BRAZIL, August 5, 2004 -- This report outlines the requirements for food and agricultural imports for Brazil. All sections in this report have been update to reflect changes implemented by the Brazilian government as of July 28, 2004.

VENEZUELA, August 5, 2004 -- Post is reducing the Venezuelan white corn crop forecast this month since heavy rains at planting time preventing a significant area from being sown. The main producing state of Portuguesa was most heavily affected, and sources estimate that less than half of the normal area may have been planted. The reduction in white corn for human consumption has caused the major corn flour producers to start looking for sources of white corn outside Venezuela. The decline availability of corn flour will put added pressure on wheat and rice consumption.

FRANCE, August 5, 2004 -- Updated on July 29, 2004: Sections Updated: -Section II: Labeling Requirements -Section VI: Other Regulations and Requirement: Pet Food -Section VII: Other Specific Standards: Organic Foods, Alcoholic Beverages, wine and beer

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, August 5, 2004 -- Sections updated: Food Laws, Packaging and Container Requirements, Other Regulations and Requirements, Other Specific Standards, Copyrights and/or Trademark Laws, Import Certification and Documentation Procedures, Government Regulatory Agency Contacts and Other Import Specialist Contacts. The FAIRS report is based on Dominican regulations for importing food products. This report is intended to help U.S. exporters meeting local import requirements and facilitate trade between the United States and the Dominican Republic.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- This report contains an UNOFFICIAL translation of China's drafted National Standard for Labeling of Pre-Packaged Foods (GB7718). It also includes China's related notification to the World Trade Organization (G/TBT/N/CHN/33) dated November 17, 2003. News reports indicate the regulation has been adopted and will be put into gradual implementation with a grace period until October 1, 2005.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- This report is an UNOFFICIAL translation of China's drafted National Standard for Special Nutrient Dietary Food Labeling (GB13432). The report includes China's related WTO notification (G/TBT/N/CHN/34) dated November 13, 2003. News reports indicate the regulation has been adopted and put into gradual implementation with a grace period until October 1, 2005. Note: final approved language is not yet available.

INDIA, August 5, 2004 -- India's CY 2005 beef exports are forecast to reach 625,000 tons (CWE). Increasing investments in meat processing capacities, efforts by exporters to improve the quality of meat through the introduction of feedlots, and extension efforts by the private sector are expected to propel Indian beef exports to new heights, both in terms of quantity and unit values.

INDIA, August 5, 2004 -- Post's estimate for India's 2004/05 cotton production is lower at 15.2 million bales (170 kg) from 8.2 million hectares due to the lack of monsoon rains in July. Imports are expected to rise to 2.0 million bales on tight domestic supplies.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- This report is the China FAIRS Working Index. It is an index of all the agricultural product import regulations and standards that have been translated by the Agricultural Affairs Office of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. All translations are UNOFFICIAL.

MALAYSIA, August 5, 2004 -- Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) production rose 6.4 percent to 1.2 MMT in June 2004. Carry-over levels at the end of June also rose to 1.2 MMT. However, palm oil exports declined to 890 TMT in June. The average local CPO price dropped from US$410/MT in June to US$390/MT in July.

FRANCE, August 5, 2004 -- According to a scientific report recently issued by the French government, the French Food Safety Agency (equivalent to the FDA in the United States), has come up with definite conclusions indicating that, under certain circumstances, biotech crops can be beneficial to human health. The reports explicitly says that the production of new crops that are resistant to insects would have a doubly positive impact on both farmers and consumers' health by lowering their exposure to pesticides and to mycotoxins. The entire text of the French Food Safety Agency report can be found on http://www.afssa.fr/ftp/afssa/2004-SA-0246-Bénéfices-OGM.pdf.

INDIA, August 5, 2004 -- MY 2004/05 rice production is revised down to 80 million tons due to drought or floods in several major rice growing areas. Coarse grain production, particularly millet, is also likely to decline sharply. Lower grain stocks and drought concerns will likely discourage the government from providing grain export subsidies.

INDIA, August 5, 2004 -- Based on the information from shipping sources, Post estimates July 2004 soybean oil arrivals to increase to 67,250 tons compared with 59,075 tons imported a month ago.

INDIA, August 5, 2004 -- *Government presses drought button*, *Rainfall deficiency increases to 28 percent*, *No compromise on agriculture, India tells WTO*, *UPA may rework FTA with Thailand*, *Big Mac plans to pump in over $55 million in next 2 years*, *Godrej plans foray into food retailing*, *BANGLADESH: Crop loss assessed at $233 million*.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- Updated on July 30, 2004 Section Updated: Section I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, IX, and APPENDIX Updates include information on food labeling standards including imported organic products (Section II.A), meat imports (Section VI), mandatory assessments of biotech crops (Section VII), etc.

EU-25, August 5, 2004 -- The European Commission recently published its proposal for a new European Fund for Fisheries (EFF). The new fund will replace the current financial program and provide aid to the European fishery industry for the period 2007-2013.

GREECE, August 5, 2004 -- Tobacco production in 2003 was 117,700 MT dry weight basis, and is expected to decline to 115,500 MT in 2004. Tobacco exports of unmanufactured leaf totaled 70,923 tons in 2003 and are forecast to increase to 85,000 in the current year. Tobacco production is traditionally an important sector of Greek agricultural production, and cigarette manufacturing is a significant source of employment. The tobacco sector employs 6.1 percent of the total labor force in Greece. CAP reform agreed in April 2004 will change production, under a phased implementation, with significant changes not expected until 2010.

ITALY, August 5, 2004 -- No changes. Report contains food and agricultural import regulations for Italy. This report supplements GAIN Report E23195 on EU labeling requirements, trade regulations customs and standards. Policies and regulations are flexible, and are subject to change. Exporters are encouraged to work with Italian importers to ensure streamlining of labeling, distribution and import approval.

TURKEY, August 5, 2004 -- Within the Turkish Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Affairs (MARA), the General Directorate of Protection and Control is the competent authority that performs official food control in accordance with Turkish Food Law. In May 2004 Turkey published a new food law that is ultimately the framework for harmonizing Turkish food law with the EU. In a significant change, this decree transfers some regulatory responsibility from the Ministry of Health to MARA. This decree also establishes a multi-agency National Food Codex Commission that will review and authorize any revisions to the Turkish Food Codex. The establishment of this commission is expected to take several months and is likely to further delay the harmonization process as well as any other pending changes to the Turkish Food Codex.

CHILE, August 5, 2004 -- This document was prepared based on responses given by the Ministry of Health.

MEXICO, August 5, 2004 -- This report is in addition to MX4093. On July 22, 2004, Mexico's Secretariat of Economy (SE) announced in the Mexican Federal Register the new over-quota import tariff for yellow corn. This tariff will be effective July 23, 2004 and will remain in force until December 31, 2004. Officials of the SE stated that the 2004 NAFTA Tariff Rate Quota (3,359.2 MMT) for corn has not been filled yet.

COSTA RICA, August 5, 2004 -- No changes

CHILE, August 5, 2004 -- Updated on: July 30, 2004. Section(s) Updated: Section II A,B,D,E, Section III, Section V, Section VI, Section VII 8, 6, 8, 9, 10, Section VIII and Appendix I Compliance with Pesticide Residue Regulations.

TAIWAN, August 5, 2004 -- Updated on July 30, 2004. All major sections of the report have been updated. This report outlines requirements for food and agricultural imports into Taiwan. The report aims to assist U.S. exporters with labeling, packaging, import procedures, and other relevant information. Please contact this office if you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions about the material contained in this report (see Appendix II for contact information). Please see Disclaimer on page 3.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- This report contains an UNOFFICIAL translation of China's approved National Standard for Peanut Oil (GB1534-2003). The Standard, now scheduled for implementation on October 1, 2004, was notified to the WTO on July 28, 2003 (G/TBT/N/CHN/24). For reference, the United States has not established standards for peanut oil. This Standard for crude, pressed, and solvent extracted peanut oil is more detailed than the corresponding Codex standard, but appears reasonably consistent.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, August 5, 2004 -- This report contains an UNOFFICIAL translation of China's approved National Standard for Soybean Oil (GB1535-2003). The Standard, now scheduled for implementation on October 1, 2004, was notified to the WTO on July 28, 2003 (G/TBT/N/CHN/25).

CZECH REPUBLIC, August 5, 2004 -- On July 29, 2004, the State Veterinary Administration (SVA) confirmed the thirteenth case of BSE in the Czech Republic. The concerned animal was a 59-month old cow, born on August 3, 1999 on a farm in Podhorni Ujezd, in the district of Jicin. In the next months, 143 cows of cohort will be destroyed and tested.

GERMANY, August 5, 2004 -- The German food service sector is highly fragmented. Total turnover in 2003 amounted to 55.5 billion Euro ($62.8 billion). Following two years of economic downswing, the outlook for the near future is gradually improving. Based on the continuing trend for foreign foods, the German HRI sector offers good potential for U.S. suppliers.

EU-25, August 5, 2004 -- Although Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it enjoys a special trade relationship with the EU. In the last several years, the two parties have completed two sets of bilateral trade agreements, each of which include trade in agricultural products. Such agreements have helped to increase Swiss imports of agricultural products from the EU - at the expense of imports from the rest of the world.

MEXICO, August 5, 2004 -- The Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fishery and Food (SAGARPA) published an announcement that extends the enforcement of NOM-EM-006-PESC-2004, which establishes the sanitary requirements for aquatic health in the production and mobilization of live & dead crustaceans, their products and by-products, and the import of such into the country. This regulation continues to limit the number of entry points for U.S. shrimp exporters while imposing additional trade and certification requirements, but the impact on U.S. exports is not forecast to be significant. This NOM will be in effect until December 28, 2004.

COTE D'IVOIRE, August 5, 2004 -- Cote d'Ivoire's labeling regulation requires that consumer ready products must have French labeling or a readable translation not in an abridged form. All pesticides have to be approved or have a provisional authorization for sale before importation or manufacture in Cote d'Ivoire. Trademarks and brand names are protected under domestic laws according to the Bangui Agreement. Approved customs clearing agents are exclusively responsible for clearing imported and exported products.

EL SALVADOR, August 5, 2004 -- Updated on: 7/31/04. Section(s) Updated: Food Laws, Other Regulations and Requirements, and Appendix A and B.