NEWS IN BRIEF CHINA: Strong demand from China’s recovering livestock industry boosted the country’s first quarter imports of soyabeans and grains, Reuters reported from customs data on 13 April. In the first three months of this year, China’s soyabean imports came in at 21.18M tonnes, up 19% from 17.79M tonnes last year. In March alone, the country imported 7.77M tonnes of the oilseed, up 82% from a year ago. Crushers had previously stepped up soyabean purchases, anticipating healthy demand from the recovering pig farming sector. However, African swine fever outbreaks had wiped out at least 20% of the breeding herd in northern China, Reuters said.
Belgium to ban palm and soyabean oils in biofuels Palm and soyabean oils will be banned from biofuel production in Belgium in a bid to halt deforestation, The Brussels Times reported a government minister as saying on 13 April. Belgium had notified the European Commission on 22 March of its plan, The Western Producer wrote. Federal Minister for Environment and Climate Zakia Khattabi said that following the examples of Denmark, France and the Netherlands, biofuels made from palm oil would no longer be allowed on either the Belgian market or in the transport sector from 2022, The Brussels Times wrote. Soyabean oil would also be banned as a raw material for transport fuels from 2023. Between 2019 and 2020, the use of palm biodiesel had increased ten-fold on the Belgian market to 231M litres, according to the minister, adding that producers would have to move towards other-generation biofuels from 2022.
“To produce the quantity of biodiesel for the Belgian market, palm oil plantations are needed with a total area of more than 100,000 football pitches. We know from studies that at least half of these palm oil plantations are planted on land that has been deforested in the recent past.” The move was the first measure taken by Belgium since joining the Amsterdam Declarations Partnership, an agreement aimed at eliminating deforestation in relation to agricultural commodities by 2025, Khattabi said. Belgium is acting ahead of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive II, which caps the use of high risk indirect land use change (ILUC) biofuels at 2019 levels until 2023, and then phases them out by 2030. Only palm oil falls under this definition and both Malaysia and Indonesia have requested World Trade Organization dispute consultations with the EU regarding these measures, saying they are an unreasonable trade barrier.
New legislation prohibiting the use of cannabis and cannabis extracts in cosmetics is being proposed by the Chinese government, Jing Daily reported on 29 March from an announcement on the National Institutes for Food and Drug Control’s (NIFDC) website. The legislation would include Cannabis sativa kernel fruit, Cannabis sativa seed oil, Cannabis sativa leaf, as well as cannabidiol (CBD). China’s proposed ban contrasted with the Western approach where the complex regulatory landscape was being simplified, Jing Daily wrote,
China has proposed banning cannabis and its extracts in comestics
although it was in line with measures in other Asian coun-
tries where oversight of CBD products was still restricted.
Photo: Adobe Stock
China may prohibit cannabis extracts in cosmetics
CBD is one of the two most common compounds found in cannabis, the other being tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). CBD does not contain any psychoactive properties, unlike THC, and its use in skin care and beauty produts has grown in recent years. Marijuana is classified as a dangerous narcotic drug in China and the possession of hemp seeds is criminalised. If China continued to prohibit cannabis-related ingredients in cosmetics, some industry figures claimed it would lead to the loss of a huge market opportunity, Jing Daily wrote.
Vicentin returns to full capacity following toll deals Argentine crusher Vicentin has returned to full production at its San Lorenzo crushing plant for the first time since defaulting on its contracts in December 2019, AgriCensus reported on 17 March. The return to full crushing capacity followed a number of toll agreements with companies including grain cooperative ACA and Unión Agrícola de Avellaneda (UAA). The Santa Fe plant had a monthly crushing capacity of approximately 400,000 4 OFI – MAY 2021
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tonnes, a company spokesperson said. “The plant is working at its full capacity ... and during March and April, Vicentin has toll agreements that will guarantee the use of the total capacity,” the source added. Vicentin had previously agreed a toll agreement with grain exporter Diaz & Forti to operate most of the capacity of its San Lorenzo crushing plant, but the firm was not currently crushing as it had also run into financial difficulties, AgriCensus said.
The company had also reactivated its sunflower crushing plant in Ricardone, Santa Fe, after negotiating a toll agreement with local cooperative UAA, AgriCensus reported. Vicentin has faced financial problems since defaulting on payments to grain suppliers and brokerage firms in December 2019. At the time, it was reported to owe US$350M to grain suppliers, with a total debt of US$1.5bn. www.ofimagazine.com
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