import restrictions on bovine semen in march 1999 the european communities indicated that bilateral contact with india regarding import restrictions on bovine semen had not been successful and submitted a list of specific questions. in march 2000 the european communities reported that no information had been received from india although there had been some bilateral and multilateral contacts. india presented some information to the ec delegate at that time. in march 2000 canada expressed concern that india was banning imports of bovine semen from canada because of bse concerns although canada was bse-free and although bse was not transmissible through semen according to the oie. india clarified that the measure was a licensing process not a ban which had been imposed to avoid inadvertent introduction of bse or scrapie into india. india had prepared a questionnaire for its trading partners and was planning to carry out a risk assessment based on the responses. the representative of india indicated that he would bring the canadian concerns to the attention of his authorities in order to solve the problem bilaterally as soon as possible. in june 2000 canada informed the committee that bilateral consultations had failed to resolve the matter and that india continued to restrict canadian exports of bovine semen despite i canada being bse-free ii oie confirmation that bse was not transmissible through semen iii the oie specifically not calling for restrictions on trade in bovine semen and iv the absence of a risk assessment to justify indias ban on bovine semen. canada asked that india remove this restriction. india noted that recent bilateral consultations had been helpful and that efforts were being made to find a solution to the dispute. in november 2000 canada supported by the european communities reiterated its concerns regarding indias bse-related restrictions on bovine semen imports despite canadas bse freedom and despite agreement in the oie and other veterinary bodies that bse was not transmitted by semen. in september 2000 india had indicated that it intended to continue this unjustified prohibition despite the lack of risk assessment for the measure. india reported that detailed bilateral consultations were ongoing. the indian animal husbandry commission had met on 11 september 2000 and had noted the findings of the ec scientific steering committee ssc regarding the difficulty of making precise estimates of the risks of infectivity of various products including semen. india further reported that it had sought detailed information from the oie regarding the basis for determining that bse was not transmitted by semen as well as information on the criteria for determining if a country or zone was free from bse. however to date no reply had been received from the oie. the european communities observed that india was referring to a scientific opinion which had been published in 1998 which had subsequently been modified through various meetings of the oie. the representative of the oie indicated that the issue of bovine semen had been examined on various occasions at the oie and the results of these examinations had been provided to india however the oie would again send india all of the relevant information. in march 2001 canada and india announced that they had agreed to informal discussions under the sps agreement and hoped that the matter would be resolved soon. canada recalled the oie statement confirming that bse could not be transmitted by semen g sps gen 230 . india stressed that it was not trying to give an unfair advantage to domestic producers. the socio-religious conditions related to the treatment of cows in india were such that india had to be extremely cautious. india asked canada to cooperate with indias risk assessment which would take at least another six months to complete. canada questioned the need to carry out the risk assessment since according to the oie the