Browse Data and Analysis

In March 2024, the Council of the European Union and European Parliament concluded negotiations on the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Regulation. The current text is going through a legal review but is now de-facto final and is expected to be formally adopted in the coming months.

EU27 beet sugar production for MY 2024/25 is projected to remain unchanged at 14.8 million metric tons (MMT), with increased cultivation across member states offsetting a slight decline in France.

In MY 2024/25, EU grain production is anticipated to exceed the previous season’s levels and amount to 274 MMT. Excessive rain currently prevails in the EU’s northwest, hampering winter grains development and impeding spring planting operations.

Colombia is the largest South American market for U.S. agricultural products and the seventh-largest market for U.S. food and beverage exports globally. Since the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) was implemented in 2012, U.S. agricultural exports have grown by more than 235 percent to a record $3.7 billion in 2023.

MY 2024/25 European Union oilseed production is forecast to decline by about one percent over the previous year with good yields. This forecast is based on the assumption of average growing conditions, lower, more average yields, but increased area which cannot make up for the lower yields.

Following weeks of farmer protests across the European Union, the European Commission published a legislative proposal to amend certain provisions of the Common Agricultural Policy.

While EU beef production is forecast to further decline in 2024 due to a structural unprofitability of the sector and mounting environmental regulations, the EU pork supply is projected to rebound in 2024.

Despite ongoing avian influenza outbreaks and increasing competition from imports, strong internal EU demand will drive chicken meat production in 2024.

On January 1, 2024, Belgium took over the rotating Council of the EU Presidency for the following six months. In this role, Belgium will lead the European agenda within the Council and promote cooperation among Member States.

On January 26, 2024, the European Commission approved two genetically engineered crops (1 maize and 1 rapeseed) for food and animal feed. The two authorizations were published in the European Union’s Official Journal on January 30, 2024, and they remain valid for 10 years.

EU organic sales decreased slightly in 2022, but rebounded in 2023 due to recovering economic conditions.

While France has no commercial production or field trials of genetically engineered (GE) crops, the French livestock industry depends on imported GE feed, especially soybeans, rapeseed, and corn. The French scientific community and many farmers are...