Browse Data and Analysis

This report highlights the food processing industry, its drivers, key players, and market landscape in the Caribbean Basin. The region relies heavily on imports, and the United States is the largest supplier of food ingredients.

The United States is a major trading partner with the Dominican Republic (DR). The DR is the largest economy in the Caribbean and the seventh-largest economy in Latin America. Since the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) went into effect for the DR in 2007, U.S. agricultural exports to the DR have increased from $1 billion in 2007 to $2 billion in 2024.

The Caribbean Basin region has a robust and competitive hotel/restaurant/institutional (HRI) sector. Tourism is a major economic driver, accounting for nearly 9 million visitors in 2023, almost 50 percent of which arrived from the United States...

Angola currently does not allow the production of genetically engineered (GE) plants or animals. Food aid imports containing GE ingredients are permitted with certain conditions. In December 2004, Angola’s Council of Ministers approved a decree prohibiting production and importation of genetically engineered GE crops.

Access to the benefits of modern agricultural biotechnology in the Caribbean Basin remains stifled by the unfinished work of implementing a science-based, risk-management approach to regulate its use.

This report documents Angola’s technical policies, practices, and import requirements for food and agricultural products. Notable updates include numerous veterinary health certificates for animals and animal genetics.

This report summarizes Angola’s general food laws, regulatory authorities, major import/export procedures, food and packaging/labeling regulations, registration measures, and other trade facilitation issues.

In the Caribbean region, sales value in the retail grocery sector increased by 3 percent in 2023. This is due in part to the rise in tourism in many markets, which is boosting economic growth. The largest grocery retail markets are Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, and the Bahamas.

Post forecasts 2025 chicken meat imports will be maintained at 190,000 metric tons (MT). Although chicken meat imports have been declining for years due to devaluation of the Angolan currency (kwanza), growing food price inflation, significant limitations on foreign exchange are expected to continue to repress imports, resulting in 2024 and 2025 reflecting the lowest level of consumption since 2016.

As tourists flock back to the Caribbean in larger numbers and island economies regain their footing after being challenged by global inflation, competition, and other headwinds, opportunities for U.S. suppliers are slowly emerging. While hurdles remain present on the horizon, U.S. suppliers are finding resilient Caribbean buyers to be excellent partners on the road to commercial success.

With a population of nearly 36 million people, including a segment of high-income consumers looking for quality imported products, Angola presents an array of export opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products. Angola is a significant importer of food and agricultural goods, making foreign purchases totaling more than $1.7 billion from more than 60 countries in 2023.

On April 1, 2024, Angola issued Presidential Legislative Decree No. 1/24 – a new Schedule for Customs Tariffs of Import and Export Duties. The new tariff schedule aims to generate more government revenue while also protecting domestic production.