The following GAIN reports were released on December 22, 2021. _______ Since Burma initiated a series of political and economic reforms in 2011, U.S. agricultural exports have grown over 80-fold, reaching a record $174 million in 2019 and $167 million in 2020 despite the COVID-19 situation. However, political unrest following the coup d'état in February 2021, a severe COVID wave, and logistical challenges have led to disruptions in the trade and banking sectors. This report provides practical tips and information on on-going market trends with the retail food, food service, food processing, and livestock feed sectors and identifies U.S. agricultural product categories with growth potential in the Burmese market. On November 15, 2021, China notified the National Food Safety Standard: Code of Hygienic Practice of Producing for Prepared Meat Products to the WTO SPS Committee as G/SPS/N/CHN/1240. This is the first notification of a domestic code of hygienic practice of producting for prepared meat products in China. Comments on the measure may be submitted to China's SPS Enquiry Point (sps@customs.gov.cn) by January 14, 2022. There is currently no published date for implementation of the standard. This report contains the original text of the draft standard and an unofficial translation. On November 15, 2021, China notified the National Food Safety Standard: Code of Hygienic Practice for Livestock and Poultry Edible Offal and Byproducts to the WTO SPS Committee as G/SPS/N/CHN/1234. This is the first notification of a domestic code of hygienic practices for livestock and poultry edible offal and byproducts in China. Comments on the measure may be submitted to China's SPS Enquiry Point (sps@customs.gov.cn) by January 14, 2022. There is currently no published date for implementation of the standard. This report contains the original text of the draft standard and an unofficial translation. On October 23, 2021, the National People's Congress of China (NPC) published the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Revised Draft) for domestic comment. Once finalized, the revised law will replace the currently effective law of the same title, which was promulgated in 2006. Though focused on domestic agricultural production, the revised draft extends the scope of the 2006 law, including in areas of traceability and geographic indication, which may have implications for trade. China has not notified the revisions to the WTO. In MY 2021/22, EU citrus production is projected to drop 6.8 percent compared to the previous season to 10.7 MMT due to unfavorable weather conditions in the top EU citrus-producing countries. Expected reductions in domestic supplies, higher demand for citrus derived from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reopening of the hospitality sector may encourage EU citrus imports. Spain is the major citrus supplier to the EU market. United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, Canada, and Serbia, followed by Brazil and the Middle East continue to be relevant EU citrus export markets. In MY 2021/22, additional issues concerning the rise of citrus production costs due to strong price increases for agricultural inputs, electricity, logistics, and petrol may create economic disruption for EU citrus growers. Germany has more than 83 million of the world's wealthiest consumers and is by far the biggest market in the European Union. The German market offers good opportunities for U.S. exporters of consumer-oriented agricultural products. In 2020, total U.S. exports of agricultural and related products to Germany reached $1.6 billion. The largest segments were tree nuts, seafood products, wine, beef, condiments, and other consumer-oriented products. This report provides U.S. food and agriculture exporters with background information and suggestions for entering the German market. COVID-19 related lock-down and physical distancing measures heavily impacted the German food sector. The Japanese food market was valued at $789 billion in 2020 with retail sales accounting for $474 billion (60 percent) and foodservice sales accounting for $239 billion (30 percent). Japan relies on imports from other countries for the bulk of its food supply. The United States is the leading agricultural product supplier with a 22 percent market share in 2020. The Japanese market is highly competitive with consumers seeking quality, value, and convenience. This report serves as an all-in-one resource for prospective U.S. exporters to Japan with information on the food and beverage market, business culture, consumer preferences, import regulations, trends, and the U.S.-Japan Trade Agreement. Links are provided to additional resources with further details on each of these topics. On October 12, 2021, the United States and Morocco completed a sanitary certificate for exports of U.S. live aquatic animals to Morocco. The completion of this certificate offers new opportunities for U.S. exporters of live aquatic animals intended for farming. The top prospects for U.S. agricultural exports to Morocco include tree nuts, feed grains (corn, DDGS, soybeans and soybean meal), pulses, live animals, genetics, animal fats and some consumer-oriented products (bovine meat, poultry meat, dairy products, eggs & products, and rice). Under the U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a large number of tariffs for consumer-oriented products were phased out. Romania and its 19.3 million consumers offer increasingly viable market opportunities for U.S. food and agriculture. In 2020, Romania imported $10.2 billion of food and agricultural products, of which two percent, or $177.26 million, were sourced from the United States. During the first eight months of 2021, total Romanian food and agricultural imports increased by 21 percent over the corresponding period in 2020. Although in the first pandemic year U.S. exports declined, mostly due to changing market dynamics in the wake of the COVID-19, in the first eight months of 2021 U.S. direct imports increased by 53 percent, while indirect imports declined by seven percent. U.S. products with strong market potential include fish and seafood, tree nuts, groundnuts, wine, distilled spirits, dried fruit, and innovative food processing ingredients. The report describes the import requirements and regulations for food and agricultural products required by the Government of Tanzania (GoT). The report outlines the Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) and other regulations for U.S exports to Tanzania, including labeling and packaging requirements and import procedures as summarized in the Tanzania National Business Portal. Exporters should be aware that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection is weak in Tanzania due to poor enforcement copyright legislation. Turkey has a young population of 84 million people fueling consumption of consumer-oriented agricultural products. The country is in a Customs Union with the EU and is the 20th largest economy in the world and the 7th largest agricultural producer. Despite the current economic slowdown and geopolitical difficulties, there is still a gap in the market to fill, and increased demand in the long-term for many different types of agricultural products is expected to continue. With the effects of COVID-19-related restrictions and the stagnation in the economy, food inflation is a major concern but there has been no scarcity of food or beverage availability for those with adequate means. UK inflation is at a ten-year high with household gas and electric bills increasing 28.1 and 18.8 percent over the past year, respectively. Retail food prices reached a 14-month high with annual grocery price inflation reaching 2.1 percent. The UK is in the midst of a supply chain crisis with retailers experiencing their lowest stock levels in 40 years because of worker shortages and transport disruption caused by COVID-19 and Brexit. The UK presents strong market opportunities for many U.S. consumer-orientated products, including specialty food products, food that is perceived as healthy, wine, sauces, fruit, nuts, and juices. "Health" and convenience foods are the main driving forces in the UK value-added food and beverage market. Consumers look for variety in high quality food products, especially those perceived to have health benefits. Vietnam's livestock sector is facing many challenges, including the impacts of various disease outbreaks, the COVID-19 pandemic, and high feed costs. This has resulted in weak prices and squeezed margins for the domestic meat and poultry industries. Demand for livestock products has sharply fallen compared to the pre-COVID-19 period mainly due to consumers' loss of income and closures of schools and the food service sector. Meanwhile, animal disease outbreaks, particularly the African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic, are at risk of again spreading on a large scale. ASF outbreaks were ongoing in 48 out of 63 provinces in Vietnam, resulting in the death and culling of nearly 280,000 pigs with a total weight of about 11,678 metric tons (MT), about 3.6 times higher than the culled numbers in the same period of 2020.
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