The Milk India Refuses To Drink: Why ‘Non-Veg Dairy’ Is A Crimson Line In Commerce Deal With US

New Delhi/Washington: Within the backrooms of New Delhi’s diplomatic zone, commerce officers stored circling one concern that merely wouldn’t transfer. It was not fighter jets, information servers or farm subsidies. It was milk. Sure, milk.

One of many largest obstacles within the India-U.S. commerce pact is white, creamy and sacred to hundreds of thousands. And the issue lies not in how it’s consumed, however how it’s produced.

Washington desires entry to India’s $16.8 billion dairy market, the most important on this planet. It desires to promote its butter, cheese and milk powder to a rustic that churns out over 239 million metric tonnes of milk a yr.

However New Delhi isn’t opening that door. On the centre of India’s resistance lies one demand – an assurance that the milk getting into Indian properties comes from cows that have been by no means fed meat, blood or animal stays.

No exceptions. No compromises. Indian officers are calling it a crimson line.

The thought of “non-veg milk” doesn’t sit nicely with hundreds of thousands of Indian households, particularly vegetarians who see dairy as vitamin in addition to ritual. Ghee is poured into sacred flames throughout prayer. Milk is bathed over deities. The idea of cows being fed pig fats or hen stays crosses dietary boundaries and contours of religion.

Commerce specialists struggled to elucidate this to Washington. “Think about consuming butter made out of the milk of a cow that was fed meat and blood from one other cow. India might by no means enable that,” mentioned Ajay Srivastava from the International Commerce Analysis Initiative in New Delhi.

Regardless of U.S. claims that the priority is exaggerated, a number of American experiences verify the truth. A Seattle Occasions investigation documented how American cattle feed can legally embrace ground-up stays of pigs, horses and poultry. Even hen droppings, often called poultry litter, typically make their approach into the combination. The logic is financial – feed animals low cost and develop them quick. For Indian regulators, it’s merely unacceptable.

India’s Division of Animal Husbandry mandates certification on all imported meals gadgets, together with milk, to make sure no animal-derived feed is concerned. This has lengthy been criticised by the USA on the World Commerce Organisation (WTO) as a “non-scientific barrier”. However for India, it isn’t about science however perception.

In 2006, the Indian authorities formalised this perception in commerce guidelines. It resulted into excessive tariffs – 30% on cheese, 40% on butter and a whopping 60% on milk powder. For international locations like New Zealand or Australia, breaking into India’s dairy house is sort of unimaginable. For the USA, it’s a billion-dollar hurdle.

India’s dairy sector feeds over 1.4 billion folks. It employs greater than 80 million, a lot of them smallholder farmers. Low cost American imports, specialists say, might collapse native markets. A report from the State Financial institution of India estimates an annual lack of Rs 1.03 lakh crore if U.S. dairy is allowed to flood in. That’s almost 2.5-3% of the nation’s total Gross Worth Added. And the chance isn’t theoretical.

“If American butter is available in low cost, our milk costs drop. What occurs to the village lady who sells 5 litres of milk a day?” asks Mahesh Sakunde, a dairy farmer from Maharashtra.

In the meantime, Washington sees India’s refusal to open up as “protectionist”. However India’s negotiators stood agency. “There isn’t any query of conceding on dairy. That may be a crimson line,” mentioned a senior Indian official.

America exported over $8.2 billion value of dairy final yr. Having access to India’s huge market might supercharge these numbers. However Indian officers are unwilling to permit milk from cows that ate meat to be supplied at temple altars or poured into toddler cups.

And so, whereas the 2 international locations hammer out commerce phrases with hopes of reaching $500 billion in bilateral commerce by 2030, the dairy debate stays unresolved. It could seem to be a small element in an enormous negotiation, however in India, that is sacred, tradition and a line that won’t be crossed.