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On October 28, 2022, Tongaat Hullet’s management announced that they opted to go into voluntary business rescue due to the company’s severe levels of financial distress. On Tuesday November 1, Tongaat Hullet missed the deadline to pay R401 million ($22.9 million) for cane delivered by 4,300 growers in September.

The Government of Nicaragua has refused to issue import permits or has rejected shipments of U.S. poultry products – including raw frozen cuts, fully cooked products, and day-old chicks – from U.S. states where high pathogenicity avian influenza cases have been reported.

On November 9, 2022, The International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa (ITAC) announced the initiation of the sunset review of anti-dumping duties (ADDs) of frozen bone-in portions of poultry from the United States.

South Africa has robust and experienced regulatory system for genetically engineered products, which started with the publication of the “GMO” Act of 1997. Today, South Africa is amongst the top-10 largest producers of GE crops in the world and has approved 27 GE plant events for commercial production contained in three commodities, namely, corn, soybeans, and cotton. South Africa’s corn yields doubled over the past 20 years, while soybean production improved 10-fold.

Despite being passed in 2010, Nicaraguan biotechnology legislation lacks implementing regulations that would open additional opportunities for farmers and food processors to integrate new technologies into their operations. However, Nicaraguan companies continue to regularly import genetically engineered feed grains and oilseed products to support the growing livestock sector.

Post forecasts that South Africa’s corn area will stay flat in marketing year 2022/23. The current high input cost environment and an upsurge in soybean plantings are deterring any bullish outlook in expanding corn area, despite record high commodity prices and three consecutive bumper crops. Higher farming input costs are escalating the risk of production in a weather-dependent industry.