Agri News

On the morning of September 3, BMEL Parliamentary Secretary of State Hans-Joachim Fuchtel and his delegation met with Zhou Jianping, executive deputy director of the Beijing International Horticulture Exhibition Coordination Bureau (BIHECB) and Wang Chuncheng, deputy director of BIHECB to discuss the plans for the German Exhibition Zone and Pavilion. Following the meeting deputy director Wang Chuncheng accompanied Fuchtel and […]

This PigProgress article looks at the impacts the US-China trade war may have on the global markets for pork and soybean. China as well as Mexico recently introduced import tariffs to pork and soy in reaction to the import tariffs introduced by the US. By targeting the US agriculture, the measures aim at president Trump’s supporters in the US countryside. […]

On July 25, 2018 the European Court of Justice decided that gene editing techniques including CRISPR-Cas9 developed after 2001 are subject to the same strict safety regulation with regard to genetically modified organisms. Chinese media have reported about the court verdict and quote undisclosed scientists and entrepreneurs, who call the decision a drawback rather than a breakthrough. The reports compared […]

On July 8, newly appointed German agriculture minister Julia Klöckner met her Chinese colleague Han Changfu in Berlin. The two ministers agreed on closer cooperation in the field of research and rural development, as well as exchange in the field of digitalisation in agriculture and food industry. They agreed that the Chinese market will be opened for imports of German […]

On May 22, new EU rules on organic farming and labelling of organic products have been adopted. The new rules are designed to cope with fast growing global organic food market. Production rules are simplified and harmonized. The control system will be strengthened along the entire supply chain. Producers from third countries will have to comply with the same rules […]

The recent trade conflict between China and US, and China’s (later revoked) announcement to impose tariffs up to 178% on sorghum imports caused turmoil on the global grain markets. According to the US Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy the announcement of such high tariffs did not come out of the blue but is based on an ongoing Chinese investigation […]

Around 90 participants joined us for the Launch Event of the 2nd Phase of the DCZ. The partners and experts from various agencies, research institutes and companies were addressed by Mr. Friedrich Wacker, Deputy Director-General for International Cooperation & Global Food Policy in the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), and Mr. Tang Shengyao, Deputy Director-General of the […]

Corresponding to the efforts mentioned above to increase domestic soybean production in April a sharp drop by almost 14 percent in soybean imports due to VAT changes have been reported.
https://www.reuters.com/article/china-economy-trade-soybeans/update-1-chinas-april-soybean-imports-fall-13-7-pct-as-border-inspections-toughen-idUSL3N1SF22F

Amidst the trade conflict with the US, China is undertaking efforts to increase domestic soybean production. According to Reuters a recent document by the provincial government of Heilongjiang, one of China’s major grain producing regions, calls for an extra 5 million Mu (333,333 ha) to be planted with soybeans in 2018.
https://www.reuters.com/article/china-soybeans/china-launches-emergency-campaign-to-boost-soy-output-idUSL3N1SA32I

During this year’s Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) under the motto “shaping the future of livestock – sustainably, responsibly, efficiently” and in the framework of the International Green Week (IGW), DCZ attended to a Chinese Delegation from the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC) of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, Director General Mr Yang Yi and European Division Head […]