phytosanitary import restrictions the united states expressed concerns over indias new fumigation requirements which entered into force on 1 january and 6 february 2004. these regulations were not notified to the wto until 4 march 2004 as g sps n ind 12 and members did not have an opportunity to provide comments. with respect to almonds phoshpine had been an effective treatment to control pests of concern to india prior to the imposition of the new regulations. this treatment was supported by scientific literature that had been presented to india for examination. india was requested to revise its measures accordingly. with regards to solid wood packing indias measures deviated substantially from international standard ispm 15 particularly in relation to requirements for physotsanitary documentation and the lack of scientific justification for treatment requirements. under the new regulation both the consignment and packing material were to be treated and by implication untreated consignments or those without phytosanitary certification would not be allowed to enter india. furthermore indias requirement that packing material be treated with methyl bromide for 32 hours exceeded ispm 15 requirement of 16 hours. india was requested to provide scientific justification for this divergence or revise its measures accordingly. the european communities rejected indias claim that these measures conformed to international standards and therefore did not have to be notified. the lapse of two months in notifying the wto after implementation of the measures denied countries the opportunity to comment on them. the european communities requested india to defer the implementation of the new measures until the normal 60-day comment period expired. canada shared the concern about the lack of adequate comment period and stated that canada became aware of the new requirements when its pulse exports to india were rejected. india had temporarily agreed to accept canadian pulse shipments without fumigation until 30 april 2004. however indias refusal to consider alternatives to fumigation treatment was unacceptable given that canadas climate made fumigation unnecessary. furthermore canada had been free of the relevant pests for 20 years and had been shipping products to india for several years without problems. canada urged india to use the least trade-restrictive measures as stipulated in the sps agreement. chile and new zealand shared the concerns expressed by the previous countries above particularly those related to certification requirements and the lack of adequate comment period. india explained that the plant quarantine order was intended to simplify indias existing plant quarantine regime which previously had multiple instruments including the destructive insect and pest act of 1914 and order 1989 regulating imports of cotton plants fruits and seeds into india. the new order repealed and replaced these instruments and filled a ga in the old plant quarantine orders particularly related to emerging global agricultural trade issues such as gmos germplasm transgenic plant material live insects fungi and bio-control agents. the plant quarantine order of 18 november 2003 came into force on 1 january 2004 and the application of some provisions deferred to 1 april 2004. the regulations were made available on the website immediately after its publication and a number of indias trading partners had sought clarification bilaterally. the plant quarantine order was amended on 6 february 2004 to increase clarity and take account of members concerns. with respect to the us concerns phosphine fumigation was useful for quality control but was not an effective treatment against quarantine pests in almonds. nevertheless india agreed to examine the research papers presented by the united states and requested that members send their comments on the issue. on the issue of solid wood packing india required treatment of the whole consignment if