UAE lifts ban on import of eggs, other poultry products from India

Stocks
The poultry import from India were stopped for the last 5 years due to concerns over bird flu, said a report. (Representative image)

The poultry import from India were stopped for the last 5 years due to concerns over bird flu, said a report. (Representative image)

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has lifted ban on the import of eggs and other poultry products from India after New Delhi assured that it will comply with biosafety norms set by the World Organization for Animal Health to prevent transmission from bird flu.

The move comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Arab nation in January 2022.

With this, India’s egg and poultry traders will be able to export table eggs, hatching eggs and day-old chicks to the UAE “from two establishments in Tamil Nadu,” reported The Economic Times.

The poultry import from India was stopped for the last 5 years due to concerns over bird flu, said the report.

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According to the report, India had sought egg market access under a trade agreement it is negotiating with the UAE. With this agreement, India wants to increase the export of 1,100-odd products, including poultry, washing machines, air-conditioners, refrigerators, spices, tobacco, cotton fabrics, textiles and leather, it said.

The UAE is keen to get duty concessions from India for dates, confectionery and sugar-based products, as per the report.

The UAE is India’s third-largest trading partner, with bilateral trade of approximately $ 60 billion in FY20. It was India’s second-largest export destination after the United States, with an export value of around $ 29 billion, the report stated.

PM Modi is likely to visit the UAE in the first half of January 2022, which would be his first trip abroad in 2022. Both sides are looking at firming up the visit around January 6 but there is no finality on the dates yet, reported news agency PTI citing people familiar with the development.

The prime minister’s proposed visit to the strategically important Gulf nation comes as the two countries look at celebrating 50 years of their diplomatic ties. PM Modi is also expected to visit the ongoing Dubai Expo during the visit.