Cairo | Reuters — The price of wheat and flour used to make unsubsidized bread has spiked in Egypt as importers struggle to pay for wheat stuck at ports amid a dollar shortage, traders and the country’s chamber of cereals told Reuters this week. Around 700,000 tonnes of wheat haven’t been released from customs, causing […] Read more

Egypt’s private sector wheat imports stall due to dollar shortage
"We are in the red zone"

Direct compensation for fertilizer tariffs not on table
Eastern farm groups call for help ahead of fall seeding
Farmers in Eastern Canada who rely on imports of Russian-made fertilizers aren’t going to see direct compensation for the federal government’s general tariff on those products. A clutch of farmer and ag industry groups on July 15 put forward a new request to Ottawa for compensation to farmers “negatively impacted” by a 35 per cent […] Read more

Biden says U.S. baby formula shortage to ease in weeks
Shortage follows major Similac recall in February
Washington | Reuters — The U.S. baby formula shortage should improve dramatically in coming weeks, President Joe Biden and top officials said on Friday as the administration scrambled to reverse a shortfall that hits lower-income Americans particularly hard. The U.S. is working with manufacturers to allow more importation of baby formula, Biden told reporters in […] Read more

Ukraine could lack seed for years, French producers warn
Paris | Reuters — Reduced production of crop seed in Ukraine due to war with Russia could affect the country’s grain production for several years, a French seed industry group said on Thursday. Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, is widely expected to see its harvest shrink this year as Russia’s invasion disrupts […] Read more

P.E.I. table stock potato exports to U.S. now allowed
New U.S. order replaces previous requirements; seed potatoes still blocked
Exports of Prince Edward Island table stock potatoes are again officially allowed to enter the mainland United States, after new U.S. entry rules regarding potato wart were published Friday. Canada’s federal Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said on Twitter that officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are now preparing to certify exports of eligible […] Read more

Mainland U.S. moving to resume P.E.I. potato imports
P.E.I. growers get 'certainty' for spring planting, Bibeau says
Exports of fresh potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the mainland U.S. are expected to resume “soon” as U.S. officials move to put new rules in place for such shipments. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) said Thursday that Canada “is expected to soon resume exporting (P.E.I.) table stock […] Read more

Iraq to create strategic wheat reserve
Reuters — Iraq will allocate US$100 million to urgently purchase wheat and create a strategic reserve by importing three million tons of the grain, the commerce minister said in a statement on Monday. “The ministry has a plan to achieve food security for citizens and to address the global rise in food prices due to […] Read more

Pulse weekly outlook: India removes tariffs on most lentil imports
MarketsFarm — Lentil suppliers in Canada have received a bit of a boost from a surprise policy decision overseas. India’s government on Feb. 12 suspended all tariffs on most lentil imports, which will reduce costs for its two largest exporters, Canada and Australia, to ship the crop to the country. The tariff removal is not […] Read more

China blocks Lithuanian beef, dairy, beer as Taiwan row grows
Canada seeks to join EU trade case against China
Beijing/Vilnius | Reuters — China suspended imports of beef, dairy and beer from Lithuania this week, Lithuania’s veterinary control agency said on Thursday, amid a growing trade dispute over the Baltic nation’s relations with Taiwan. China’s General Administration of Customs had informed the country it was halting the exports due to “lack of documentation,” the […] Read more

High-path H5N1 avian flu hits Nova Scotia turkey farm
Trade curbs in place; U.S. also has an outbreak in Indiana
Updated, Feb. 10 — Highly pathogenic avian flu has again landed in domestic birds in Atlantic Canada — but this time on a commercial turkey farm, leading other countries to halt imports from Canada’s feather sectors for now. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency last week filed a report with the World Organization for Animal Health […] Read more