TED Case Studies

India's beef and meat exports to rest of the world.

Ist Draft
 


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A. Identification

1. The Issue

India has a large population of livestock. Most of the Indian cattle and buffalo species are used for milk and draft purposes. Slaughter of cattle is allowed in only a few states in India. A very small percentage of the total Indian herd is slaughtered. India has remained a big exporter of beef and meat to rest of the world -  Philippines, Middle East and Malaysia in particular. Recently Indian beef and meat importers have been facing a big challenge. The basic problem is that certain areas in India are infested with contagious cattle and livestock diseases. The ones that are free are not certified by the Office of International des Epizootic (the OIE). Due to this reason many countries resist to import beef from India. A recent problem that came up was regarding Indonesia. The Indonesian Government had made a plan to import beef and meat from India to cover up the local shortfall. However the local Veterinarian Association advised the government to drop it's plan as it would endanger the lives of  the huge cattle and human population in the country. This would in turn pose a big challenge for India. This decision taken by the Indonesian Government of not to import beef from India is certain to inject a new row of crisis whereby other nations will also begin to follow. The Indian Government needs to take certain effective steps in order to rectify these ongoing problems.

2. Description

India

Nearly one sixth of all the human beings on Earth live in India, the world's most populous democracy. Its borders encompass a vast variety of people, practicing most of the world's major religions, speaking different languages, and divided into thousands of castes. A civilized, urban society has existed in India for well over 4,000 years. Today the population of India sums upto about 970 million people, of which only 26% inhabit in urban areas while the other 74% resides in rural region. Most of the people that live in rural areas keep and own livestock. The main source of income for farmers and landless laborers is the livestock sector. It plays a very important role in generating income for the poor segment of the economy.

Animal rearing has remained traditionally a small scale undertaking for milk or draft purposes. Hindus, a religion that constitutes a majority of the Indian population, considers cows as sacred and regards slaughtering of cows as offensive. On the other hand slaughter of buffaloes is not regarded as offensive and thus it is allowed in all states in India unlike slaughter of cattle. However slaughter of buffaloes is confined to older and unproductive animals.

The poor quality of meat is the result of lack of appropriate refrigeration facilities, old and unhygienic slaughter houses. Not only the produced meat but also the cattle is not being taken proper care of. Despite of having a large number of veterinary hospitals and initiating other steps to control and exterminate contagious diseases like Foot and Mouth disease and Rinderpest, these infectious disease still exist.

Foot-and-mouth disease, also known as Anthrax, is a very infectious disease among cattle, sheep, goat and pigs. Most of the developed countries resist to import beaf and meat from any country that is known to be infected with this disease. The disease causes running bruises in mouth and between the toes. It decreases the value of the animal significantly as the disease could lead to sterility or even death in severe cases.

Foot-and-mouth has been the main cause of this issue. The Indian cattle, particularly in Hyderabad and Aurangabad, is believed to suffer from this disease. As a result, the Indonesian Government has given its plan of importing beef and meat from India a second thought. The reason being that if this disease enters the premises of Indonesia it would pose a serious threat to the health of its livestock and human population. The Indonesian Government has sent a team to India to investigate if the disease really exist there.
 

3. Related Cases

  1. HOOF- EC Hoof Mouth Ban
  2. EUMEAT - Bovine Hormones and EU Trade
  3. MADCOW - Mad Cow Disease
  4. ARGBEEF - Argentina and Beef Exports to the United States
  5. COSTBEEF - Costa Rica Beef Exports
  6. VEAL - UK Veal Exports
    Other related topics:

4. Draft Author:

Tarun Pattni ( June 1999)

II.  Legal Clusters

5. Discourse and Status:

    The Jakartan Minister of Agriculture agreed to import Indian beef on a condition that it should be free from hoof and mouth and rinderpest, two contagious disease.

6. Forum and Scope:

Forum:            India
Scope:            UNIlateral

    The agreement would also be considered as bilateral as the Indian Government had to prove that the beef was disease free and during this process the Indonesian Government might work with the Indian Government for inspections. The Indonesian Government agreed to import beef from Indian once it develop disease free zones that are recognized by the Office of International des Epizootics (the OIE).
 

7. Decision Breadth:

One

8. Legal Standing:

Law - "export restriction"

III.  Geographic Clusters

9. Geographic Locations

a. Geographic Domain: Asia

b. Geographic Site: South

c. Geographic Impact: India

10. Sub-National Factors:

NO

11. Type of Habitat:

TROPical

IV.  Trade Clusters

12. Type of Measure:

EXBAN / REGBAN

13. Direct v. Indirect Impacts:

DIRect

14. Relation of Trade Measure to Environmental Impact

a. Directly Related to Product: YES (INDBEEF)

b. Indirectly Related to Product: NO

c. Not Related to Product: NO

d. Related to Process: NO

15. Trade Product Identification:

Product Type: BEEF AND MEAT

16. Economic Data

Industry Output:  

17. Impact of Trade Restriction:

HIGH

The closing of exports of beef and meat to other countries would lead to excess quantity available. Eventually the prices of the items may decline.

18. Industry Sector:

Non-durable Manufacturing: FOOD

19. Exporters and Importers:

Case Exporter: INDIA

Case Importer: Rest of the world

Leading Exporters (US $):

Leading Importers (US $):

V.  Environment Clusters

20. Environmental Problem Type:

HEALTH

21. Name, Type, and Diversity of Species

Name: Cows and Buffaloes

Type: Livestock

Diversity:

22. Resource Impact and Effect:

Impact: MEDium
Effect:  

23. Urgency and Lifetime:

Urgency: LOW

Lifetime: 1 year

24. Substitutes:

LIKE: chicken, pork, goat, sheep.

VI.  Other Factors

25. Culture:

YES 

26. Trans-Boundary Issues:

YES

27. Rights:

NO

28. Relevant Literature