US chicken to land on desi plates as WTO rejects ban

GENEVA: India has lost a case at the World Trade Organization (WTO), with an appellate body at the global trade organisation on Thursday ruling that Indian ban on American poultry product imports was "inconsistent" with the international norms.

India will have 12-18 months to implement this ruling, after which the US can begin exports of poultry products to India.

"The Appellate Body agreed with the Panel's finding that India's AI ( avian influenza) measures are inconsistent... because they are not based on a risk assessment," WTO said. A WTO panel last year ruled that India's ban on US poultry product imports was inconsistent with global norms. After hearing India's appeal against the ruling, the Appellate Body on Thursday said it has "found that the Panel did not, as India contended, act inconsistently".

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.