Browse Data and Analysis

On February 26, 2025, the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Israeli Ministry of Health published a request for public comments on changes to five European Union regulations related to labeling (including messages and prohibited and restricted substances in food) and food improvement agents.

On February 7, 2025, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) released Sugar Order No. 2 (SO2) authorizing the voluntary purchase of 500,000 metric tons (MT) of raw sugar to avail of an allocation in the government’s sugar importation program.

On February 18, 2025, the Philippines notified the World Trade Organization Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade of the Department of Finance’s Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 001-2025.

On February 11, 2025, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) issued Sugar Order No. 3 (SO3), allowing new applications for construction and expansion of bioethanol facilities using molasses as feedstock provided certain conditions are met.

On January 24, 2025, the Philippine Department of Finance announced the issuance of Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 001-2025, which provides the implementing guidelines of the pre-border technical verification (PTV) and cross-border electronic invoicing (CEI) of all imported commodities.

The Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) declared a food security emergency related to rice on February 3, 2025, citing an extraordinary increase in prices.

On February 5, 2025, the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Israeli Ministry of Health published a request for public comments on the domestic application of changes to the Annex to European Union Directive 396/2005, amending the regulation for the maximum residue levels (MRLs) for pesticides in food and feed of plant and animal origin.

On January 29, 2025, the Israeli Ministry of Justice and the Israeli Ministry of Health published a request for public comments for the application of changes to the Annex of European Union Directive 2023/915.

Recent amendments to the Israeli Law for Enhancement of Competition in the Food Sector (2014) highlight the efforts of the Israeli government to lower the cost of living.

The Philippines' private label grocery market is projected to reach $896 million in 2025, representing seven percent of total food and beverage grocery sales.

The Philippines operates a two-stage inspection process to clear imported agricultural products. Under the Department of Agriculture (DA) Administrative Circular No. 6 (2022), DA conducts a physical inspection at the port (first stage, known as the first border) and at the authorized premise or warehouse (second stage, known as the second border).

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act (R.A.) No. 12078 on December 9, 2024, which extended the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) until 2031.