USDA Foreign Agricultural Service,update

 

Stakeholder Notice: Advancing Alignment with America First Food Assistance – Priority Countries for Food for Peace Non-Emergency Multi-Year Programming Announced

(Washington, D.C., Oct. 19, 2026) – Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) announced nine priority countries for its Food for Peace Non-Emergency Programming for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

The selected priority countries include Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Kenya, and Mozambique.

Authorized under Title II of the Food for Peace Act, USDA’s multi-year Food for Peace Non-Emergency Programming will target people and places that experience recurrent food crises with a Graduation through Agriculture-led Development Approach and by utilizing U.S. agricultural commodities. This approach combines the Graduation model with targeted Market Systems Strengthening focused on agricultural value chains to build resilience, improve food security, and reduce dependence on emergency food assistance.

FAS will publish the multi-year Notice of Funding Opportunity for Food for Peace Non-Emergency Programming on Grants.gov.

Background:

Food for Peace non-emergency programming supports America’s hardworking producers, while supporting global stability. By ensuring all eligible commodities are 100% U.S.-sourced, the program provides a reliable market for domestic crops while combating instability created by food insecurity in critical regions. The selection of these nine priority countries followed a quantitative and qualitative evaluation, along with coordination with State Department.

This Food for Peace non-emergency programming follows Food for Peace Emergency programming as previously announced in the February 2026 commodity purchase announcement, May 2026 emergency funding notice, and October 2026 emergency award notice.

\The following GAIN reports were released on October 21, 2026. _______ China: National Food Safety Standard for Milk Protein On September 22, 2026, China’s NHC and SAMR jointly released the National Food Safety Standard for Milk Protein (GB31668-2026). This is the first national food safety standard specifically regulating milk protein used in the food industry in China. This report provides an unofficial translation of the final standard. Stakeholders should conduct their own review of the regulations to assess any market or regulatory impacts on their business. Indonesia: Indonesia Formally Delays Halal Certification Deadlines and Revokes Halal Pre-Shipment Inspection Requirements On October 19, 2026, FAS Jakarta reported that most imported food and beverage products will not need halal certification until October 17, 2028. This two-year extension effectively continues the status quo, whereby only meat and dairy products must be certified halal. Indonesia subsequently amended its regulations to reflect the extension, revoke the requirement for halal pre-shipment inspections, and delay halal logistics requirements until October 17, 2028. This report updates FAS Jakarta’s October 19 report to reflect the regulatory changes which protect about $500 million in U.S. agricultural exports. Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia Halal Regulations and Certification Body Accreditation This report explains Saudi Arabia’s halal food requirements, including the applicable GSO standards, mandatory certification requirements, and compliance obligations for food imports, with particular emphasis on meat and poultry products. It also outlines the three-step process for recognizing U.S. Halal Certification Bodies through the Saudi Accreditation Center or the Gulf Accreditation Center, registration with SASO, and final accreditation by the SFDA's Halal Center, including applicable fees and ongoing compliance considerations. For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit www.fas.usda.gov    \The following GAIN reports were released on October 20, 2026. _______  Canada: Retail Foods Annual Canada remained the largest destination for U.S. consumer-oriented products and the second-largest market for total U.S. agricultural exports in 2025. Canada's consumer-oriented imports from the United States totaled USD 20.1 billion, but the U.S. share declined to 51 percent from 55 percent in 2024. Retail food sales in Canada are estimated at USD 125 billion. Supermarkets led offline grocery-retailer sales with a 22.2 percent share, while food e-commerce sales reached USD 7.65 billion. Competitive pricing, reliable Canadian distribution, and accurate online product information are priorities for U.S. suppliers seeking to maintain or expand sales. Exporters should confirm applicable surtaxes by product before shipment. Djibouti: Djibouti Food and Agricultural Market Snapshot Djibouti imports nearly 90 percent of its food supply due to its arid climate, limited arable land, and constrained domestic agricultural production. Growing demand from modern supermarket chains, hotels, restaurants, institutional buyers, military facilities, and expatriate communities creates opportunities for U.S. beef, poultry, dairy, packaged foods, beverages, and other consumer-oriented goods. In addition, Djibouti’s port infrastructure, free-zone facilities, and regional transport links offer potential for distribution, cargo consolidation, and re-export to neighboring markets. Japan: FOODEX Japan 2026 Report On March 10-13, 2026, ATO Tokyo organized a USA Pavilion at FOODEX Japan, which is a USDA-endorsed and one of the largest food trade shows in Asia. The 53 U.S. exhibitors reported $570,000 in on-site sales and about $7 million in 12-month projected sales. Four FAS Posts sent buyer delegations to FOODEX, providing U.S. businesses with additional opportunities throughout Asia. Working closely with our implementing partner IMEX, the ATO is now actively recruiting companies for the USA Pavilion in 2027. Interested companies may contact TokyoATO@state.gov for more information. \The following GAIN reports were released on October 19, 2026. _______ Indonesia: Indonesia To Delay Halal Certification Deadlines and Revoke Halal Pre-Shipment Inspection Requirements On October 16, 2026, Indonesia's Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs announced that most imported food and beverage products will not need halal certification until October 17, 2028. This two-year extension effectively continues the status quo, whereby only meat and dairy products must be certified halal. Indonesia will also revoke the requirement for halal pre-shipment inspections. In addition, Indonesia will delay its halal logistics requirements, which are not yet finalized, until October 17, 2028. These positive actions protect about $500 million in U.S. agricultural exports. South Korea: KORUS Tariff Rate Quota and Agricultural Safeguard Update This report provides an update on the U.S. - Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) and Agricultural Safeguard (ASG) product fill rates. The September 17 milk powder tariff-rate quota (TRQ) auction allocated 380 metric tons (MT) of the remaining 5,729 MT. The auction for the remaining 4 MT of the natural honey TRQ failed due to insufficient bids. Both ginseng import-rights auctions held this year also failed, and no 2026 ginseng auctions remain. Meanwhile, imports of two additional products are nearing their agricultural safeguard (ASG) trigger levels: worked cereal grains (cereal, groats, worked grains) at 98.04 percent and peanuts (ground nuts) at 70.99 percent. Thailand: Snapshot of Late-September Floods Impact on Agriculture Late-September floods across 26 Thai provinces hit marketing year (MY) 2026/27 main-crop rice just as harvest began. Satellite imagery showed floodwaters receding in the Central Plains between October 4 and 7 but lingering in the East, where rice fields remained under water on October 7. Flooding left more than 3.9 million livestock dead or missing, mostly poultry, and damaged 5,000 fish and shrimp farms in 24 provinces. The government asked exporters to reduce fresh egg shipments to protect domestic supply. The Ministry of Commerce expects the floods to add about 0.1 percentage points to inflation. United Arab Emirates: Retail Foods Annual Despite heightened geopolitical tensions, UAE food retail remained on a strong growth path in 2025. Consumer-oriented food imports reached $17.7 billion, up 9.3 percent, with the United States supplying $1.3 billion (7.3 percent) of the market. Grocery retail sales exceeded $20 billion, growing 6.3 percent, while online grocery grew more than 14 percent to $1.5 billion. Growth was supported by tourism, food security initiatives, stronger supply chain resilience, and new trade agreements. The grocery market is expected to continue expanding in 2026 with retail sales projected to grow by nearly 3 percent and online grocery retail at $1.6 billion. Vietnam: Grain and Feed Quarterly Vietnam's economy posted strong growth in the first nine months of 2026, and the livestock and aquaculture sectors grew steadily. Rising food and feed demand is driving corn and wheat imports higher, while El Niño and trade protection measures in importing countries pushed rice exports lower. For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit www.fas.usda.gov \The following GAIN reports were released on October 16, 2026. _______ Cambodia: Grain and Feed Update Post lowers its Marketing Year (MY) 2026/27 milled rice production forecast to 8.6 million metric tons (MMT) and its export forecast to 4.0 MMT, citing an expected strong El Niño and slower paddy purchases by Vietnam. Official milled rice exports reached 792,212 metric tons (MT) in January–August 2026, up about 61 percent year-on-year on a surge in shipments to the Philippines, and are expected to exceed 1 million MT for calendar year 2026. European Union: Oilseeds and Products Update Post raises its EU oilseed area planted forecast by 2 percent for MY 2026/27 from its Spring report. MY 2026/27 production is lowered after heat and drought cut yields across western and central Europe. Imports are revised up to help meet unsupplied demand, while favorable crush margins and vegetable oil demand are expected to slightly raise crush and meal production from Post's April report. Thailand: Sugar Semi-annual Post maintains its MY 2026/27 sugar production forecast, down from MY 2025/26, as Post expects El Niño to lower both sugarcane yields and sugar extraction. Below-normal rainfall also threatens new plant cane for MY 2027/28. Post raises its MY 2025/26 export estimate on strong shipments earlier this year and expects exports to fall in MY 2026/27 as production declines. Refined sugar will account for a larger share of exports, as raw sugar faces stronger competition from Brazil and Australia in Indonesia and Malaysia. For more information, or for an archive of all FAS GAIN reports, please visit www.fas.usda.gov     This email was sent to politikimx@gmail.com using Granicus Communications Cloud on behalf of: USDA Foreign Agricultural Service · 1400 Independence Avenue, SW · Washington, DC 20250