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Ghana is in economic recovery mode following the double hits of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak of 2020 and the macroeconomic crisis of 2022. The Ghanaian hotel-restaurant-institutional (HRI) sector is evidencing a promising upward trajectory.

Post raises its marketing year (MY) 2024/25 cotton production estimate to 6.2 million metric tons (MMT) on record high yields of more than 2.1 MT per hectare.

MY2024/25 cotton area harvested for Senegal, Mali, and Burkina Faso is estimated to decrease 17 percent to 981,000 HA. This is mainly due to decreased planted area resulting from a late rainy season in all three countries, as well as civil conflict in Burkina Faso.

Under a new policy, importers of wine and distilled spirits whose domestic agents are registered within the Shanghai Free Trade Zone are no longer required to register the U.S. producer name and brand as a trademark in China prior to commercial sales.

The General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) Bureau of Import and Export Food Safety (BIEFS) updated the list of products and codes subject to Decree 248.

On October 30, 2024, the National Agriculture Technology Extension Service Center (NATESC) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) released its supply and demand forecast for major crop seeds (i.e., rice, corn, wheat, soybean, cotton, and rapeseed) for Marketing Year (MY) 2024/25 at the National Seed Information Exchange and Commodity Trading Fair.

On November 15, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation announced that, effective December 1, the 13 percent export tax rebate for used cooking oil (UCO) under HS code 151800 would be eliminated.

Import permits for genetically engineered (GE) corn from the United States are once again issued by South Africa. After a mid-summer drought that caused a 22 percent drop in production, South Africa needs to import corn to supplement domestic production.

On October 25, 2024 the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) published a National Smart Agriculture Action Plan (2024-2028) (hereafter “Action Plan”).

On October 18, 2024, China notified National Food Safety Standard for Sterilized Milk Amendment No. 1 to the World Trade Organization (WTO) under G/SPS/N/CHN/1322.

The biotechnology regulatory system in Ukraine is still not fully developed, but the country is gradually adjusting its domestic policies to align with European Union regulations.

On July 26, 2016, Côte d’Ivoire enacted its national Biosafety Law No. 2016-553. This law establishes the groundwork for managing genetically engineered (GE) products.