April 7, 2022
Beef and dairy left out of Australia-India trade agreement
Dan Tehan, Australian Trade and Tourism Minister said beef and dairy was left out the Australia-India trade agreement (IA ECTA) due to the sacred status of cows in India, NRI Affairs reported.
The interim trade agreement is projected to raise bilateral trade to US$100 billion by 2030 from the present US$ 26-27 billion.
Tehan said India has a big agriculture industry with about 160 million farmers, and there are sensitivities related to cows there.
Rick Gladigau, chairman of the Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) said an agreement that does not include market access for dairy is disappointing.
Many states in India such as Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat have banned cattle slaughter. Only the states Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram do not ban slaughter of cattle.
- NRI Affairs