Page 92 - Food Outlook

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FOOD OUTLOOK NOVEMBER 2017
COUNTRY
PRODUCT Grains
DATE
POLICY
CATEGORY/ DESCRIPTION
Russian Fed.
10 300 (USD 178 per tonne), 4-grade wheat at RUR 9 000 (USD 156) per tonne, and 5-grade wheat at RUR 7 600 (USD 132) per tonne.
Announced a 10.3 percent discount on transportation charges for export shipments from 12 regions when grain is transported through the Russian ports. The discount is effective from 1 October 2017 until 30 June 2018.
Rwanda
Wheat Grains Wheat
Import tariff Production support Import tariff
Jun-17 on condition that Rwanda would not export these crops to Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania or Uganda. The tariff on wheat was removed in an effort to ease domestic supply pressure and curb food inflation.
South Africa
Sep-17 tariff is at the lowest level since February 2015, and it comes after a decline in South Africa’s wheat crop production in 2017/18.
Sri Lanka
Maize and wheat
Import duty
Reduced import duty on wheat and wheat flour, respectively from LKR 9 to LKR 6 per kg (from USD 58 to USD 39 per tonne) Aug-17 and from LKR 25 to LKR 15 per kg (from USD 162.6 to USD 97.6). In addition, maize import duty was reduced from LKR 60/70
Sudan Tanzania
Wheat
Import ban
to LKR 10 per kg (from USD 390/455 to USD 65 per tonne). Oct-17 Approved a temporary ban on wheat flour imports.
Turkey
Wheat Grains Maize
Import duty Import duty GMO policy
Jun-17 Lifted all restrictions on imports of wheat from the Russian Federation, that Turkey had put in place in May 2017. Jun-17 Reduced wheat, barley and maize custom duties from 130 percent to 45, 35 and 25 percent respectively.
Aug-17 Approved one type of genetically modified maize (MON87460 type) and its products for feed use.
Ukraine Uzbekistan Venezuela Vietnam
Wheat Wheat Maize Maize
and wheat
Export quota
Import duty
Government procurement Import policy
Oct-17 Agreed with traders the maximum volume of wheat exports for July 2017 – June 2018 at 16.5 million tonnes.
Aug-17 Reduced import duties on wheat flour import from 30 percent to 10 percent.
Oct-17 Fixed the price of maize at VEF 2 100 (USD 210.5).
Sep-17 Announced the resumption of imports of Distiller’s Dried Grains (DDGs) which had been suspended since December 2016.
Zambia
Aug-17
Zimbabwe
Government market intervention
Sep-17 Signed USD 600 million credit line with African Export-Import Bank in an effort to stave off a foreign-currency shortage that has afflicted importers of several commodities, including maize.
Wheat
Government procurement
Approved new prices for grain purchasing interventions in the 2017/18 marketing year. It sets the price for 1-grade soft Aug-17 milling wheat at RUR 12 500 (USD 216) per tonne, 2-grade wheat at RUR 11 500 (USD 199) per tonne, 3-grade wheat at RUR
Grains Wheat
Transport measure Stock release
Sep-17 Oct-17
Announced the selling of 1.5 million tonnes of wheat from state reserves in order to reduce expenditures on maintaining stockpiles.
Waived 35 percent external tariff on wheat imports for Rwanda. The East African Community (EAC) waiver was approved
Maize
Export ban
Jun-17
Announced a ban on the exports of unprocessed food crops, including maize. The measure aims to ease supply pressure and curb food prices, as well as support the domestic food-processing industry.
Maize and wheat
Import requirements
Sep-17
Imposed a requirement that agricultural imports from the Russian Federation receive approval from Turkish authorities starting from 9 October. Approvals will be sought for nine products, including maize and wheat.
Maize Maize
Export duty
Government procurement
Jun-17
Reintroduced a 10 percent tax on white maize exports. The export duty was first approved in January, but has not been effective due to the export ban that was in place until April 2017.
Announced new maize purchasing price for the 2017/18 MY (May/April) at MWK 60 (USD 0.08) per 50 kg bag, 30 percent lower than in the previous year. The procurement target is set at 500 000 tonnes.
Maize Maize Maize
Stock release
Aug-17
Authorized 100 000 tonnes of maize from the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) for export to East African countries and the Great Lakes region.
Government market intervention
Announced top 23 traders of Russian grain signed the “Charter on Grain Turnover”, which was developed to discipline the May-17 procedures for VAT reimbursement on exported agricultural products. According to the Russian legislation, companies that
Import ban
Jun-17 Banned maize import for unspecified period after recording a bumper crop
INSTRUMENT
Jun-17
Invested USD 50 million in a factory to produce cereal-based fortified foods in Kigali. The joint venture aims to reach more than 1 million people annually.
Lowered its wheat import tariff to ZAR 379.34 (USD 28.74) per tonne, down 60 percent from the previous tariff. The new
export products are eligible for VAT refunds on any purchases they make for exports.
* A collection of major grain policy developments starting in July 2010 is available at: http://www.fao.org/economic/est/est-commodities/commodity-policy-archive/en/?groupANDcommodity=grains
Major policy developments