Thread by @siddaramaiah

There is an ongoing discussion about Free Trade Agreement under RCEP for a long time but now it has gained a lot of traction. Almost 27 meetings have happened which will culminate on November 4, 2019. 16 countries, including ASEAN countries are part of this.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

FTA, which the govt is about to sign, will cause long standing negative impact on domestic Agri, Animal husbandry & pharma sectors. India has a large consumption market due to its population, production & innovation, which other countries want to take advantage.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

We will soon surpass China to become a country with highest population. Few countries have higher production but lower population. To find market for their excess production, they are trying to enter India to expand the market.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

For India to have economic sovereignty & security, there has to be a trade balance, that is, balance between exports & imports.

But, we are exporting less & importing more. With FTA under RCEP, imports will further increase.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

India ranks 1 in milk production & other dairy products & Karnataka is No 2 in the country. There are almost 16,000 cooperative societies in our state & we are producing almost 78 lakh litres of milk everyday.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

We also launched Ksheera Dhare, to give ₹5 per ltr of milk as subsidy, & Ksheer Bhagya to provide milk to school children, which further gave impetus to milk production. Many farmers are now dependent on this income.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

Population of New Zealand is just 42 lakh but ours is more than 130Cr. Milk production in NZ is 240 lakh metric ton & ours is 1800 lakh metric ton. Farmers in NZ is 3 lakh but we have 67 Cr.

But, Avg milk production in NZ is much higher than in India.
7/n

#WeOpposeRCEP

New Zealand has lot of excess milk production than their demand. So now, they want to push their milk products to India where consumers are more. Hence, FTA under RCEP is a strategy to expand their market.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

There will be no tax to 95 % of the products if Free Trade Agreement is signed. Now the import duty is almost 25 to 30% but if it is removed, the products will become much cheaper. We will not be able to complete with excess production & cheap imports of foreign goods.
9/n

Our country is already impacted by the dumping policies of China. @narendramodi's skill India, start up India, etc has had no impact and it is just on paper. FTA will adversely impact more than 20Cr people in India & 1.5 Cr in Karnataka which will leave them jobless.
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The whole process under RCEP is not transparent. My demand to GoI is that it should place all the details of talks under RCEP in front of the people. This should be debated with all the concerned stakeholders.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

The FTA will also have an impact on generic medicines. If the govt doesn't walk the talk, it will lose the trust of the people. We are already facing unemployment crisis mainly due to demonetizayion & faulty implementation of GST.
12/n
#WeOpposeRCEP

Unemployment has reached 45 yr high & GDP growth is reduced. My demand is that FTA decision has to be consulted and debated with eminent economists, sociologists, & other stakeholders.

We will aggressively protest if the govt signs the FTA agreement on Nov 4.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

.@BSYBJP should take the delegation of MPs along with the representatives from opposition to make the govt understand the impact of the decision. This will also affect the home state of @PMOIndia @narendramodi's Gujarat which is No1 in milk Production.
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#WeOpposeRCEP

.@INCIndia President Smt. Sonia Gandhi has said that the issue of RCEP will be taken up in the Parliament.

It is our commitment & conviction to fight against FTA under RCEP that will adversely impact our rural economy.
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#WeOpposeRCEP