India to Appeal against Chicken Legs Panel Ruling

Newspaper reports say that Indian Commerce Ministry will appeal against the WTO panel ruling on chicken legs ban on account of Avian Flu. This time, the high cholesterol in the legs affecting human health may be the main reason.

In our view, India may lose again and may well have to pay compensation to US trade for not implementing the WTO verdict. It is time that Indian consumer has access to low price protein sources priced at $1000 per tonne or Rs. 60 per kg as which is a quarter of the current retail price of Rs. 250 per kg for chicken tangri.

India lost the case at WTO on Tuesday on 14 October 2014 against the restrictions it had imposed on poultry imports for US on bird flu impact on human health. The WTO’s dispute panel held that restrictions imposed by India on imports of poultry from America were “inconsistent” with the international norms. WTO 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.”

It also said that the measures are “significantly more trade-restrictive” than required to achieve India’s appropriate level of protection with respect to the products and “therefore applied beyond the extent necessary to protect human and animal life or health”.