| The following GAIN reports were released on January 3, 2021. _______ Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Austria's already high organic sales increased significantly as consumers focused even more on their diet and what they regard as healthy and sustainable. Austria remains one of the leading countries in organic production. Conventional supermarket chains are the most important outlets for organic products. There are good market prospects for U.S. organic products which are not locally produced. Hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic (both in terms of public health and economic performance), the tourism-dependent Caribbean is anxiously awaiting a return to more normal times characterized by growing tourist arrivals, which in many ways are the economic lifeblood of the region. U.S. exporters, who supply roughly half of all agricultural products to the Caribbean, saw their sales to the region decline by 10 percent in 2020. To the extent the pandemic is brought under control and tourists return to the Caribbean in bigger numbers, economic recovery will gain momentum. During the first 10 months of 2021, U.S. agricultural suppliers have already seen their exports to the region rebound by 12 percent when compared to the same period a year earlier. On December 24, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China published an amended Seed Law of the People's Republic of China. The amendment strengthens the protection of legal rights and interests of owners of new plant varieties and establishes a system of essentially derived varieties (EDV). The changes in the amended law appear welcome by most segments of the industry as they have sought these changes for several years. The amended law will come into effect on March 1, 2022. The European Union (EU) follows a complex, rolling system of review for active ingredients and Maximum Residue Levels (MRLs) in food. For agricultural inputs, U.S. farmers must know early in the process of review to prevent or mitigate the loss of, and/or access to, chemical inputs. The information in this document provides interested stakeholders with advance notice of those active ingredients under review, highlighting those substances undergoing new restrictions or may not be renewed. This is a quarterly update from December 2021 and includes a link to the consolidated version as well. In 2020, U.S. agricultural exports to Indonesia totaled $3 billion, making it the 11th largest market for U.S. agricultural exports. Major exports include soybeans, wheat, cotton, milk powder, feeds and fodders, dairy, fresh fruit, and beef and beef products. These products also have the best growth potential due to insufficient local production capacity to meet the growing demand for these ingredients. Despite an often challenging and unpredictable regulatory environment, especially for those products that may compete with local products, opportunities exist for exporters to supply Indonesia's developed tourism market, growing food processing industry, and modern retail channels. Kenya's imports of consumer-oriented food products grew at an average annual rate of 9.6 percent between 2016 and 2020. This increase was fueled by a growing middle class with rising disposable income, increased urbanization, and expanding modern food retail and food service sectors. U.S. exports to Kenya shrunk by 11 percent within the same period. For U.S. exporters, the best prospective products include snack foods, sauces and condiments, pasta and processed cereals, distilled spirits and other alcoholic drinks, dairy products, tree nuts, and pet food. Post revised its MY 2021/22 crude palm oil (CPO) production downward from 18.2 million tons to 18.0 million tons, taking into account the effect of anomalous weather from the super typhoon Rai (a month of rain recorded in one day on December 18 in Peninsular Malaysia) and the continuing acute labor issue the industry has faced since 2019. Labor remained the biggest issue for the industry. The Government of Malaysia (GOM) recently concluded an MOU on migrant labor with Bangladesh, but a similar MOU with neighboring Indonesia, the primary supplier of migrant labor, remains outstanding. Post anticipates the labor issue may remain unresolved until the last quarter of 2022. As the price of CPO is expected to stabilize in mid-2022, CPO export is forecast to recover slightly to 16.3 million metric tons (MMT), though this recovery will continue to be restrained by production limitations and how quickly GOM is able to resolve the labor issue. This document provides an overview of major Mexican agricultural and food-product laws and regulations, as well as related import standards and regulations. Some products may be subject to regulatory oversight by several different Government of Mexico (GOM) agencies. Post recommends that U.S. food and agricultural exporters work with experienced and established customs brokers and importers. The competent Mexican authorities which regulate food and agricultural imports and/or require official U.S. export certificates include the Secretariat of Agriculture, Secretariat of Health, Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Secretariat of the Treasury and Public Credit. No significant changes occurred vis-à-vis Mexican import standards and regulations in 2021. Appendix 1 includes updates of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) certificates for eggs and egg products scheduled to enter into force as of January 1, 2022. Appendix 1 also includes the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS) updated Meat and Poultry Export Certificate of Wholesomeness FSIS FORM 9060-5. This report identifies Peru's import requirements for (foreign) export certificates. Current procedures are highlighted and relevant agencies with oversight of these issues are identified. This report replaces the 2020 Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Report. Updates include the sanitary certificate portion of Section III. This report outlines Peru's regulatory requirements for food and agricultural product imports and updates and replaces the 2020 report. Agricultural imports into Peru have returned to a growing pace with respect 2020 and there are no significant trade issues. In recent months, the Government of Peru has taken action to facilitate imports by continuing to allow the use of stickers to comply with front of package labeling requirements until the end of March 2022. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has published several new announcements, regulations, and standards at an extremely rapid pace. This year, Saudi Arabia issued a plethora of draft regulations to the World Trade Organization (WTO), including registration and recognition requirements for competent authorities of food exporting countries, registration and listing requirements for exporters of various food products, and re-notified the current voluntary Front of Pack Nutritional Labeling (with the aim of converting it to a mandatory regulation). Saudi Arabia also published Guidelines for Marketing Requirements of Food Directed to Children. It is FAS/Riyadh's perspective that more restrictive regulations will follow over the next several years. This report provides a summary and unofficial translation of the Government of Vietnam's (GVN) Decree 111/2021/ND-CP, dated December 9, 2021, Amending and Supplementing Decree 43/2017/ND-CP on Goods Labeling. This amendment covers all categories of food, beverages, and agricultural products circulated in Vietnam, both domestically produced and imported. Decree 111 will replace several parts of Decree 43 and take effect on February 15, 2021.
For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit gain.fas.usda.gov/. | 
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