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Shining Light on Farm & Food Policy for 20 Years.
Friday, April 19, 2024
U.S. agricultural exports must contend with a wide range of trade barriers not based in science that impede access to overseas markets, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said in its latest National Trade Estimate Report.
Moscow seems intent on letting the Black Sea Grain Initiative expire this coming Monday, but the United Nations is equally resolved to preserve the deal and prevent food prices from rising in some of the poorest nations.
The United Nations was quick to applaud a deal struck in mid-May to keep the Black Sea Grain Initiative from imploding under Russian pressure, but about two weeks later Moscow is again blocking vessel access to Ukrainian ports amid talks to clear an obstacle to Russian ammonia exports.
A deal has been reached to keep Ukrainian grain exports flowing out of Odesa ports for at least two more months under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, according to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea resumed Wednesday after a one-day halt amid tensions over Russian demands to improve its ability to export fertilizer, according to a United Nations spokesman.
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.
Russia is once again raising doubts about the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the long-term viability of the improbable wartime deal that is allowing Ukraine to supply much of the world with grain and keep food prices from skyrocketing in some of the poorest countries.
Russia’s repeated claims that the Black Sea Grain Initiative only helps wealthy nations have kept Ukraine on the defensive for months. Now, Ukraine is trying to flip the script on Moscow, with support from the U.S., United Nations, Japan, France, Norway and other countries.
