India plans to challenge a World Trade Organization ruling that it unfairly banned imports of U.S. poultry meat as a safeguard against avian influenza, says The Economic Times, of India. The newspaper quoted a commerce department official as saying, “We are filing an appeal very soon to the appellate body. We may get improvement in the panel decision itself, which will help us in the future…We are, no doubt, committed to protect the industry in a WTO-compliant way.” India is the fourth-largest poultry processor in the world and industry is growing. “Fearing loss of business, local poultry players have been pressing the government to take steps to ensure that the US doesn’t dump chicken legs, an item that they say Americans usually discard, in the Indian market,” said The Economic Times.
In mid-October, a WTO dispute panel ruled in favor of a U.S. complaint against India’s ban on U.S. agricultural products that included poultry meat, eggs, and live pigs. “The panel agreed with the United States that India’s ban breached numerous international trade rules, including because it was imposed without sufficient scientific evidence,” said the U.S. trade representative’s office, which called the ruling “a major victory for American farmers.” USTR said the restrictions originated more than seven years ago. The United State initiated WTO action against India on March 6, 2012.
The WTO decision is available here.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Department said it was contacting trade partners to curtail, or lift altogether, restrictions on U.S. poultry and poultry products imposed because of the discovery of avian influenza in Oregon and Washington state in mid-December. USDA said: “Unfortunately, some countries have decided to place far more restrictive measures than necessary on U.S. poultry, including, in a few instances, bans on imports of all U.S. poultry and poultry products. We disagree with these actions and are taking a number of steps to address them and help support the U.S. poultry industry…. We will press trading partners in the coming days to bring their import restrictions in line with OIE (World Organization for Animal Health) guidelines and the information we have provided them.”