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Morocco’s food processing sector plays an essential role in the Moroccan economy, accounting for 6 percent of Moroccan GDP and benefits from excellent infrastructure, world-class manufacturing facilities, and convenient access to neighboring African markets.

With over 1,800 facilities, the Israeli food processing sector is an important player in the domestic economy. In 2020, Israeli food processors' annual revenue stood at $19.26 billion while the beverage and tobacco industry's annual revenue was $2.42 billion.

Saudi Arabia is the largest economy in the Arab world and home to a growing food manufacturing and processing sector. Total investments in the sector are projected to reach $70 billion in 2030, an increase of approximately 59 percent over total investments in 2016.

On October 20, 2021, Israel passed its proposed tax for soft drinks, concentrates, and powders (HS 20.09, 21.06, and 22.02).

The United States is one of the top three leading suppliers of imported consumer oriented agricultural products to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a total of $737 million in 2020, a 29.8 percent decrease from 2019 due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

On July 15, 2021, Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry (MTI) signed Decree No. 322/2021. The decree renewed an earlier decision that extended the shelf-life validity period for imported frozen fish from six to nine months and of frozen beef liver from seven to ten months.

The U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement (FTA) is the only U.S. FTA on the African continent and offers advantages to exporters seeking to do business in Africa.

COVID-19 shook the Israeli economy. As a result, Israel’s GDP contracted by 2.6 percent in 2020. Though thanks to a very high rate of inoculation and the reopening of the economy since mid-February, Israel’s GDP is projected to grow by 6.3 percent in...

Egypt imported some $3.2 billion worth of consumer-oriented products in 2020. This is a 3 percent increase of the 2019 imports value of $3.1 billion.

Post anticipates a significant increase in U.S. high-value food product exports to Saudi Arabia in 2021 due to expansion of the retail sector.

Morocco notified G/SPS/N/MAR/76 on April 16, 2021. An unofficial translation is included in this report. Comments are due no later than June 15, 2021. The notification states the names and characteristics of preserved tomatoes and tomato concentrate.

Egypt’s food and beverage manufacturing and processing sector suffered about $2.2 million (about a 10 percent decrease in sales) due to diminished tourism as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.