India likely to appeal against WTO ruling on poultry imports soon

 Bidhu Bhushan Palo | The Dollar Business

Almost all corn and soybean used in conventional livestock and poultry production in USA is genetically modified

  US President Barack Obama will be in New Delhi as the Chief Guest during India’s Republic Day celebrations on January 26, 2015. Incidentally, that is the deadline for India to appeal against a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that forced India to open its door to poultry imports from USA. Despite being a top exporter of poultry products, USA has exported negligible quantities to India which is largely self-sufficient in poultry and poultry products. However, increasing supply in USA and a projected increase in consumption of poultry products in India due to the demographic and economic factors has evinced interest of USA poultry exporters in recent years. On March 6, 2012, USA requested consultations with India over the 2007 ban on poultry imports from USA because of concerns related to Avian Influenza. Subsequently, the WTO established a Panel to look into the matter which then asked India to lift the ban in a ruling dated November 6, 2014. This was hailed as a major victory for farmers in USA. The Unites States Trade Representative (USTR) said, “The U.S. poultry industry, which directly employs over 350,000 workers and consists of nearly 50,000 family farms – had been particularly affected by India’s restrictions.” USA industry representatives claimed that there were more bird flu cases in India than in USA in recent years. “India’s ban was thinly veiled protectionism,” said USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) President James Sumner and National Chicken Council (NCC) President Michael Brown. However, the Indian side has requested time until January 26, 2015 to appeal against the WTO ruling. Apart from the threat to the domestic poultry industry in India and the persistent danger of a bird flu (Avian Influenza) outbreak, there are growing concerns over food safety as well, including transfer of antibiotic resistance from animal food to human beings.

Source - USDA

  Last month, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Minister of State for Agriculture, informed the Parliament that the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries has asked all States and UTs for judicious use of antibiotics in treatment of food producing animals and to stop the use of antibiotics in animal feed. The Minister also revealed that some samples of chicken have tested positive for antibiotic content in recent laboratory tests. The government has made it mandatory for antibiotic medicines to carry a label on the withdrawal period and banned use of animal products before the withdrawal period of the drug is over. These changes are likely to make imports of poultry difficult and are also in line with similar concerns in USA. The USFDA has set a deadline of 2016 for the phasing out the use of medically important antimicrobials in food animals. In addition, there is a heavy use of genetically modified feed in the US poultry industry, leading to concerns in India over imports of GM-fed poultry products from USA. However, the USA poultry industry says that such fears are unfounded and is hopeful of a breakthrough. Toby Moore, Vice-President, USAPEEC, had earlier told The Dollar Business, “While we understand that the Indian poultry industry is wary of imports, we also know that per capita consumption of poultry in India is well below the level in many other developing countries. We believe that increased consumption would benefit the industries of both countries, as we have seen in many other countries that import U.S. products.”     

This article was published on January 9, 2015.