WattAgNet: WTO reaffirms India ban on US poultry, eggs unfair

National Chicken Council

The World Trade Organization has again ruled that India's ban on poultry and eggs from the United States is unfair.
From WATTAgNet:

The World Trade Organization (WTO) has upheld its ruling that India’s ban on U.S. poultry and egg imports is unfair.

The initial decision was issued by the WTO in October 2014, but officials from India appealed the ruling on January 26.

The dispute between India and the U.S. dates back to 2007, when India banned imports of various agriculture products from the United States in what it called a precautionary measure to prevent outbreaks of low pathogenic avian influenza. The USA Poultry & Egg Export Council (USAPEEC) disagreed, and called India’s ban “thinly veiled protectionism” and that India provided no scientific evidence to support the ban.

The WTO ruling, issued on the morning of June 4, and those who lobbied for it are being applauded by U.S. industry groups, including USAPEEC and the National Chicken Council (NCC).

"We want to thank U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and their teams, for their tireless work to pursue this case to the favorable outcome that was achieved today," said NCC and USAPEEC in a joint statement about the WTO ruling.  "Indian consumers deserve access to affordable and safe protein, which the U.S. has the ability to provide. We hope that the Indian administration will comply with the ruling and will be amenable to working with the U.S. government and industry to remove all restrictions and allow access for U.S. poultry in the near future, which we estimate would be $300 million a year once India's restrictions are removed."