Browse Data and Analysis

Effective June 1, 2022, Malaysia intends to ban export of poultry products to ensure sufficient domestic supply. This is the latest in a series of measures taken to try to combat rising food prices in the country.

In 2021, Chinese imports of alfalfa pellets hit record levels of 52,254 metric tons (MT) and $13.66 million by value, increases of 62 percent and 70 percent respectively. The market is dominated by Spanish-origin pellets.

Venezuelan milk production reached 1.5 billion litres in 2021, just a 2 percent increase from 2020. The formal dairy industry processed 12 percent of this output, only working at 20 percent of their capacity, due to the collapse of the market and Venezuelan consumers favoring artisanal cheeses.

On May 19, Japan's Diet approved the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries proposed revisions to the Agricultural Export Facilitation Act. The revisions allow product-specific industry groups to implement check-off systems and establishes a new fund to extend low-interest and long-term loans to producers, manufacturers and distributors to promote exports.

The MY 2022/23 sugar production forecast is down 23 percent from the previous estimate. Producers face a shrinking domestic market and fluctuating world prices, as well as the strain of conflict with Russia in terms of ensuring production and exports.

The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department is in the process of mapping out legislative initiatives coupled with public education to enhance waste management. U.S. food exports to the city could be impacted by the government’s adoption of various producer responsibility schemes (PRSs) relating to plastic and glass beverage containers by which manufacturers/importers are expected to pay a levy.

In 2021, the total value of U.S. agricultural and related products exported to Taiwan was $3.94 billion, an increase of 18 percent compared to the previous year. Taiwan moved up two places to rank as the 6th largest market for U.S. agricultural exports in 2021. This was the second highest year on record behind 2018’s $4.08 billion. Products in the consumer oriented category continue to play an increasingly important role, with beef and dairy products hitting new highs year after year.

On May 24, 2022, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry/Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued notification No. 10/2015-20, amending its sugar export policy. The notification specifies that exports of raw, refined, and white sugar fall under the “restricted” category.

On April 1, 2022, Taiwan notified the United States that it had successfully completed an audit inspection of the U.S. system for eggs and egg products. As of May 30, 2022, the United States has full market access to Taiwan for all eggs and egg products.

On May 23, 2022, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Brazil held High-Level Committee talks. According to the press release issued by the PRC’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on May 24, the talks included several agricultural-related outcomes including, improved and new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) market access protocols for corn and hulled peanuts along with plans for new SPS protocols on soy protein concentrate, soybean meal, and orange fiber pellets that may be signed later.

On May 24, 2022, India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry/Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued Public Notice No. 10/2015-20 (May 24, 2022) (see, Appendix I). The public notice specifies that India is allocating a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) of 2 million metric tons (MMT) for crude soybean oil and a similar TRQ of 2 MMT for crude sunflower oil in India fiscal year (IFY) 2022/23 and in IFY 2023/24. The Indian government’s measure is meant to address the high domestic prices of edible oils, and to check rising food inflation.

The Netherlands is increasingly becoming one of Europe’s leading importers and exporters of seafood products. The United States was the Netherlands’ 15th largest foreign supplier of seafood in 2021. U.S. exports were dominated by frozen Alaskan Pollock (AP) which represented two-thirds of U.S. seafood trade to the Netherlands.