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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
A European Commission (EC) draft proposal could lead to a loosening of regulations long criticized by plant breeders as inhospitable to new genetic engineering techniques such as gene editing.
The European Union has been on a mission for the past decade to ban the foreign use of food names like bologna, gruyere and feta cheese, depriving U.S. producers of markets around the world, but a bipartisan roster of lawmakers has stepped forward to try to curb the EU campaign.
Eastern European leaders have consistently supported Ukraine as it battles Russian forces, but they are struggling to maintain that united front as their farmers contend with Ukrainian grain that has flooded their domestic markets and depressed prices.
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative and allow Ukrainian wheat, corn and other farm commodities to continue flowing out of Odesa ports as the war rages on, according to a statement by the United Nations on Saturday, the last day for the deal to be extended.
Concerns are growing in the U.S. that the European Union’s push to cut pesticide usage in half under the Farm to Fork scheme could have a major impact on the ability of U.S. farmers to export to buyers in the 27-nation bloc.
When U.S. consumers want gruyere cheese, they’re seeking a kind of cheese and not demanding that it was produced in the Alpine regions of France or Switzerland. That’s essentially the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which ruled that gruyere is a generic name that can be used by U.S. cheese makers.
Exports of Ukrainian corn and wheat that supplied Africa, the Middle East, Asia and European Union all but halted when Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago, closing down Black Sea ports. Now, there is a scheme to lessen the impact if those ports are closed again, European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski tells Agri-Pulse.
Spain's highly subsidized olives will be facing stiff antidumping duties after a World Trade Organization ruling favorable to U.S. growers allowed the Commerce Department to confirm the tariffs.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be announcing new funding today to expand domestic meat processing capacity. Sixteen states will share the assistance, including California, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, New York, Texas and Wisconsin.
