Once Panama blocked the entry of animal products from Costa Rica, discussions at the technical level progressed, but when the issue was brought to the political arena, the process to solve the trade conflict stalled.
In early July of this year, Panama informed the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), an agency of the Costa Rican Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), about the decision not to extend the authorization for export to a list of Costa Rican establishments previously authorized and that have been commercializing in the Panamanian market for many years.
As of October this year, the U.S. country will begin one of the phases of implementation of the new front labeling on food and non-alcoholic beverages, under the Labeling Law NOM-051 of the Ministry of Health.
One of the arguments that support the amendments to the Standard is the situation of health and welfare of citizens in the country. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2018 (to date, the latest report released), 35.6% of children between 5 and 11 years old are overweight and obese. Meanwhile, children and young people between 12 and 19 years old report 38.4%, according to the Guatemalan Association of Exporters (Agexport).
In the first nine months of 2019, cardamom exports grew 52% over the same period in 2018, a rise explained by global product shortages and high demand in the Middle East market.
Figures from the Bank of Guatemala state that between January and September 2018, and the same period in 2019, foreign sales of cardamom increased by $132 million, from $253 million to $385 million.
Mieles Joya de Cerén began exporting certified organic honey to Costa Rica, and in the coming months plans to start marketing it in Portugal and Spain.
The Salvadoran company began certification in 2017, and after analyzing 4,000 hives in 87 bee houses owned by seven national beekeepers, was able to complete the process.
Saúl Díaz, regional director of Swisscontact, the institution implementing the project called Promotion of Competitiveness for Sustainable Beekeeping (Focapis), told Elmundo.sv that "... Of the 80 tons of certified organic honey, 60 will go to Costa Rica and in the coming months will be sold to Portugal and Spain. This achievement breaks the paradigm that it was not possible to certify organic honey as a small country, with conventional production systems, and opens the way for other producers to venture into high-value markets with differentiated products."
For businessmen in the sector the decline in dairy sales to May this year is mostly because of the rise in tax obligations in the country, directly impacting on export competitiveness.
Data from the Center for Export Procedures (Cetrex), say that between January and May 2018, and the same period in 2019, foreign sales of dairy fell from $53 million to $45 million, equivalent to a fall of 16%.
The strong growth reported in past years in foreign sales of frozen fruit from Costa Rica has declined, a situation that businessmen believe is because of market saturation.
According to data from the Foreign Trade Promoter (Procomer), between 2016 and 2017 foreign sales of frozen fruit grew 21%, from $65 million to $79 million, but for the period between 2017 and 2018 the increase was just 1%, going from $79 million to $80 million.
In Panama, the processing plant Union Livestock received the endorsement to market beef in the Asian country, and it is expected that the first containers will be shipped in late April.
At the end of last year, it was reported that the meat product plants that received the endorsement by the General Administration of Customs of China to start selling their products to the Asian giant were Matadero de Chiriquí, S.A.
Between January and September of last year, trade in milk and dairy products between the countries of the region totaled $240 million, and more than 75% was bought by companies in El Salvador and Guatemala.
Figures from the Trade Intelligence Unit at CentralAmericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
Because of the foreign sales of companies in Guatemala and Honduras, during the first six months of 2018 regional exports totaled $100 million, 19% more than in the same period in 2017.
Figures from the Business Intelligence Unit at CentralamericaData: [GRAFICA caption="Click to interact with graphic"]
After the approval of three beef processing plants in Panama by the Chinese authorities, it is expected that in the first months of 2019 the Central American country will begin to export its products.
The meat products plants which received the endorsement by the General Administration of Customs of China to start selling their products to the Asian giant were Matadero de Chiriquí, S.A. (Machisa), Unión Ganadera, S.A. (Ungasa) and Macello.
Adapt the country's sanitary norms to international standards and unify food import and export systems is part of the plan proposed by the Varela administration.
In order to take advantage of commercial agreements and increase exports to the European and North American markets, the government is working to consolidate its health systems.
The Panamanian Association of Exporters (Apex) CEO, Rosmer Jurado, said to Elcapitalfinanciero.com that "… the government's decision to initiate the process of unification and modernization of the country's health system is key to ensure that importers and exporters fulfill the same standards, so that consumers are assured that imported products meet the same quality requirements as domestic production, ensuring their safety."
In Guatemala a trade mission to the US city is being organized for November 5 to 9 for export companies of fresh and manufactured products geared towards the retail segment.
The Business Intelligence Unit at AGEXPORT's Market Development and Commercial Promotion Department is calling on entrepreneurs from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors to be part of the Commercial Mission to Chicago in the United States, from November 05 to November 2018.
Although traditionally banana exporters from the Dominican Republic have focused on European countries, overproduction of the fruit is forcing them to look for opportunities in the US market.
From a report by Procomer:
For years banana exports from the Dominican Republic have concentrated on the European market, however, the situation occurring in local banana farming, with an overproduction that has found no outlet abroad, makes it clear that the sector needs to work quickly in order to break through to the North American market and stop relying exclusively on Europe.
Due to growth in demand for the fruit at an international and local level, Guatemalan producers see potential for expanding the crop in the coming years.
Since 2002 demand for the fruit in the US has doubled and in Europe it has grown 20% in the last three years, this has generated positive expectations for local producers who foresee business opportunities.
With a few weeks to go before the end of the 2017/18 agricultural cycle, entrepreneurs in the sector project that production will amount to 1 million hundredweight less than initially expected.
In a complicated context, with international prices at record lows and rising local production costs, Honduras is projecting less grain production for this cycle.