1st July: The ban on Chinese dairy products in India that was to lift officially on the 24th of June was extended by the Indian government for another 6 months until December 24th, outraging China, causing the neighbor nation to react in a hostile way, given their history of discord. The Chinese government expressed its dissatisfaction by warning that if the bans were not lifted soon, Indian products would be banned in China in the form of retaliation.
This six month extension of the ban is aimed to ward off any potential dangers of contaminated dairy whiteners in the Chinese dairy imports that had previously caused the illness of thousands and the death of infants. The DGFT (Directorate General of Foreign Trade) issued a notification to this effect.
In September the previous year, India had banned Chinese milk and its by products on account of the detection of Melamine found in infant milk and other dairy products of a number of these Chinese firms. Melamine is the product used to make plastics and fertilizers and is a dangerous chemical that can cause serious damage to the kidneys – stones, or as much as complete failure of the organ altogether. This ban that had originally been intended for a period of three months was later on extended in the December of 2008 for another six months.
Over 12 countries in Asia and Africa had also banned Chinese milk and dairy products, while many other nations had recalled products suspected to be contaminated.
The general administration of quality control bureau of China said in a letter addressed to the Indian embassy,
In a letter to the Indian embassy, general administration of quality control bureau of China said, "During the period of financial crisis, we are strongly against trade protectionism of any form. As a member of BRIC and WTO, we hope your party determines the prohibition towards China's dairy products ASAP, in the spirit of safeguarding bilateral trade." It also added, “If India insists on this decision, China will respond to the safety and quality of imported products from India."
China’s commerce ministry officials said that even China has had reasons to raise doubts about food products imported from India, particularly seafood products, dairy products and sesame oil, so as to force India to lift the ban on its own dairy exports. "China has also taken a moral high ground by saying that it has not banned import of these Indian products," an official said.
China’s argument against the extension of the ban was that after its milk scandal, it had undertaken numerous measures to ensure that the problem was aptly dealt with, and as a consequence of their efforts, countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Chile had lifted the bans on Chinese dairy products.
China has thereby asked India to furnish scientific evidence and risk assessment under the WTO/SPS (World Trade Organization’s Sanitary and Phyto Sanitary Agreements) to support the extension of the ban on its dairy products.
"The Chinese side shows grave concern because the ban is extended in India while it is removed in other countries. The reaction in India, regardless of the efforts and achievements by Chinese government, differ from good cooperation between both sides, lacking scientific ground and against scientific principle, the transparency principle and the minimum impact on foreign trade principle stipulated in WTO agreements," the letter went on to read.
Source : iitrade.ac.in