1.   

Russia to increase imports of vegetables, meat and dairy products from India soon

ussian officials will be in India in October to inspect Indian production facilities, and food exports to Russia are expected to surge from December 2014 Russia is expected to increase imports of fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products from India starting December 2014 under an agreement reached between Russia’s phytosanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor and India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) this week.

2.   

Romania seeks to enhance economic ties with India

A ten-member Romanian delegation currently on a visit to India has expressed its desire to enhance bilateral engagement with the country in Parliamentary and economic spheres. The all-party delegation led by Valeriu Stefan Zgone, President of the Chambers of Deputies, Parliament of Romania called on Parliamentary Affairs Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and explored possibilities of enhancing bilateral cooperation, according to a senior Ministry official.

3.   

India-Israel FTA talks may resume soon

Israel Ambassador Daniel Carmon on Tuesday expressed the hope that negotiations for a free trade agreement with India will resume soon. “We hope very soon we will be in a position to bring the issue of FTA back on track,” he said on the sidelines of a conference on Indo-Israel relations here. Though working groups of the countries have had a few rounds of deliberations, a meeting scheduled last month could not be held for some reason, he replied when journalists asked him about the status of the talks.

4.   

Ban on US poultry items: India to appeal against WTO ruling

India has decided to challenge a ruling by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against a ban it imposed on imports of chicken legs and other farm products from the US. India had banned these imports on fears that they could result in spread of the bird flu. The WTO’s dispute settlement body, ruling on a petition filed by the US, found the restrictions violative of global trade rules. The Commerce Ministry, following discussions with the Department of Animal Husbandry (which had notified the ban), has concluded that there is enough ground to appeal against the WTO dispute body ruling, a Government official told BusinessLine.