India has lost a long-pending poultry import case against the US at the World Trade Organization (WTO)’s dispute settlement body. The body clearly said that India broke international trade rules by blocking US poultry and egg with out any scientific risk assessment. The imports were banned because of unsubstantiated bird flu fears. The WTO is not satisfied with the reasons behind India’s import prohibition as it did not meet international standards.

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. Removal of import restrictions by India could give a $300-million boost to American poultry exports. 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.

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

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.