ADM, Bunge, Cargill, LDC partner to modernize global agricultural trade

On October 25,  Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), Bunge Limited, Cargill, Inc., and Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) announced they are working together to find ways to standardize and digitize global agricultural shipping transactions for the benefit of the entire industry. In the short term, they hope to address inefficiencies in processing trade documents. In the long term, they seek to improve trade by moving away from paper-based documents to a digital-based approach. Benefits of this would include improved quality and reliability of documents, greater visibility across supply-chain movements, standardized data using technologies accessible to all players, and increased overall efficiency and transparency.

Read the full press release here.

U.S. FDA Plant and Animal Biotechnology Action Plan

On October 29 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Announced that it will be implementing what it calls a “Plant and Animal Biotechnology Innovation Action Plan” that is scheduled to be rolled out in phases in 2019 through 2020. The action plan aims to implement and clarify risk-based policies with the goals of ensuring that developers know what they need to do to efficiently bring a product to market, and that consumers and the public understand how the FDA’s regulatory system helps ensure the safety of such products. The Action Plan identifies concrete priorities in three key areas:

• Advancing public health by promoting innovation
• Strengthening public outreach and communication
• Increasing engagement with domestic and international partners

A copy of the action plan can be found here.

Farewell to Brigid

On Wednesday, October 31 NAEGA bid farewell to our intern Brigid Flay. NAEGA intern since May 2018, Brigid is leaving to take up an exciting full-time opportunity at the U.S. Grains Council. We wish Brigid all the best!

Do you know someone who is interested in interning with NAEGA? If so, please email Ryan or Gary for more information.  

New Venezuela Related Sanctions

On November 1 U.S. President Trump signed an Executive Order Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Venezuela. The order is designed to counter rampant corruption within the Government of Venezuela, which continues to exacerbate the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting the Venezuelan people. With this order, OFAC expects to use its discretion to target in particular those who operate corruptly in the gold or other identified sectors of the Venezuela economy, and not those who are operating legitimately in such sectors. This includes, for example, persons engaging in dishonest or fraudulent conduct, illicit activity, or deceptive transactions within Venezuela’s gold sector or other identified Venezuela sectors, with the purpose or effect of misappropriating Venezuelan resources in those sectors for personal, professional, or political gain.

A copy of the order can be found here and a FAQ page regarding the order can be found here.

Vietnam Announces Temporary Suspension of November 1 Deadline for ReExport of Grain for Canada (creeping) Thistle

On October 17, 2018 Vietnam announced suspension of the November 1 implementation date for a policy of re-exporting any grain (from all origins) in which seeds of Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense) are detected.  Instead, if Canada thistle is detected in imports, Vietnam will continue to require conditioning or supervised processing. Vietnam stated that it is now reviewing comments from importers and the U.S. and Russia before further action.  No timeline has been announced, but USDA APHIS has requested that the suspension continue at least until pest risk discussions with supplying countries are concluded.  After which, Vietnam’s National Plant Protection Organization’s website states that a two-month notification period will allow importers to make any necessary adjustments to any new announced measures.

Canadian Plant Health Council Launched

On October 12, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), as part of its Plant and Animal Health Strategy for Canada, launched the Canadian Plant Health Council (CPHC). The CPHC consists of eleven members from national industry associations, academia, and government and will work to address priorities for the plant health sector, with the goal of protecting Canada’s agriculture, plants, and forests. In the coming weeks CPHC will be developing the Plant and Animal Health Strategy for Canada, and will be responsible for prioritizing and delivering plant health-related activities under the strategy and for facilitating cooperation across governments, industry, academia, and other partners.

More information on the CPHC and the Plant and Animal Health Strategy for Canada can be found here.

U.S., Canada, Mexico announce USMCA trade deal

On Sunday, September 30 the United States, Canada, and Mexico announced that they have reached a deal to update NAFTA after over one year of negotiations. The revised NAFTA will now be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

Several highlights of the USMCA include increased access for U.S. dairy, poultry and eggs into Canada, improved labor and environmental rights, and increased intellectual property provisions. Canada agreed to non-discriminatory wheat grading. The USMCA also included a robust biotechnology section within which a working group for cooperation on agricultural biotechnology was created. For now, the United States’ 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum from Canada and Mexico remain in place.

The release of the text by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative triggers a 60-day review period before President Trump can sign the agreement. The review period ends on November 30, allowing the USMCA to be signed by the current Mexican administration before the new administration takes office on December 1. Find the full text of the agreement here.

U.S. Imposes $200 Billion in Tariffs on China; China Retaliates

On Monday, September 24 the Trump Administration began implementing tariffs on a list of products announced on September 17. This latest set of tariffs are set at 10 percent on $200 billion worth of imports from China. These tariffs come on top of the $50 billion worth of tariffs already imposed earlier this year, meaning nearly half of all Chinese imports into the United States will soon face levies. The tariffs will remain at 10 percent until the end of the year, and if China does not make adequate concessions, these new tariffs will then increase to 25 percent on January 1, 2019.

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) published a list of the wide range of products that will be affected.

In response, the Chinese government announced retaliatory tariffs of 5 to 10 percent on $60 billion of imports from the United States. Items effected range from meat to wheat to aircraft and took effect on September 24.

U.S., Korea Sign Revised Trade Agreement

On Monday, September 24 U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae- issued a joint statement regarding the conclusion of the negotiations to revise KORUS, the Korea-United States free trade agreement.

The updated KORUS agreement includes several small changes that could result in improved Korean market access for U.S. automakers, an extension of U.S. tariffs on Korean pickup trucks until 2041, and Korean steelmakers being subject to a quota of about 2.68 million tons of steel exports that will be exempt from the new tariffs. This is 70 percent of the annual average Korean steel exports to the United States between 2015-2017.

U.S., Japan to Begin Trade Negotiations

On Wednesday, September 26 U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a joint statement announcing that the United States and Japan will enter into trade negotiations for a United States-Japan Trade Agreement. The agreement will encompass goods as well as services, and both countries are also willing to discuss other trade and investment issues.

In the statement, the United States and Japan emphasized that this agreement will respect the positions of both governments on sensitive trade topics, including automobiles and agriculture.

Read the full statement here.