GAIN Reports from Monday, November 30, 2020

The following Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) reports were released on Monday, November 30, 2020.      Costa Rica: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual Transgenic seed varieties have been grown in Costa Rica since 1992. All of the seeds are exported to the United States. Costa Rica has implemented legislation to regulate the import and cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops. There is currently no requirement that foods containing GE components be labeled. The Costa Rican National Technical Biosafety Commission (NTBC) has been meeting regularly this year and has approved several cotton events for seed reproduction. Guatemala: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual Guatemala´s regulation allowing applications to approve biotech seeds for cultivation entered into force on October 1, 2019. Anti-biotech activists filed a court case in opposition to the regulations on November 29, 2019 at the Court of Constitution (CC) which, after a virtual public hearing on September 11 of 2020, is expected to issue a final resolution sometime in 2021. Honduras: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual   On October 1, 2020 Guatemala and Honduras opened peripheral customs that allow commercial exchange of agricultural biotechnology. On September 29, 2020 the first application for experimental stage field testing of a Black Sigatoka-resistant GMO banana was submitted to the National Committee on Biotechnology and Biosecurity (NCBB). Honduras has had biotechnology regulations and a NCBB since 1998, and as of September 2020, had more than 38,000 hectares of GE corn production, a small increase compared to 2019 Netherlands: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual This report assesses the agricultural biotechnology sector in the Netherlands, and covers related production, trade, and policies. It includes topics related to genetic engineering and innovative plant, animal, and microbial biotechnologies. The main development is that on June 26, 2020, the Dutch Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality, Carola Schouten, informed the Dutch Parliament that the approach of the Dutch Government to reach the goals set by the European Union's Farm to Fork Strategy is the Dutch circular agriculture model with robust crop culture systems, less dependency on pesticides, and the safe use of biotechnology. In the innovation agenda of the Dutch "Top Sector" policy, genome editing is identified as one of the key technologies that may be utilized to improve plant pest resistance and more. Philippines: Exporter Guide The Philippines is the ninth largest export market for U.S. agricultural products and its largest market for consumer-oriented products in Southeast Asia. Meanwhile, the United States maintains strong market share within the Philippines, second only to ASEAN. Top U.S. exports include soybean meal, wheat, dairy products, prepared food, and processed vegetables. Despite COVID-19 disruptions to trade flows, business operations, and consumer welfare, U.S. agricultural exports to the Philippines are up 12 percent through September 2020, while FAS Manila forecasts year-end sales will reach a record $3.1 billion, topping 2019 by seven percent. High-value, consumer-oriented food and beverage products with the best prospects for future export growth include fresh fruits and vegetables, poultry, prepared food, processed fruit and vegetables, and red meat. Ukraine: Agricultural Biotechnology Annual The biotechnology regulatory system in Ukraine is still not fully developed, but the country has committed to shape its policy in line with European Union's regulations. Political debate over agricultural biotechnology is active in Ukraine. Currently, there are no genetically engineered (GE) events officially approved for agricultural and food production and therefore no GE products can be legally imported into Ukraine. The Government of Ukraine does not permit cultivation of GE crops, however there are reports of illegal GE production for certain crops.     For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit gain.fas.usda.gov/.     Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. This email was sent to ooseims.archieves@blogger.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service · 1400 Independence Avenue, SW · Washington, DC 20250