June 22, 2015
India''s war vs US poultry not over yet
India''s poultry industry expects a deluge of chicken legs from the US after a World Trade Organisation ruling allowing reentry of US poultry into the domestic market, and wants them virtually blocked by pricing them out of the market.
CLMFA of India, the country''s association of compound feed manufacturers, said it plans to import at least 1 million tonnes of soya meal, which is used as animal feed, to reduce the cost of the local production of chicken legs in the face of impending cheap imports from the US.
Amit Saraogi, CLMFA chair, said the current price difference between domestic and imported soya meal is about $250 per tonne, resulting in the higher price of locally processed chicken at US$3 per kilogram, which is thrice higher than that of the US import at $1/kg.
He said the cost of Indian soya meal is higher than the global soya meal because local productivity is much lower than that of other countries like the US, which has GM [genetically modified] soya.
Chicken legs are considered a main product for the Indian market but just a by-product in the US, where the premium product is chicken breast.
On June 4, the WTO lifted a ban on US poultry imports that India imposed in 2007 over bird-flu issues, ruling that Indiaviolated the world trade body''s agreement on sanitary and phytosanitary measures as the import restrictions did not meet international standards and was not based on a scientific risk assessment.
Industry leaders expect to feel the impact of the WTO decision in 12 to 18 months.
A US industry study says the reentry of US poultryand poultry products into the Indian market could boost exports by as much as US$300 million.
Meanwhile, the corn industry has also expressed the need to import the feed raw material. Corn and corn products are used as livestock feed.