FTP - Import Policy for 'foiegras'
GOVERNMENT has prohibited the import of 'foiegras'.
Foiegras - French for "fatty liver" - is the diseased and enlarged liver of a duck or goose, produced through force-feeding.
Two to three times a day, a worker grabs each bird, shoves a long, thick metal tube all the way down his throat, and an air pump shoots up to two pounds of corn mush into his oesophagus. The industry always refers to the dry weight of the feed, which is about one pound per feeding. Adding oil and water doubles this weight, making it 20-30% of the bird's healthy body weight.
A duck's liver naturally weighs around 50 grams. However, to qualify as foiegras, the industry's own regulations require ducks' livers to weigh an absolute minimum of 300 grams.
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that foiegras production violates the country's cruelty-to-animals laws, and the practice is now banned in Israel. Germany and other European nations have prohibited the production of foiegras, and force-feeding birds is prohibited in the U.K. and in Switzerland, where foiegras packages are required to carry labels to inform consumers that the birds were force-fed. The European Union is working to phase out the force-feeding of birds entirely in its member countries by 2020.
California has banned the production and sale of foiegras from force-fed birds in that state.
DGFT Notification No. 87(RE-2013)/2009-2014, Dated: July 03, 2014