Poultry Dispute: US seeks WTO sanctions against India

The Dollar Business Bureau

The USA seeks trade sanctions against India after it won a dispute at the WTO regarding India’s restrictions on imports of US poultry meat, live pigs and eggs, a WTO statement said on Friday.

The US demands compensation from India for stopping the shipment till now. It has also sought a WTO meeting on July 19 to initiate the claim for compensation.

In June 2015, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had ruled that India’s restrictions on import were discriminatory and it had broken international trade laws with its restrictions based on unsubstantiated fears over bird flu. India had been given 12 months to act in accordance with the ruling.

The US’ Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had pronounced it a “major win for US agriculture” and asserted that the decision would help keep international meat markets open based on international standards.

The US government argued that it hasn’t witnessed a high pathogenic avian flu outbreak since 2004, but India had had 90 such outbreaks during 2004 and 2014.

The US Trade Representative had previously said the country’s exports of poultry meat to India could be more than $300 million once the restrictions are taken off. The trade is likely to grow substantially in future with India’s growing demand of the meat, it said.