Browse Data and Analysis

On May 2020, the European Commission announced a revision of the legislative framework for Geographical Indications (GIs) as part of the European Union (EU) Green Deal’s Farm to Fork Strategy.

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.

Hong Kong continues to take random tests on imports of chilled and frozen foods and their packaging for the COVID-19 virus.

The European Commission is banning titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive in the EU, starting with a six-month phasing out period as of February 7, 2022, until August 7, 2022, after which a full ban applies. Following the publication of Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63 in the EU’s Official Journal (OJ) on January 18, 2022, Annex II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 on food additives will be amended accordingly.

Both EU beef and pork production are forecast to decline in 2022. The lower domestic beef production is caused by a shrinking dairy herd with higher milk deliveries but a lower output of animals for slaughter.

As part of the European Green Deal's Farm to Fork Strategy (F2F), the European Commission (EC) aims to review EU legislation for animal welfare and align it with the general sustainability goals. In particular, the EC has requested the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) provide scientific opinions for new animal welfare initiatives.

On February 16, 2022, the European Commission launched a four-week call for evidence on an upcoming report that will assess the rationale and legal feasibility of applying EU health and environmental standards to imported agricultural and agri-food products such as animal welfare standards, processes, and production methods.

Just over one third of the European Union (EU) budget, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2023-2027 was formally adopted after extensive stakeholder dialogue and negotiation between the co-legislating EU institutions: the European Commission, the Council of Member States (MS) Agriculture Ministers (AGRIFISH), and the European Parliament.

Saudi Arabia’s barley imports for the first six months of Marketing Year (MY) 2021/22 is estimated at 2.36 million metric tons (MMT), a 41 percent decrease compared to the same period last year.

Climate change is an increasing challenge for Austrian agriculture and Austrian agricultural policy. The Austrian government tries to counteract the adverse effects of the climate change through specific climate protection programs and measures.

U.S. exporters of composite products will face new documentary requirements for shipments to the European Union after January 15, 2022. The new requirements are broken down into three categories of composite products: non-shelf stable, shelf stable with meat, and shelf stable without meat.

U.S. beef exports into the EU’s High Quality Beef (HQB) quota had a hard time in 2021 as they suffered from the repeated closures of the EU hospitality sector from COVID-19. EU imports of U.S. beef decreased substantially after the end-of-year 2020 holiday season and only gradually increased throughout 2021 again