January 30, 2015
India has challenged the October 2014 ruling of World Trade Organization (WTO) which forces India to lift the ban on imports of poultry products from the US. Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) supports this stance, because this will safeguard Indian consumers from poultry products made with high inputs of antibiotics.
Recently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) also came out with draft norms to regulate poultry and meat products placed in the Indian market. Effective from July 2015, these norms will restrict misuse of antibiotics and disallow the use of antibiotic growth promoters. CSE has been strongly advocating this and considers the proposed norms a step in the right direction (see press release CSE welcomes new draft order to curb the use of antibiotics in animals like chicken).
The US is known to use high amounts of antibiotics in food-producing animals. India’s challenge at WTO plugs the gap through which antibiotic-laden poultry products can potentially come into Indian markets and add to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.
For more on this, please contact Souparno Banerjee, 9910864339, souparno@cseindia.org.
Share this article