Govt rules out import of dairy items

India’s Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala, has said that the country is not looking to import dairy products such as butter as supplies are improving. Rupala launched India’s first animal pandemic response system, worth INR12.29bn ($165m), to deal with animal disease outbreaks. The programme will include an integrated disease reporting system for enhanced surveillance of zoonotic and other animal diseases, upgrades to 75 district and regional laboratories, and training for 9,000 para-veterinarians and recruitment of 5,500 veterinary professionals.