World Food Policy WFP Volume 4, No. 2, Spring 2018

World Food Policy Table 1: Policies influencing MNCs investments in China and India Policies China India Foreign ownership not allowed in “prohibited” industries Foreign ownership Tariffs & non-tariff barriers Investment in public ag. research Intellectual property rights MNCs must be minority shareholders in “restricted” industries, 100% permitted in “encouraged” industries Seed and other input imports by government only Imports of seeds, finished pesticides, and machinery restricted Local production requirements Local production requirements Largest in World Third largest after China and U.S. Patents in ag inputs since 1990s No patents on ag inputs until 2005. Plant variety protection law— enforcement weak but improving Price controls on fertilizer Price controls and subsidies on inputs and crops. Subsidies on all inputs—local content may be a condition for subsidies Price supports on major grains until 2016 Regulations on safety, environment an efficacy 100% ownership allowed Plant variety protection laws— enforcement weak but improving Royalty & price controls on GM cotton seed not in other seeds Subsidies on machinery, fertilizer, irrigation equipment and seeds Price controls and supports for major grain crops Pesticides/fertilizer registrations/ regulations Pesticides/fertilizer registrations/ regulations GMOs limited to cotton GMOs limited to cotton Seed variety mandatory until recently Seed registration voluntary Large & growing in all input industries Presence of State-Owned Enterprises Mechanism for buying foreign technology Sold or privatized most SOEs except in fertilizer and seeds Exports encouraged Source: Compiled by authors from various sources. ent system went into operation in 1983 and was strengthened in 2000 when China jointed WTO. Both countries have plant breeders’ rights legislation to protect new plant varieties. Finally, the enforcement of IPRs in both countries has problem but are improving. A set of policies that differenti- ate China from India is the support of state-owned enterprises (SOEs). SOEs are no longer important in any agricul- tural input industry except the fertilizer industry. in the late 1960s the Indian government and state governments in- 24

World Food Policy WFP Volume 4, No. 2, Spring 2018 | Page 28