India's Order related to requirement of health certificate
accompanied with imported food consignment of milk,
pork, fish and related products

– Specific Trade Concern 554

SUBMISSION BY THE UNITED STATES of america

The following submission, received on 31 March 2025, is the statement made by the United States of America at the 19-21 March 2025 WTO SPS Committee, and is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of the United States of America.

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1.  The United States thanks India for the continued bilateral engagement on this issue. We also appreciate the number of extensions to the implementation deadline of India's dairy certificate that were granted.

2.  We note that India's new dairy certificate came into force on 1 November 2024, without addressing the major concerns that the United States shared with the Indian government on many occasions.

3.  We reiterate our concern that the new certificate requirements appear to unfairly disadvantage US dairy versus domestically produced products. We look forward to continuing bilateral engagement and wish to underscore that this engagement should address our concerns as previously stated.

4.  We again encourage India to base its regulations on science and risk, take the least trade restrictive approach to achieving its appropriate level of public health protection, and consider WTO national treatment commitments when developing SPS measures.

5.  India is a valued trade partner, and we ask that the Indian government reconsider its approach to regulating imported US dairy products to support fair and safe trade.

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