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Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act (R.A.) No. 12078 on December 9, 2024, which extended the implementation of the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF) until 2031.

The Philippine Food and Drug Administration (PFDA) reiterated its jurisdiction on the regulation of veterinary drug products. The PFDA clarified that it shall regulate finished products for therapeutic purposes for animals, including veterinary drugs, medicated feed products, and antimicrobials.

In recent years, the demand for nuts in South Africa – especially almonds – has risen with consumers’ desire for nutritious snack choices and in-home baking ingredients. Food manufacturers have increasingly used almonds in baked goods, breakfast cereals, mixed snacks, granola bars, and trail mixes.

FAS Manila forecasts lower milled rice production in Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 compared to MY 2023/24 due to a series of weather disturbances. FAS Manila forecasts an increase in imports in MY 2024/25 to address reduced domestic production and increasing consumption attributed to population growth.

In Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 growers in South Africa are forecast to divert more citrus volumes towards processing as elevated prices make juicing a lower risk alternative. The production of orange, grapefruit, tangerine/mandarin and lemon in MY...

Reaching pre-pandemic levels in 2025, FAS Manila sees continued food service sales growth at 12 percent with the expansion of stores and customer queues in restaurants. As more consumers dine out, restaurant chains open new restaurants, cafes, kiosks...

South Africa's hotel, restaurant, and institutional (HRI) industry has mostly recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the sector continues to struggle from inflation, high food prices, and persistent unemployment. All the same, the food...

Import permits for genetically engineered (GE) corn from the United States are once again issued by South Africa. After a mid-summer drought that caused a 22 percent drop in production, South Africa needs to import corn to supplement domestic production.

Post received confirmation on United States genetically engineered (GE) soybean eligibility to enter South Africa. After a mid-summer drought, South Africa needs corn and soybean imports to complement local production. South Africa allows for the importation of synchronized GE event approvals from an exporting country.

The Philippines has been a pioneer within Asia in adopting biotechnology crops. On April 17, 2024, the Court of Appeals (CA) ruling on the Writ of Kalikasan revoked the biosafety permit for commercial propagation of golden rice and directed the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to cease and desist from commercially propagating and conducting activities relating to Bt eggplant.

The production of apples, pears and table grapes is forecast to improve in MY 2024/25 from MY 2023/24 based on the cold, wet winter of 2024 and new trees coming into production.

Wine grape production in 2025 is forecast to improve by five percent on favorable winter conditions, which will translate into a slight increase in wine production.