Browse Data and Analysis

On June 30, 2022, the National Health Commission (NHC) and the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) released the National Food Safety Standard for Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods (GB 2762-2022), which will enter into force on June 30, 2023.

Japan is one of the world’s leading consumers of seafood. In 2022, it imported $15 billion of seafood products, making it the world’s third largest importer. Half of Japan’s seafood demand is met by imports. The United States is the third largest seafood supplier to Japan, specializing in salmon, cod, pollock, herring, crab, and lobster.

In 2022, Spain imported $2.1 billion worth of agricultural, seafood and forest products from the United States, up 27 percent compared to the previous year. After high rates of consumer price inflation in 2022, the latest European Union economic forecast shows Spain’s economic growth forecast at 1.4 percent in 2023 and 2.0 percent in 2024.

Post forecasts that MY2023/24 rice production will reach a five-year record of 20.4 million metric tons due to abundant water supplies and attractive farm-gate prices.

Rice export prices decreased 1 percent as new supplies of MY2022/23 off-season rice continued entering the market.

The UK has a large, well-developed food processing industry, requiring a wide range of ingredients, from low-value, highly processed food to high-value, lightly processed ingredients. This provides many opportunities for U.S. exporters, including wellness and health products.

In 2022, the Government of Ecuador continued to support floor prices for local production of corn, rice, and wheat as well as began subsidizing the price of fertilizers for small producers.

On March 13, 2023, China notified 421 Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under G/SPS/N/CHN/1277. The proposed date of entry into force is to be determined.

On February 13, 2023, Mexico published a modified 2023 Corn Decree in the Diario Official Federal (DOF). The new Presidential decree abrogates the 2020 GE Corn Decree and is immediately effective on February 14, 2023.

Israel's reform to decentralize the control on toiletries and food will impact the import of processed food products.

Post forecasts that consumption and imports of corn, wheat and rice in Malaysia will slightly increase in Marketing Year (MY) 2023/24, in line with population growth and normalization of the market.

On March 3, 2023, India’s Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying/Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) published on its website, a revised integrated veterinary health certificate (VHC), that incorporates the DAHD’s sanitary requirements along with those of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare/Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) (national food safety authority) food safety requirements.