The law which required packages of meat beef and pork products to have a label indicating the country of origin is no longer in effect.
After repeated resolutions from the World Trade Organization, which authorized Canada and Mexico to implement economic retaliation measures worth more than $1 billion, the US Congress has finally decided to remove the law that requires labeling of all red meat products which are sold in the retail market in the country.
On November 27th and 28th in Managua the third Agro Rural Central Business Meeting will be held, in which producers and buyers in the region will be taking part.
The event will include the presence of 50 cooperatives and associations of producers and 15 Costa Rican Nicaraguan and Guatemalan buyers, who will take part in the 90 business appointments already confirmed by the organizers, reports Republica.gt.
Industrial and milk producers have denounced that there is a growing presence in the region of products which are described as dairy but which do not contain milk nor comply with health regulations.
Ranchers, farmers and representatives of industrial companies reported the matter to the Panamanian Food Safety Authority (Aupsa), arguing that "... in the local market food products such as ice cream and cheeses can be seen, which instead of having dairy components, are processed with other raw material and substitutes that are not permitted by Panamanian health and import regulations.
The company Rio Grande Foods has announced that it will be building a dairy plant in San Martin, in the department of San Salvador.
The Salvadoran company founded in the United States and engaged in the manufacture and distribution of typical food products in Latin America, will build the production plant in San Martin, "... in the same area where it already operates its plant producing nostalgic food and powdered milk. "
The total amount of exported kilos of milk rose from 76 million in 2013 to 92 million in 2014, with the number one destination being Central America, mainly Guatemala and El Salvador.
Data from the National Chamber of Milk Producers (Caprole) indicates that after Guatemala and El Salvador, the rest of the isthmus is the main market for exports of Costa Rican milk, but the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela are beginning to have greater preponderance among the markets where milk produced in Costa Rica arrives.
Dairy imports into Honduras remained stable between 2013 and 2014, increasing by only 4% in each year, making a total of $42 million worth of imports in 2014.
Within the sector of dairy imports the product which increased the most was milk and cream , going from $15 million in 2013 to $20 million in 2014, which is an increase of 33% in imports.
However, imports of fresh cheese (unripened), including whey cheese, and curd, recorded a reduction of 43%, going from $8.3 million in 2013 to $4.7 million in 2014.
In 2014 imports of food preparations totalled $115 million, which is an increase of 22% compared to 2013.
Within this category, imports of composite preparations for the beverage industry recorded an increase of $18 million between 2014 and 2013, making a total of $53 million last year.In turn, imports of bread improvers recorded increase of 88% between the two years, going from $2 million in 2013 to $4 million in 2014.
The government intends to develop, using public-private partnership model, a distribution center for agricultural products.
The central government has presented the initiative to representatives of the Chamber of Agriculture and Agribusiness (Camargo), and estimated that the work would require an investment of between $80 million and $100 million.
In 2014 imports of leather goods and saddlery amounted to $1,647 million, a growth rate averaging 7% a year.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER):
Leather has resurfaced as one of the leading fashion styles, both on Canadian catwalks and in retail stores, being recognized for its softness, durability and luxuriousness.
Paraguayan exporters have requested health permits to sell meat to Panama, from where they plan to redistribute it to other countries in the region.
Currently a sanitation mission from Panama is inspecting the health system and industrial facilities in Paraguay, which has the advantage of having authorization to export to the European Union. This certification would facilitate the process of obtaining permits in Central America.
The Superintendency of Competition is investigating whether the mills El Angel and La Magdalena carried out operations that could be considered economic concentration.
From a statement issued by the Superintendency of Competition (SC):
SC launches an investigation against two mills
The Superintendency of Competition has initiated an investigation against the operators Ingenio El Angel SA de CV and Ingenio La Magdalena, SA de CV, to determine whether or not they infringed the Competition Act by having operations that could be considered economic concentration, without requesting approval from this Office, which they are obliged to do.
The agricultural chambers in the region are preparing law proposals to be presented in the Central American countries to remove the restrictions on growing GM foods.
Representatives from FECAGRO said the use of agricultural biotechnology allows for improved technology that enables high productivity seeds, reduces agrochemical use, creates more drought-resistant crops that can also be irrigated with salt water and are completely safe for human consumption.
Agro-export activity in the region will not be able to compete with efficient producers in Asia if they do not generate more added value and industrialize production processes.
More productivity is what producers and exporters in the Agricultural Sector in Central America need to achieve if they want the competitiveness of their products to be not only maintained, but increased.
The Salvadoran and Venezuelan joint venture, already a participant in the food, financial and energy sectors, will be supplying agricultural insurance for grain producers.
With insurance policies for farmers, the conglomerate Alba Alimentos "... promises to pay farmers who provide basic grains to Alba an the amount of $420 per acre if their plantations suffer drought, flooding or other damage."