India loses poultry import case to US in WTO

India on Thursday lost a long-pending dispute over poultry imports from the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO)'s dispute settlement body.

In its ruling, the appellate body said India violated international trading norms by not allowing import of poultry products from the US. The WTO had also stated India's import prohibition did not meet international standards and was not based on a scientific risk assessment. Therefore, the dispute settlement body concluded, India violated WTO's agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said in a statement: "I welcome this win, which will help us eliminate unjustified trade barriers, so US farmers can sell high-quality US agricultural products to customers around the world."

India had not issued any statement at the time the ruling was issued. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was at the annual Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development meet in Paris.

India had blocked the import of American poultry products fearing the spread of bird flu in the country in 2007. On March 6, 2012, the US had dragged India to the WTO.

India had informed the dispute settlement body the primary reason for restricting the entry of various agricultural products from the US was because it was concerned about the spread of the Avian influenza.

This was done by the ministry of commerce and industry at the behest of the animal husbandry department. The measures were taken under the Indian Livestock Importation Act, 1898.

European Union, Australia, China, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Vietnam, Argentina and Brazil subsequently joined as third parties in the dispute.

Removal of import restrictions by India could give a $300-million boost to American poultry exports, according to a study by US industry.

India would need to remove the restrictions at the earliest according to the WTO ruling. Failure to do so could lead to trade sanctions by US.