SPAIN, December 9, 2002 -- The lifting of mandatory testing in response to EU alerts on Microtoxins on U.S. tree nuts and peanuts will occur sooner as Spain has lowered the number of shipments that must undergo tests following the receipt of an EU alert by Spain.

EGYPT, December 6, 2002 -- Egypt Exported 257,000 MT of oranges in 2001/2002, mostly to Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries in the region.

AUSTRALIA, December 5, 2002 -- Widespread drought has sharply reduced Australia's 2002/03 wheat and barley harvests, with expected declines of 56 percent and 53 percent, respectively, from year-earlier levels. Reduced wheat and barley output is expected to sharply curtail exports. The drought and shortages of irrigation supplies are expected to lead to sharp production declines for cotton, rice and sorghum. Exports of these commodities are also expected to fall sharply. An expected 300,000 MT of grain are expected to be imported over the next three months to alleviate feed grain shortages. ABARE released revised commodity projections on December 2, 2002.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF, December 5, 2002 -- Korea's MY 2002/03 Unshu orange crop (Korean mandarins) is estimated at 636,000 MT, a two-percent decrease from the previous year. Plans to implement a citrus check-off program are unlikely to be realized in MY 2002. Producers are concerned Chilean table grape imports under a new FTA will compete with Korean citrus production.

JAPAN, December 5, 2002 -- On November 21, the Food Agency (FA) conducted its fifth Simultaneous Buy and Sell (SBS) tender for feed wheat and barley during Japanese fiscal year 2002. The FA contracted 3,025 metric tons (MT) of wheat and 180,000 MT of barley. According to trade sources, all of the wheat will be purchased from China and at least 56,000 MT of barley will be purchased from either Ukraine or Germany.

JAPAN, December 5, 2002 -- On November 26, the Food Agency (FA) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) conducted its fourth Ordinary Minimum Access (OMA) rice tender for the Japanese Fiscal Year 2002 (April 2002 - March 2003). Of the total 138,790 metric tons (MT) of contracted foreign rice, U.S. rice accounted for 69,000 MT (49.7 percent). Rice not contracted under the SBS tenders is expected to be rolled over into the remaining two OMA tenders.

JAPAN, December 5, 2002 -- Because of potential human health risks of di (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) as an endocrine disrupter, effective August 1, 2003, the Japanese government will ban the use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which containes DEHP for food packaging.

JAPAN, December 5, 2002 -- This fall, fierce competition forced Israel to reduce expected Japanese imports of Sweeties. Competition came from Sunkist's Oroblanco, which successfully debuted in the Japanese market this year, and earlier high-quality harvests of Japanese Unshu mikans (tangerines) and Florida grapefruits and Florida grapefruit exporters announced their plan to export 12 million cartons of grapefruit in 2002/03. Traders are concerned about weak demand for the large crop of small sized U.S. navels oranges, however. Japanese imports of concentrated OJ declined 16 percent in 2001/02, a trend that is expected to continue unless alternative supplies are found for Brazilian sourced product. While the volume of U.S. imports of OJ did not increase, imports of U.S. grapefruit juice did increased 20 percent.

INDIA, December 5, 2002 -- Exports helped the GOI to contain grain stocks build-up. Nonetheless, large stocks should prompt the government to continue its subsidized grain export program.

BULGARIA, December 5, 2002 -- The Bulgarian poultry industry saw stable development over the last 4 years with growing production. Local demand and consumption are increasing due to growth in the retail and food service sectors. Total imports continue to increase with the majority of imports in turkey meat used both for meat processing and direct consumption. First-half-of-2002 import data show record poultry imports (January-June). The United States continues to be a leading poultry supplier and good export opportunities are forecast in 2003.

FRANCE, December 5, 2002 -- In 2002, French oilseed production totaled 4.99 million MT, up from 4.77 million MT in 2001, mainly due to higher rapeseed yields. Production included 3.29 million MT rapeseed, 1.51 million MT sunflowerseed, and 191,000 MT soybeans. In 2001/02, French consumption of soybean meals increased by 7 percent, soybean meals replacing meat and bone meals banned in animal feed rations. As a result, soybean imports, crush and imports of meals increased significantly. In MY 2001/02, Brazilian soybeans remained the market leader with a 48 percent share, but the market share of U.S. soybeans increased to 38 percent.

GREECE, December 5, 2002 -- The 2002/03 citrus forecast shows recovery from weather damage last year. Fresh orange production in 2002/03 is forecast 8% higher than last year. Fresh lemon production in 2001/02 was disproportionately hurt by weather, but it will not recover as readily as farmers opt for replacing trees with tangerines or non-citrus tree crops. Tangerine production should reach 85,000 MT and lemons should reach 100,000 MT in 2002/03.

BRAZIL, December 5, 2002 -- Total Brazilian MY 2003/04 orange crop is forecast at 405 Mbx, down 9 percent from current crop, assuming normal weather conditions prevail. The Sao Paulo commercial area should amount for 320 Mbx, an 11 percent reduction from the current crop (360 Mbx). Major reasons that should affect the expected reduction in Sao Paulo include the drop of the flowers and fruits after the first blossoming due to dry and hot weather in October, the off-year of the biennial cycle of the Hamlim and Valencia varieties, the expected decrease in the number of bearing trees and disease related problems such as canker and CVC. Total FCOJ production for MY 2003/04 is projected at 1.086 mmt, 65 Brix, down 220,000 mt from the current season, due to lower expected availability of fruits for processing. MY 2002/03 FCOJ exports are estimated at 1.256 mmt, 65 Brix, a 17 percent increase from the previous MY.

JAMAICA & DEP, December 5, 2002 -- This is an update of the post report on the market for consumer-ready food and beverage products in the retail sector in Jamaica.

EUROPEAN UNION, December 6, 2002 -- 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 weekly USDA publication "Rice Market News".

PHILIPPINES, December 6, 2002 -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo recently announced the replacement of Department of Agriculture (DA) Secretary, Leonardo Q. Montemayor by Luis P. Lorenzo Jr., the current presidential adviser on job creation as well as chairman of the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice).

INDONESIA, December 6, 2002 -- Indonesian cotton imports for MY01/02 totaled 513,000 MT or 2.36 million bales, down 10 percent from MY00/01. MY02/03 imports are estimated to increase slightly to 520,000 MT. The U.S. market share for cotton in Indonesia reached 35 percent in MY01/02, matching Australia, which historically has been the largest supplier. Cotton consumption remains stable at 500,000 MT or 2.3 million bales for MY01/02 and MY02/03. Major industry concerns include the overall economic situation, the export market climate and competition from China.

INDONESIA, December 6, 2002 -- A new Presidential Decree allows the imposition of "quarantine" fees on a wide range of agricultural commodities and products for a wide range of services. The proposed fees range from reasonable to outlandish and in some cases could add significant costs to U.S. products. The proposal appears to be WTO inconsistent because different fees would be levied on the same products depending on if it is being imported, exported or shipped within the country. Implementation on this decree is awaiting Ministry of Agriculture implementing regulations. It is unclear when such regulations might be issued or when they will be notified to the WTO.

INDIA, December 6, 2002 -- Post's 2002/03 cotton production estimate has been raised to 14.4 million bales (170 kg) on higher than originally estimated planted area.

THAILAND, December 6, 2002 -- Export prices declined in response to the increasing supplies of new crop, but the current prices are still too high for foreign buyers.

MOROCCO, December 6, 2002 -- Fresh citrus production is expected to be up this year which, combined with an anticipated higher quality, is expected to result in higher exports.

BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA, December 6, 2002 -- Bosnian poultry consumption has been on the rebound for several years. Although there has been a recent growth in domestic production, Bosnian producers are hindered by a lack of domestic processing facilities. There is a shortage of poultry meat for processing, especially mechanically deboned meat. This report outlines the Bosnian poultry sector, import rules, and market opportunities.

ITALY, December 6, 2002 -- Total Italian citrus output for the 2002/2003 marketing year is forecast at 2.735 million tons, or 11% less than in 2001/2002. The significant decline is due to extremely unfavorable weather conditions that lowered fresh orange production by 15 percent. In 2002/2003 Italian orange juice production is forecast to decline due to a reduced supply of fruit for processing. Italian citrus exports continued the decline seen since 2002/2001. Even with large domestic supplies such as in 2001, Italian citrus exports are becoming more and more marginal because of the industry's inablity to keep pace with competitive pressures.

COTE D'IVOIRE, December 6, 2002 -- Government of Cote d'Ivoire has announced a new cotton producer price for the 2002/2003 marketing year of 180 F CFA/kg for first grade cotton. The 2002/2003 cotton marketing has not started due to political instability and the occupation by the mutiny soldiers of the northern half of the country which embraces the cotton producing areas since September 19, 2002.

MEXICO, December 6, 2002 -- Early official production estimate for the 2003 spring/summer grain, cotton and soybeans harvests are lower than year ago. Post continues to maintain its previous forecast for MY 2002/03.

NETHERLANDS, December 9, 2002 -- The BENELUX is expected to import about 800,000 MT of wheat from Russia and the Ukraine. Feed wheat will replace the use of corn, barley and non grain feed ingredients.

EUROPEAN UNION, December 9, 2002 -- The European Commission has proposed amendments to the current authorizations for food additives on the EU market. These amendments concern mainly new uses for additives that are already authorized in the EU and the harmonization of the use of food additives in flavorings. Other changes concern the approval of one new additive and the withdrawal of a number of additives.

MALAYSIA, December 9, 2002 -- No summary available.

MALAYSIA, December 9, 2002 -- No summary available.

MALAYSIA, December 9, 2002 -- No summary available.

TAIWAN, December 10, 2002 -- Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization allowed private sector firms to import sugar onto the island for the first time under a 120,000mt TRQ. Taiwan's nearly 600,000mt annual demand for sugar is set to be filled increasingly by refined sugar from foreign suppliers. Taiwan looks likely to boost its imports of refined sugar more than three-fold in 2003, while paring back imports of raw sugar.

PHILIPPINES, December 10, 2002 -- The application by Monsanto Philippines, Inc. to commercially propagate Bt corn in the Philippines has been approved by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), December 5, 2002.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 10, 2002 -- China seed production faced few weather and disease problems this past year and many seed production bases have improved irrigation facilities. The greatest seed production problems continue being the lack of good seed varieties. However, China's seed imports were down and exports are greater. This could be an indication that seed quality is improving and demand for good quality foreign seeds could be lower in the future.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 6, 2002 -- China's food retail sector continues to grow and change as more hypermarkets and convenience stores open across the country. Hypermarkets are now present in all major and most second-tier cities.

INDIA, December 10, 2002 -- GOI increases crude degummed soybean oil reference price by 11 percent to reflect changes in international prices.

INDIA, December 10, 2002 -- *India pitches for product-specific agro sops*, *Soya oil tariff value raised 10 percent*, *After eight years, still stuck on GM mustard*, *Mustard mess*, *Freight subsidy for agri exports proposed*, *GOI to launch national project on organic farming*.

SOUTH AFRICA, REPUBLIC OF, December 10, 2002 -- South Africa's corn production is likely to fall in 2003 as a result of reduced rainfall during the current planting season. Nevertheless, barring a continued devastating drought, higher than expected carryover stocks will help supply domestic consumption over the next year. Domestic corn prices, increasingly tied to international price levels, will likely be held down by the stronger Rand. Financial constraints in the famine stricken countries in the region will limit South Africa's role in the regional humanitarian response.

MOROCCO, December 10, 2002 -- Morocco's food distribution continues to modernize rapidly but small mom & pop stores still play a major role in food distribution throughout the country. Importers continue to be a crucial interface between exporters and the retail food distributors.

CANADA, December 10, 2002 -- Western Canadian farmers experienced one of the worst production seasons in the past 25 years. Weather, disease and pestilence reduced yields and downgraded quality for producers who were fortunate to have a crop to harvest. Grain production was down for the third consecutive year. Output of western Canada's six major crops was down 44% from 1999, 41% from 2000, and 25% from 2001. Production of the major specialty crops, including lentils, field peas, mustard seed, canary seed and sunflowers seeds, was down 39% from 1999, 49% from 2000, and 25% from 2001.

CANADA, December 10, 2002 -- Grain Production down for the Third Consecutive Year * No Additional Record Keeping for Canadian Cattle Producers under COOL, but Prices Could Fall * CWB Increases Final Payments for 2001/02 Crop Before Polls Close * Fed-Prov Ag Ministers Can't Agree on Ag Policy * Border "Full of Holes" Says Dairy Farmers * Ontario Signs Important Forestry Standards Agreement * Yukon River Salmon Agreement Signed * CWB Plans Winter Shipping Program Through Quebec City * CDC Authorizes 750 Tonnes of Duty-free Cheddar Cheese Imports * Canadians Increasingly Eating Breakfast out * Burgers and Fries Still Tops in Canada

MEXICO, December 10, 2002 -- On November 21, 2002, the Secretariat of Economy (SE) published a resolution announcing the start of an investigation of bilateral safeguard measures on U.S. imported chicken leg quarters. There is a 30-day working period in which interested parties may provide feedback to the SE announcement.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF, December 11, 2002 -- South Korea's 400,000-ton rice donation to North Korea should be completed in January 2003. 2002 final crop figures indicate an 11 percent reduction from the 2001 crop.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 11, 2002 -- New export sales show China is willing to continue export subsidies. China tests milling wheat export market. Corn and wheat prices rise modestly but large stocks seem to still weigh on the market.

EUROPEAN UNION, December 11, 2002 -- U.S. links EU ban on GM food to famine in Africa * Trade Commissioner Lamy sceptical of U.S. trade plans * Cigarettes advertizing ban * Food Additives * Recent USEU Reports * What's new on our Website * What's new on the DG Sanco website *

CANADA, December 11, 2002 -- growing regions reduced the production potential of Canada's strawberry crop during 2002, but a small increase in bearing area is estimated to have modestly boosted total output beyond last year's level. Canada's fresh strawberry import market is dominated by U.S. exports which have realized a 98% import market share so far in 2002.

NEW ZEALAND, December 13, 2002 -- New Zealand Parliament passes Kyoto Protocol Bill. Farm incomes forecast to fall U.S.$ 200 million in 2002/2003 due to cold spring. Dairy: Fonterra announces new strategic plan. Organics: Organics export growth slows. Forestry: New Zealand's forest contractors launch new industry association. NZ companies stress log marketing consolidation by forming new company.

THAILAND, December 12, 2002 -- Export prices remained unchanged as foreign buyers wait for production information. Higher than expected prices dampen epxorts.

BULGARIA, December 12, 2002 -- MY02/03 Bulgarian grain exports (as of November 24, 2002) totaled 1,155,000 MT, of which 638,000 MT was wheat and 517,000 MT was barley (a record level). Major export destinations for wheat are Spain and Italy; and for barley - Algeria and Saudi Arabia. MY02/03 Sunflower exports totaled 165,000 MT. Major export destinations are Spain and Portugal. MY02/03 corn exports totaled 37,000 MT.

ITALY, December 12, 2002 -- Italy's 2002 wine production decreased 17% from 2001 to 43.2 million hectoliters (the lowest level of the last 50 years), due to adverse weather over two seasons (cold and dry winter, unusually rainy summer). Average quality is rated as good, with different ratings at local levels. Wine exports in CY 2001 dropped in volume but rose in value, due to reduced shipments of table wines, which still account for over half of total Italian exports. U.S. wine exports to Italy further recovered in 2001, but are still marginal.

NEW ZEALAND, December 12, 2002 -- New Zealand flour millers and poultry feed producers are now considering U.S. wheat to meet their import needs due to an insecure supply situation resulting from the Australian drought. Major potential buyers identified in this report seek to establish lines of communication with U.S. exporters.

JAPAN, December 12, 2002 -- With the likelihood that the Japanese market for gourmet coffee has peaked, Starbucks Coffee Japan will review its new store drive for ‘100 stores per year'; meanwhile, Suntory announces that it will begin selling E.&J. Gallo wines in Japan as a pretext to their further collaboration; Mitsui & Co. plans to set up an off-shore poultry operation in Shandong Province, China; Arcane is asked to recall its French mushrooms from the market, which were found to have excessive amounts of radiation; the National Honey Board begins to conduct promotional activities in Japan and; the Florida Department of Citrus plans to highlight the ‘preventive medicine' aspects of grapefruit to the Japanese consumer.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 11, 2002 -- This report contains import specialist contact information for USDA offices, USDA public and private cooperators, US State representative offices, and associations that promote US and China trade. Contact the Agricultural Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Beijing for any further inquiries.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 11, 2002 -- This report contains Chinese government regulatory agencies contact information. It is an index of regulatory agencies that USDA offices use for contacts in China. Contact the Agricultural Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Beijing for any further inquiries.

CHINA, PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF, December 11, 2002 -- This report is the China Food and Agricultural Import Regulations and Standards Working Index. It is an index of all the food and food import regulations that have been translated by the Agricultural Affairs Office of the US Embassy in Beijing. All translations are UNOFFICIAL.

CROATIA, December 13, 2002 -- Poultry production and consumption have risen in recent years and are expected to continue to grow. Croatia has a domestic surplus of poultry meat but there is no domestic production of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) to supply the growing domestic meat processing industry. Unfortunately, U.S. suppliers are being shut out of the MDM market due to EU-related phytosanitary restrictions.

EUROPEAN UNION, December 13, 2002 -- After a four-year delay, the European Commission released a report on the international impacts of animal welfare standards in EU legislation.

GERMANY, December 12, 2002 -- German wine consumption continues to grow. Per capita consumption of wine including sparkling wine in CY 2001 amounted to 23.9 liters versus 23.1 liters in CY 2000. German consumers increasingly favor red wines which already make up 59 percent of the wine market. U.S. suppliers have taken advantage of this trend, increasing their sales significantly over the past five years. In CY 2001, Germany imported 250 million hectoliters of wines from the U.S. at a total value of $U.S.62 million. During the first eight months of CY 2002, imports of U.S. wines rose by about 15 percent. Domestic production of wine is forecast to grow by about 20 percent in 2002. Initial reports estimate 2002 will be a good wine year for Germany.

SPAIN, December 13, 2002 -- Spain's 2002 vintage is about 32 million hectoliters, an average yearly output. Domestic wine consumption continues to decline: gains in quality wine consumption were more than offset by losses in "table" wine consumption. Although exports increased last year to 10.6 million hectoliters, they are declining in 2002 due to reduced export sales of bulk "table" wines. Spain seeks protection for its geographical names, i.e. Jerez/Sherry and Malaga wines. Spain's parliament is drafting a new law which will effect production and marketing of wine.

KOREA, REPUBLIC OF, December 13, 2002 -- In MY 01/02, total corn imports were revised to 8.6 million MT(MMT) from 8.5 MMT based on the Korea Customs Service data. In spite of greater substitution of feed wheat for corn in mixed feed production, total corn consumption slightly increased from the previous year in line with an overall increase in feed use.

AUSTRALIA, December 13, 2002 -- Within the global confectionery market, Australia is ranked 11th for sugar confectionery consumption and 9th for chocolate. Nine out of ten people regularly consume confectionery from both the chocolate and sugar confectionery categories. Approximately 55 percent of confectionery sales are through supermarkets, with the remaining 45 percent sold through outlets such as milk-bars, convenience stores and specialty shops. New products are introduced fairly regularly to the Australian confectionery market; however highly innovative products are less common and this may be an area that offers opportunities for U.S. exporters to be successful in this market. In 2001, Australia was the 15th largest export market for U.S. confectionery products.

BRAZIL, December 11, 2002 -- The Brazilian economy has faced several crisis over the past years, which made the country more vulnerable to external shocks and resulted on high currency exchange rates, compared to the U.S. dollar. However, Brazil imports most of its high quality wines, from countries such as France, Chile, Spain and Portugal. These wines are consumed by higher income consumers, who are willing to pay for a higher quality wine. There is a great market for U.S. wines, as it becomes more popular in the country. Marketing activities are recommended in order to gain stronger consumer recognition and increase the acceptance of the U.S. high quality wines.

MEXICO, December 12, 2002 -- The Government of Mexico recently established a listeria testing procedure for "hamburgers, nuggets, cold cuts, or any other prepared chicken and turkey product ready for human consumption." The testing procedure will take 4-12 working days, however, shipments will be permitted to enter prior to the receipt of final test results. Exporters should plan on this procedure being in place indefinitely.

EUROPEAN UNION, December 13, 2002 -- 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 weekly USDA publication "Rice Market News".

JAPAN, December 13, 2002 -- Competition in the french fry market has increased both from growth in the number of fast food restaurants not traditionally using french fries, and from the promotion of other side dishes. Cost cutting has helped some Southeast Asian countries gain a foothold in the Japanese french fry market and motivated large users to consolidate purchases. Future developments include continued declines in domestic production, the implementation of biotech labeling for potatoes next year, and industry concerns over the initiation of the Health Ministry's investigation of the health affects of acrylamide.