developing country exports. Because of export subsidies,
countries that do not have a comparative advantage