India introduced more than half of the new trade concerns debated at a recent World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting. Attendees at the November meeting of the WTO Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) Measures addressed trade concerns related to food safety and animal and plant health. Members raised 64 specific trade concerns (STCs), including 13 for the first time.
New topics were delays and restrictions impacting agricultural and food products and restrictions on pesticide residue levels. Members also addressed import controls on spices due to chemical limits, bans on certain pesticides for fresh produce, and measures related to animal diseases. India raised seven of the new concerns.
They included Russia’s delay in listing establishments for export of dairy and egg products, the EU reducing the maximum residue limit (MRL) of acetamiprid, the UK non-renewal of the substance mancozeb, and China’s restriction on spice imports due to ethylene oxide. Brazil called Thailand’s suspension of exports of beef and edible offal from the country “unjustified”. Returning issues Previously mentioned concerns covered pesticide tolerances and the environment, legislation for endocrine disruptors and veterinary medicinal products, and approval processes for products such as seafood.
Concerns over regional food safety standards, delays in approval for export establishments, limits on contaminants, such as cadmium in cocoa products, and regulations affecting safety standard.
