Browse Data and Analysis

In March 2024, the Council of the European Union and European Parliament concluded negotiations on the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Regulation. The current text is going through a legal review but is now de-facto final and is expected to be formally adopted in the coming months.

On April 22, 2024, Canada announced the implementation of a Federal Plastic Registry to monitor the types and volumes of plastic products, including plastic packaging used in agriculture and food manufacturing, through their life cycle on the Canadian market.

In marketing year (MY) 2024/25, Canada’s total production of principal grains (wheat, durum, oats, barley, corn) is forecast to increase by 4.9 percent to 61.4 million metric tons (MMT) over the previous year on an additional 1.7 MMT of wheat production. In MY 2023/24, FAS/Ottawa is forecasting a 55 percent increase in corn imports over the previous year, on strong demand for animal feed due to the impacts of drought in the Prairie Provinces.

EU27 beet sugar production for MY 2024/25 is projected to remain unchanged at 14.8 million metric tons (MMT), with increased cultivation across member states offsetting a slight decline in France.

In MY 2024/25, EU grain production is anticipated to exceed the previous season’s levels and amount to 274 MMT. Excessive rain currently prevails in the EU’s northwest, hampering winter grains development and impeding spring planting operations.

Colombia is the largest South American market for U.S. agricultural products and the seventh-largest market for U.S. food and beverage exports globally. Since the U.S. – Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (CTPA) was implemented in 2012, U.S. agricultural exports have grown by more than 235 percent to a record $3.7 billion in 2023.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency updated its labeling requirements for fresh grapes and the use of sulfur dioxide gas on fresh grapes during storage and transport – a result of the reclassification of sulfur dioxide when used under different scenarios.

MY 2024/25 European Union oilseed production is forecast to decline by about one percent over the previous year with good yields. This forecast is based on the assumption of average growing conditions, lower, more average yields, but increased area which cannot make up for the lower yields.

FAS/Ottawa forecasts oilseed crush capacity (the estimated maximum rate of crushing at which a mill can operate continuously while maintaining a proper level of efficiency) reached 12.99 million metric tons (MMT) in March 2024 and will reach 15.14 MMT by the end of the 2025 calendar year, up from 11.23 MMT in 2023.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) opened public consultations on the scheduled five-year review of the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA).

Health Canada is proposing a policy revision for foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), cattle and swine and their progeny.