INDIA, March 11, 2004 -- Post expects a bumper rapeseed crop estimated at 6.2 million tons during MY 2003.

EUROPEAN UNION, March 11, 2004 -- The European Commission has launched an Internet consultation on how to improve the practical application of the principle of mutual recognition, which underpins the EU Internal Market. Interested parties are invited to respond to a questionnaire by April 30, 2004. Mutual recognition should allow products legally sold in one Member State to be sold in all the others without having to comply with different rules in each Member State, thus avoiding a costly technical and bureaucratic burden for businesses. Earlier last year, the Commission had published a document clarifying the mutual recognition principle.

SPAIN, March 11, 2004 -- The property boom continues with an expected new dwelling starts record of 700,000 units this year. While renovation activity continues firm, the furniture industry is stagnant, and builders' joinery and carpentry products continues strong but trade has notably deteriorated with increased imports and decreased exports. Cooperage activity has dramatically declined because wineries have reduced barrel purchases. Forest products imports remained stagnant last year at $1.51 billion. U.S. forest product imports have continued to decline through 2003, but the appreciation of the euro should fuel a rebound in 2004.

EUROPEAN UNION, March 11, 2004 -- On March 1, 2004, the European Union's sanctions against certain U.S. exports to the EU enter into force. This is part of the long running dispute between the EU and U.S. over the American Foreign Sales Corporations rules (FSC). The EU measures take the form of an additional 5% tariff rising by 1% per month through to March 2005 should no resolution to the dispute be found. The move by the EU is designed to create pressure to encourage U.S. Congress to repeal the current FSC legislation.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, March 11, 2004 -- This report forecasts MY04/05 total soybean imports to reach 25 MMT and the preliminary estimate of soybean imports for MY03/04 is 22 MMT. High soybean prices, high freight rates and, to a lesser extent, the current problems caused by avian influenza, will limit imports in the near term. Longer term, however, limited land, a strong economy,

EUROPEAN UNION, March 11, 2004 -- This weekly report contains data on rice prices in the U.S., Thailand and the EU. It also lists current import duties and export subsidies in the EU. All information will be published as such in the USDA publication "Rice Market News".

DENMARK, March 11, 2004 -- The Danish Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries has proposed legislation to regulate the co-existence of genetically modified (GM) and conventional/organic crops. The proposed legislation would authorize the Minister to determine the mandatory distances and time intervals between GM crops and conventional/organic crops and would require that farmers obtain government approval to plant GM crops. Under the proposal, farmers would be required to pay DKK 60 (about 8 Euros) per GM crop hectare per year into a compensation fund to be used to indemnify farmers whose conventional/organic crops are damaged from GM genetic drift. The proposed legislation faces an uncertain future in the Danish Parliament, which is generally opposed to GM crops and food production.

QATAR, March 11, 2004 -- Qatar imposed a temporary ban on imports of all poultry meat and its products and all kinds of eggs from the United States as of February 12, 2004, due to the incidence of cases of Avian Influenza in the country.

EUROPEAN UNION, March 11, 2004 -- The European Commission has launched a new on-line helpdesk to facilitate developing country access to EU markets. With the launch of this helpdesk, the EU hopes to counter some of the criticism about the damaging effect their market access policy has on developing countries.

EUROPEAN UNION, March 11, 2004 -- On February 23, 2004, the European Commission published a set of amendments to the wine labeling regulation. In an effort to conform with its international commitments under the TRIPs Agreement, the EU has adopted new conditions for the use of traditional expressions on wine labels by third countries.

ARGENTINA, March 11, 2004 -- Wheat production is forecast to increase slightly in Marketing Year (MY) 2004/05, up 6 percent from the previous marketing year. Total wheat production is forecast at 14.3 million metric tons (MT). Corn, rice, and sorghum are expected to remain stable. Production for these commodities for MY 2005/06 is 12.5 million MT, 596,000 MT, and 2.1 million MT, respectively. Corn feed domestic consumption is forecast to increase but should be offset by a fall in non-feed consumption. Total MY 2004/05 domestic corn consumption is forecast at 4.1 million MT. Wheat and wheat product exports are expected to continue increasing, as are rice exports. Sorghum and corn exports, however, are expected to be stable or down slightly.

PERU, March 11, 2004 -- Rice production in 2004 is expected to fall due to drought during the planting season. Post's revised production estimate is 1.15 MMT for 2004, a reduction of 28 percent compared to the previous year. Imports are now forecast at 150,000 MT a significant increase compared to the 15,000 MT imported in 2003.

VIETNAM, March 11, 2004 -- Prices firmed up further especially for 25% broken rice that will be shipped to the Philippines. Export volume for March is expected to be 450 thousand metric tons.