India –
measures concerning the importation
of certain agricultural products
Communication from India
The following communication,
dated 18 July 2016, was received from the
delegation of India
with the request that it be circulated to the Dispute
Settlement Body (DSB).
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On 19 June 2015,
the Dispute Settlement Body ("DSB") adopted its recommendations and
rulings in India – Measures Concerning the Importation of
Certain Agricultural Products (WT/DS430). At the following DSB
meeting, India informed the DSB of its intention to implement the
recommendations and rulings of the DSB in connection with this matter.
On 8 December 2015,
India and the United States informed the DSB that they had agreed that a
reasonable period of time upto 19the June 2016 for India to implement the
recommendations and rulings.
Indian authorities
have been conferring with interested parties and the administrative authorities
since the adoption of the rulings and recommendations of the DSB to fully
comply with them. They have held extensive internal stakeholder consultations
in this regard.
Based on these
consultations and deliberations, India prepared the draft notification on the
proposed measure and notified the same to the SPS committee vide notification
G/SPS/N/IND/143 dated 20 April 2016, allowing import of poultry and poultry
products into India from country, zone or compartment free from avian
influenza, in accordance with the relevant international standard, i.e. the OIE
Terrestrial Code. The draft notification provided a 60 day time period for
interested parties to provide comments against the same. Further, India vide
addendum dated 21 June 2016 amended item 8 of the duly filled in standard
format submitted with the aforesaid notification to appropriately reflect the
relevant international standard.
India has received
comments on its draft notification from only one member namely the United
States, which has been taken into consideration by the Government of India and
has subsequently issued the new notification, i.e. S.O. 2337(E) dated 08 July
2016 ('notification'). The notification has
been issued in exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 3
and Section 3A of the Livestock Act, 1898 (9 of 1898) and in supersession of
the earlier notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of
Agriculture published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, part II, Section
3, sub-section (ii) vide number S.O.1663 (E) dated 19 July 2011, which was the
measure in the present dispute. The notification has come into effect from the
date of publication in the Official Gazette i.e. 8 July 2016. The notification
is available at http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2016/170589.pdf.
The notification
takes into account, the findings of the WTO Panel and the WTO Appellate Body in
WT/DS430 and provides that import of poultry and poultry products shall be
allowed from country, zones/compartments free from avian influenza virus in
accordance with the relevant international standard, i.e. the OIE Terrestrial
Code. The notification further provides for the process to be followed for
recognition of such country, zones/ compartments in conformity with the OIE
Terrestrial Code and the SPS Agreement. Further, India has also framed the
relevant guidelines referred in the notification as well as the questionnaire
for recognizing part of a country, zone/compartment as free from Avian
Influenza which can be accessed at http://www.dahd.nic.in.
With the
publication of the new notification superseding the earlier notification S.O.
1663(E), India considers that it has fully complied with the rulings and
recommendations of the Dispute Settlement Body in this dispute.
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