GAIN Reports from Wednesday, March 10, 2021

The following Global Agricultural Information Network (GAIN) reports were released on Wednesday, March 10, 2021.   China: China Notified Draft National Standard for Wheat   On February 8, 202 China notified a draft revised National Standard for Wheat to the World Trade Organization as G/TBT/N/CHN/1538. The standard specifies the terms and definitions, classification, quality requirements, test methods, inspection rules, labelling, packaging, storage, and transportation requirements for wheat. Compared to the current standard, the revised standard revises certain terms and definitions, sensory requirements, physical and chemical indicators, and other technical requirements. China has not announced a proposed date of entry into force of the revised standard. Comments can be sent to China's TBT Enquiry Point at tbt@customs.gov.cn by April 9, 2021. This report contains an unofficial translation of the draft standard.   European Union: EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change On February 24, 2021, the European Commission published an updated EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. With this Strategy, the Commission wants to foster EU adaptation to climate change throughout all sectors of the economy, including agriculture. This includes finding practical solutions to adapt to droughts, promote "nature-based" solutions and increase plants and crops resilience through better use of genetic diversity and non-harmful plant genetic resources for adaptation. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Budget Aims to Lift the Economy The Hong Kong Financial Secretary announced the 2021-22 budget on February 24, 2021, promising to spend over HK$80 billion (US$10.3 billion) on various one-off measures to lift the economy and help relieve people's burdens due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the budget did not respond to the industry's request for reducing the 100 percent excise tax on spirits. This report will focus on one-off and long-term measures relevant to trade and agricultural products. Peru: Commodity Prices Hit Peruvian Livestock Industry Increasing corn and soybean meal prices are affecting livestock producers' bottom line. Poultry and dairy producers are the most affected. In 2020, Peru's livestock industry utilized 5 million metric tons (MMT) of corn of which only 1.2 MMT was produced locally. Peruvian soybean meal imports reached 1.3 MMT in 2020. Spain: COVID-19 Dethrones Third Largest Food Retailer and Ignites a Price War COVID-19 had an unexpected effect on the Spanish food distribution sector. Spanish consumers spent $3.7 billion more at supermarkets compared to 2019. Changing consumer patterns in 2020 disrupted the long-historic ranking of the top three food retailers in Spain (Mercadona, Carrefour, and DIA). Retailer Lidl replaced DIA as the new third ranking retailer. Flooded with an unprecedented number of customers in this new post-COVID scenario, supermarkets in Spain are now fighting to obtain a larger share of customers with some chains starting a price war that is expected to continue in 2021.  Taiwan: Taiwan Announces New Chocolate Labeling Regulations On March 2, 2021, Taiwan announced the final version of new regulations for labeling chocolate products, set to take effect on January 1, 2022. This report contains an unofficial English translation of the regulations, Taiwan's WTO notification of the draft regulation, and links to related documents. In 2020, the United States exported $26 million worth of chocolate and cocoa products to Taiwan. 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