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This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) report with Italy-specific information. Italy's FAIRS provides contact information for the competent authorities that are responsible for the import of animal, plant, fish, and food products into the Italian market.

This report is intended to supplement the FAS U.S. Mission to the EU's Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards (FAIRS) Certificate report with Italy-specific information. The U.S. export certification requirements for most products of animal and plant origin destined for the EU and Italy have been harmonized. The few products not yet harmonized are subject to Italian regulations which can be found in this report.

With a stable democracy, predictable business climate, and economic growth fueled by a resurgent tourism industry, Costa Rica presents excellent export opportunities for U.S. food and beverage exporters in 2023.

FAS/San José anticipates Costa Rican orange production to rise to 305,000 metric tons in marketing year 2022/23, despite challenging growing conditions, as effective citrus greening management and increased density tree patterns drive yields higher.

The members of the Pacific trade bloc Alliance advanced Costa Rica’s bid for full membership, charting a course for Costa Rica to formally join Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile in 2023.

This report offers information for U.S. companies interested in exporting agri-food products to Italy, including an overview of the country's economic situation, market structure, export requirements, and best product export opportunities.

This report describes production, trade, research, policy, and marketing issues of genetically engineered (GE) plants, animal products, and microbial biotechnology in Italy. Despite Italy’s opposition to GE products, the Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry Policies, along with leading farmers’ associations (Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, and Cia), agri-food industry players, and scientists have come forward in favor of innovative biotechnologies, such as genome editing.

Though area planted with genetically engineered crops continued to fall in 2022, expanded operations of another cottonseed producer, opportunities to increase pink pineapple exports, and a new government opposed to ‘red tape’ could reverse this trend in 2023. While neither livestock nor other animal producers in Costa Rica appear interested in animal biotechnology applications at this time, a regulatory structure exists.

U.S. exports of consumer-oriented products rose 34 percent in 2021, climbing to $394 million, due in part to a strong recovery in the tourism sector. There were more than 1.4 million in-bound international travelers through July 2022, slightly off the pre-pandemic pace, but more than double 2021 levels and including nearly 820,000 Americans.

This report gives an overview of the food service – hotel, restaurant, and institutional sectors in Italy and outlines current market trends, including best product prospects. In 2021, Italy’s consumer food service value sales registered an increase of 23 percent compared to 2020 in spite of the lingering COVID-19 pandemic.

On July 6, the Government of Costa Rica published a draft executive decree that would dramatically reduce tariffs on imported milled and rough rice. The vast majority of U.S. rice exported to Costa Rica in 2021 (valued at $25 million) entered under a duty free quota for rough rice established by the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement.

The Costa Rican retail sector is growing despite lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain disruptions, and rising prices. An increasing number of modern supermarkets stock an expanding range of imported products that reflect global and local retail trends, including clean labels, responsible packaging, and organic products.