Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said on Friday that India has not given any such fee concession on agricultural commodities under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) which adversely affects domestic farmers.

Welcoming this trade agreement concluded on Thursday, Chauhan said that it has completely protected the interests of farmers and in fact, it will have a ‘very’ positive impact on the agriculture sector as it will promote agricultural exports. The agreement, which is implemented from next year, provides for 99 percent of Indian exports to Britain to provide fee-free access.

He said, “There is no (fee) concession for those items in the agreement, whose imports can adversely affect our farmers.” India has excluded potatoes, onions, tomatoes, garlic, peas, wheat, rice, maize, black chana, chana, gram, urad, moong, lentils and masters and utensils and other enemies in the country.

Agricultural goods like soybean, peanuts, mustard oilseeds are also in the negative list. Chauhan said, “This means that these items will not come from Britain to India. In this way the economic interests of farmers have been protected.