The US has alleged that India’s new dairy import certificate requirements put dairy products from the country at an unfair disadvantage compared to domestically produced items.
- US dairy exports to India consisted mostly of milk albumin (such as concentrates of two or more whey proteins) and lactose, which are India’s top imported dairy products from the world.
Veterinary health certificate (VHC)
- On March 31, 2023, the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD), published its integrated veterinary health certificate (VHC) for the import of milk and milk products into India.
- The integrated VHC needs to be certified by the exporting country’s authority for consignments being exported to India.
- The US complains that the requirement that foreign government certificates use the language “never been fed” is different than what Indian regulations require for domestic production,” the US submission pointed out.
“Never been fed”
- The term “never been fed” relates to feeding of mammalian by-products to cattle which India has prohibited.
- One of the general conditions in the veterinary certification requirement for imported dairy and dairy products is vouching for the fact that the source animals have never been fed with feeds produced from meat or bone meal including internal organs, blood meal and tissues of ruminant origin and porcine origin materials except milk and milk products.
Source: BL
