KENYA - The regional trade bloc, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has approved an extension safeguarding Kenyan sugar industry from cheap imports from the region for two more years. According to Business Daily, the July 14 nod, granted by the bloc’s Council of Ministers in a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia protects Kenya…
CHINA - China has agreed to reopen its market to imports of German poultry meat, since it had stopped imports after an outbreak of the bird flu disease in Germany, according to German agriculture minister Julia Kloeckner. Reuters reported that Kloeckner said in a statement after talks in Berlin with Chinese agriculture minister Han Changfu…
INDIA - The government of India has further extended the ban on milk and its product imports from China including chocolates, candies and other confectioneries based on food safety concerns. The ban, imposed from 22 June 2017 to 23 June this year has now been extended to December 23 covering ‘food preparations’ with milk or…
FRANCE - France’s National Assembly passed an amendment banning the use, import and marketing of any food product containing titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a food additive as a component of France’s farm and food bill currently under debate. A 2017 French scientific study highlighted the potential carcinogen risks of nanoparticles of Ti02. However, EFSA stated…
SOUTH KOREA - South Korea has announced that it has suspended wheat and flour imports from Canada after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced that it had discovered genetically modified (GM) wheat in southern Alberta. On June 15, Japan temporarily halted imports of Canadian wheat saying it was reviewing tests that Canadian officials had…
USA - The United States has threatened to impose a 25% tariff on products with ‘industrially significant technologies’ from China while the latter has promised retaliatory measures on 100 types US goods including 25% tariff on soybean. The new measures were announced by US President Donald Trump on June 14 prompting a haste response from…
TANZANIA - Tanzania has formally lifted the ban on meat product imports from some specific processing facilities in South Africa following the outbreak of listeriosis declared in the country by the Minister of Health early last year. A statement from the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) however indicated that imports from some factories associated…
INDIA - India will eliminate all single-use plastic in the country by 2022, a pledge that is the most ambitious yet of the global actions to combat plastic pollution that are taking place in 60 nations around the world. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has announced that the move aims to drastically stem the flow…
UK - A group of UK MPs has called for a ban on cartoon and fictional characters being used to promote unhealthy, high-sugar foods as part of a raft of proposed measures to cut down on childhood obesity. According to FoodingredientsFirst, stripping out familiar characters like Kellogg’s breakfast cereal’s Tony the Tiger and Coco Monkey…
FRANCE - The French government has intensified campaign against titanium dioxide used as a pigment to bring a bright and smooth white appearance to pastries or confectionery or to opacify yogurt and ice cream, according to FoodingredientsFirst. The country is debating to ban the use of titanium dioxide as an additive in recipes by the…
