US rice exports are near to being cleared to enter the world’s biggest market for rice. The US Department of Agriculture has confirmed that the US and China have agreed on a phytosanitary protocol to mitigate pests such as insects – long a sticking point for the...
COOL Shrimp? Consumers Shrug
Buyers seem indifferent to country-of-origin labeling, say USDA researchers This is counter-intuitive. The US Department of Agriculture reports that its researchers have been unable to detect any shift in the pattern of consumers’ purchases of shrimp from 1998 through...
What Brazil Is Buying
Cotton and ethanol leap into Brazil’s top 5 imports from the US by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor China has roared past the US to become Brazil’s top trade partner, but the US is still the top exporter to the Latin American giant, and those exports – plus the US surplus...
Food Prices: Why So High?
Latest spike is a variation on the pattern set in 2002 A steady downward trend in global food prices in 1980-2002 has given way to sharp rises and falls. A report from the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (ERS) looks for answers to the question...
Regulatory Mélange
Grocery Manufacturers Association recommends a blend of US-EU food standards The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) just endorsed a new bill in Congress aimed at Agricultural Trade Facilitation – that is, lowering barriers to US agricultural exports. Pamela G....
Fresh Resource for Food Exporters
A new free database offers access to international regulations on food additives The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) has developed, with a grant from the Department of Agriculture, an International Food Additive Database designed to provide easy access to...
Bruised Rep
Not another Weiner story: this time it’s homegrown apples A Wall Street Journal story that the US Department of Agriculture found residues of 48 different pesticides in a recent sampling of apples bruises the reputation (and possibly sales) of America’s second most...
Not a Party
Countries left out of FTAs lose out on trade Proponents of the free trade agreements awaiting Congressional approval often argue their case by pointing to the boost FTAs will give to US exports. So, for instance, the US Department of Agriculture projects the US-Panama...
Cluck-cluck Cutlet of the Sea
It’s on menus everywhere, but is tilapia good for you? Americans ate 475 million pounds of tilapia last year the New York Times reports, citing US Department of Agriculture statistics. The so-called “aquatic chicken” tastes bland and, just like chicken cutlets, works...
Chile Lets in US Beef
US Trade Rep reports success in lowering trade barriers Just in time for the second annual issue of the US Trade Representative’s reports on efforts to lower barriers to US exports, Chile agreed to end its ban on US beef and beef products, imposed in 2003 after a US...