India has lost a case at the WTO, with an appellate body at the global trade organisation today ruling that Indian ban on American poultry product imports was "inconsistent" with the international norms.
India will have 12-18 months to implement this ruling, after which the US can begin exports of poultry products to India.
"The Appellate Body agreed with the Panel's finding that India's AI (avian influenza) measures are inconsistent... because they are not based on a risk assessment," WTO said.
A WTO panel's last year ruled that India's ban on US poultry product imports was inconsistent with global norms.
After hearing India's appeal against the ruling, the Appellate Body today said it has "found that the Panel did not, as India contended, act inconsistently".
The Appellate Body also upheld the panel's findings that India's AI measures are neither "based on", nor "conform to", the relevant international standard.
It also endorsed the panel's finding that India's AI measures violated global norms on the grounds that the prohibition was limited to just one country and not to all imports from any country with AI risk.
India filed an appeal in January 2015 with the Dispute Settlement Board of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
In its ruling on October 14, 2014, the WTO panel had said that India's measures are "arbitrarily and unjustifiably discriminate between Members where identical or similar conditions prevail and are applied in a manner which constitutes a disguised restriction on international trade".
India is a big market for the US, which is one of the world's largest exporters of chicken meat.
India's broiler meat consumption has been consistently increasing and is estimated to have touched 3.72 million tonnes in 2014, from 3.45 million tonnes in 2013.
The US contended that India's Avian Influenza measures amounted to an import prohibition that was not based on the relevant global standard or on a scientific risk assessment.
However, India had claimed that the panel committed several legal errors in its interpretation and application of numerous articles of the sanitary and phyto-sanitary pact.
The WTO norms allow for the affected parties to dispute the panel's ruling "on points of law, such as legal interpretation". However, the dispute settlement process can not re-open factual findings made by the panel.
