Browse Data and Analysis

Post forecasts consumption of cotton in the Malaysian textile industry at 290,000 bales in marketing year (MY) 2022/23, a 3.3 percent drop from the previous year post’s estimate. The expected reduction is based on textile companies shifting their operation to other South-East Asian countries as the cost of labor increased in Malaysia with the revision of new minimum wages on April 1, 2022.

The following changes have been made to the 2022 FAIRS report: 1) Section II – Labeling. Effective December 1, 2023, food containing hydrogenated oils must be labeled. 2) Section III – Packaging. Glass and plastic bottles will be subject to additional levies. 3) Section VI – Other Requirements, Regulations, and Registration Measures.

Brazil is the world's second-largest producer of biotech crops. Post forecasts a 10-percent increase in area planted to biotech crops in the upcoming 2013/14 Brazilian crop year (October-September).

China is expected to remain a significant importer of biotech products and may become an exporter of biotechnology in the medium to long term.

Colombia continues to expand its biotechnology frontier. The adoption rate for biotech corn has surpassed that of cotton and the development of a regulatory framework is underway.

Recent high-profile activism against biotechnology has created uncertainty among those involved in production and research of biotechnology products in Costa Rica.

El Salvador has no legal restriction on the use of agricultural biotechnology. However the country's biotech regulatory framework is still being developed.