US officials press India to remove restrictions on US agricultural exports

U.S. trade officials are pressing India to eliminate its restrictions on certain agricultural exports. 

U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk announced Friday that the United States has requested the World Trade Organization (WTO) to establish a dispute settlement panel to decide U.S. claims regarding India's restrictions on various U.S. agricultural products, including poultry meat and chicken eggs.  

India is arguing that its measures are aimed at preventing entry of avian influenza, but that is "inconsistent with the relevant science, international guidelines and the standards India has set for its own domestic industry," the USTR said in a statement. 

“It is essential that U.S. farmers obtain the reliable market access that India agreed to,” Kirk said. 

"The United States holds its agriculture industry to the highest standards of safety and is confident the WTO will agree that there is no justification for India's restrictions on U.S. exports," he said.    

The United States requested formal consultations with India on March 7 and held further talks on April 16-17 without a resolution.   

India is asserting it has the right to impose import restrictions on countries whenever they report outbreaks of a certain type of bird flu, the only type found in the United States since 2004.  

WTO provisions allow member nations to adopt measures to protect human, animal or plant life or health. 

But U.S. officials say India appears to have acted inconsistently with its obligations, including by failing to base its measures on international guidelines that would unfairly discriminate against imports from countries such as the United States.