Browse Data and Analysis

This report is an annual update of Venezuela’s agricultural product import standards and enforcement mechanisms for U.S. exporters of agricultural commodities, foods, and beverages.

This report identifies the export certification requirements for agricultural and food products.

FAS/Managua projects MY 2025/26 sugar production to reach 840,000 metric tons, up ten percent from MY 2024/25, assuming a more balanced rainy season and an increase in sugarcane plantations.

Market year (MY) 2025/2026 Venezuelan sugar production is forecast to grow upward to 415,000 metric tons on account of steady yields, continued access to crop inputs, and sustained profit margins within the sugar industry.

FAS (Post) forecasts Venezuelan market year (MY) 2025/2026 corn production to reach 1.2 million metric tons (MMT), a 14 percent decrease year-on-year due to a significant drop in seed availability for the summer planting season.

Record-high remittances continue to boost consumer spending in 2024. U.S. agricultural exports to Nicaragua through September 2024 are up four percent compared to the same period in 2023.

The Venezuelan private sector supports biotechnology use and application. Nevertheless, the Venezuelan authority maintains a ban on the domestic use and research of modern biotechnology-derived agriculture.

In June 2024, the Nicaraguan Institute of Agricultural Protection and Health (IPSA) issued an executive resolution to strengthen the risk mitigation measures for the monitoring and testing of GE grains.

FAS estimates Venezuela corn production at 1.36 million metric tons for the new market year (MY) 2024/2025 on a planted area of 350,000 hectares. Significant economic uncertainty persists following the July 28, 2024, presidential election, and higher inflation and a scarcity of U.S. dollars will likely inhibit increased corn acreage and limit yields.

Consumer trends in Nicaragua are shifting towards modern retail channels as remittance flows increase. Supermarkets are expanding rapidly, with one grocery store chain opening eight new locations in 2024.

Since 2014, Venezuela’s total meat consumption has declined 57 percent due to prolonged economic downfall. Nevertheless, since 2019, an improved economic environment has led to stabilized beef production and significant growth in the poultry sector. In 2024, total per capita meat consumption is forecast to be 32.4 kilograms, growing 83 percent from its 2018 record low.

This report provides information on export certification requirements for U.S. food and agricultural exports to Nicaragua. There were no significant changes to required export certificates since the 2023 report.