| The following GAIN reports were released on July 20, 2021. _______ For MY2021/22, Post projects 59,000 MT of raisin production and 56,200 MT of exports. This will represent a one percent decrease in Chilean raisin production and exports. The decrease can be attributed to a reduction in table grape planted area as farmers switched to more profitable crops such as cherries, walnuts, avocado, and citrus. Raisin production in Chile relies almost exclusively on table grape production. In MY2020/21 table grape planted area declined by 4.9 percent to 45,489 hectares and it is projected to decrease to 45,000 ha in MY2021/22. On June 16, 2021, China notified draft National Food Safety Standard of Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Milk Fat (GB19646-xxxx) to the WTO SPS Committee as G/SPS/N/CHN/1221. The comment deadline is August 15, 2021. China has not announced an implementation date for the revised standard. Comments can be sent to China's SPS Enquiry Point at sps@customs.gov.cn. This report contains an unofficial translation of the draft standard. The COVID-19 crisis and the closure of the European hospitality sector during much of the past year kept EU imports of U.S. beef into its High Quality Beef (HQB) quota well below availability. Unfortunately, despite a slight recovery of imports to almost 11,800 metric tons (MT), compared to the previous year, the increase in U.S. specific HQB quota, as agreed in 2019, only led to an increase in unused quota. This unused HQB quota availability of almost 9,000 MT is valued at roughly $100 million in lost export opportunities for U.S. beef exporters. MY2021/22 EU total grain production is now anticipated at 293.3 MMT. Abundant rainfall in April and May, while bad for timely spring planting operations, improved soil moisture across the EU and alleviated drought concerns. However, mild temperatures have delayed growth across the EU, putting pressure on the new crop. A French ban on the sales of fruit and vegetables with identifying stickers threatens exports of U.S. sweet potatoes (approx. $20 million in sales annually) and grapefruits ($8 million annually). The ban on stickers is scheduled to be implemented on January 1, 2022. Most U.S. grapefruits and some sweet potatoes shipped overseas bear stickers for traceability and marketing purposes. French fruit and vegetable producers and importers will also face a ban on plastic packaging. The 2021 monsoon kicked off with some force in June, reaching four-fifths of the Indian subcontinent. Monsoon winds stalled on June 19 in the northern Indian plains, slowing the kharif crops' plantings. As forecasts predicted, the monsoon resumed in the second week of July. Following historical patterns, the progress of monsoon during the second and third week of July is critical for rainfed coarse grains, pulses, and oilseeds, that go largely unirrigated. Back-to-back record harvests and government procurement of rice and wheat resulted in the ballooning of government grain stocks to a record high of 109 million metric tons (MMT) in June 2021. The government is offloading stocks in the domestic market in the form of COVID-19 relief programs and sales at subsidized prices. FAS New Delhi (Post) is raising the market year (MY) 2020/2021 rice export estimate to 19 MMT due to Indian rice's competitive export prices. Post's MY 2020/2021 corn export estimate is raised to 2.8 MMT based on India's official estimates. On June 29, 2021, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a new directive changing the nomenclature ''Blended Edible Vegetable Oil" or "Multi Source Edible Vegetable Oil" now to simply "Multi Source Edible Oil." On June 30, 2021, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a new directive extending the compliance timeline for the implementation of regulations governing the import of specialty food products for inborn errors of metabolism (IEM) and hypoallergenic conditions. Specialty food products, listed in Appendix - I, are permitted through March 31, 2022, under certain conditions. On June 22, 2021, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) published a new directive extending its implementation date for standards relating to different categories of infant nutrition foods. Extension of the implementation is being provided to accommodate stakeholders' submissions and to better facilitate the transition for adhering to the new standards requirements. The new implementation date is now set for April 1, 2022. On July 13, 2021, India notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) its new draft Ayurveda Aahar Regulations (2021). The timeframe to provide comments on the draft regulation runs through September 10, 2021. Ayurveda Aahar means a food prepared in accordance with the recipes or ingredients and/or processes as per methods described in the authoritative books of Ayurveda listed under 'Schedule A' of the regulations. It also includes products which have other botanical ingredients in accordance with the concept of Ayurvedic Aahar but does not include Ayurvedic drugs or proprietary Ayurvedic medicines and medicinal products, cosmetics, narcotic or psychotropic substances, herbs listed under Schedule E of Drug and Cosmetic Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 thereunder, metals based Ayurvedic drugs or medicines, bhasma or pishti and any other ingredients notified by the Authority (FSSAI) from time to time. On July 16, 2021, Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) proposed revisions to Japan's maximum residue levels for 11 agricultural chemicals (MCPA, MCPB, Captan, Cyazofamid, Pyriofenone, Fluoxastrobin, Procymidone, Mandestrobin, Cypermethrin, Albendazole, and Zeranol) for various agricultural commodities. MHLW also proposed to establish new MRLs for various chemicals in honey. Interested U.S. parties are encouraged to submit their comments to PlantDivision@usda.gov for plant products and to TFAA.FAS.AnimalDivision@usda.gov for animal products by July 27, 2021. Japan will subsequently notify these revisions to the World Trade Organization, which will provide another opportunity to comment. South Africa should remain a net exporter of corn in the 2021/22 marketing year (MY) on excess supplies. In the 2020/21 MY, South Africa will be able to increase corn exports by 40 percent to 3.5 million tons, after the production of a second consecutive bumper crop. The 2020/21 MY corn crop is the second largest corn crop ever produced in South Africa, and pushed the 2019/20 MY's commercial corn crop into third place. This means that South Africa's three largest corn crops on record were produced in the past five years, driven mainly be increased yields. South Africa exported 2.5 million tons of corn in the 2019/20 MY, up 76 percent from the previous marketing year after a 35 percent increase in corn production.
For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit gain.fas.usda.gov/. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment