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On July 7, 2024, Chile’s new alcoholic beverages labeling law will come into force. The law aims to warn drivers, pregnant women, and minors about the impacts of consuming alcohol and to restrict the advertisements that could be directed to minors.

FAS/Managua projects marketing year 2024/25 peanut production to rebound to a record high of 230,000 metric tons on sustained high area planted and improved growing conditions following a damaging El Niño cycle in 2023/24.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) opened public consultations on the scheduled five-year review of the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA).

Brazil, a BRICS emerging economy, is the world’s sixth-largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter. Change in land use and forests (including deforestation and wildfires) is the main source of GHGs in Brazil, followed closely by agricultural production.

Despite initially optimistic projections for the 2023/24 harvest, the El Niño has negatively impacted the corn and wheat crops. As a result, Post estimates corn production in MY 2023/24 will decrease to 122 MMT.

Wheat consumption in the Dominican Republic (DR) during marketing year (MY) 2024/25 (July 2024/June 2025) is forecast at 490,000 metric tons (MT), unchanged from the previous MY. Dominican wheat imports are forecast to rise to 670,000 MT due to manufacturers’ international expansion plans and growth in the hotel, restaurant, and institutional (HRI) sector.

In marketing year (MY)2024/25, Guatemala is forecast to produce 2.4 million metric tons (MT) of sugar from a harvested area of 242,000 hectares (Ha). Though harvested area is increasing as positive sugar prices in the international market motivate producers to keep up renovation with improved local genetics, overall production is forecast to drop four percent for the estimated harvest of MY2023/24 (2.5 million MT), due to a late start to the rainy season and an extended El Niño year.

Chile has a modern and developed food and beverage processing industry. The Chilean food sector is the second most relevant export sector in the country after mining. There are significant opportunities for imported food ingredients in Chile, as half of all ingredients used by the food processing industry are imported.

Health Canada is proposing a policy revision for foods derived from somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), cattle and swine and their progeny.

Peru has a robust food processing industry that is an integral part of its economy. The food industry contributes to nearly 27 percent of the country's industrial gross domestic product (GDP). However, the non-primary manufacturing sector, which encompasses food and beverage production, experienced a decline of 8.1 percent in 2023.

Though relatively small, the Costa Rican food processing sector relies on U.S. exporters to maintain critical supply chains. Proximity, reliability, and familiarity help make the United States the preferred supplier for a wide range of food processing ingredients, including wheat, corn, and animal proteins.

For MY 2024/25, Post forecasts cotton area to grow 13 percent compared to the current season, to 1.87 million hectares. Post also forecasts cotton production at a record 15.4 million bales (3.3 million metric tons (MMT)) on the back of significant area increase.