Panama lifts ban on US corn imports

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Publish time: 17th December, 2013      Source: www.cnchemicals.com
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December 17, 2013

   

   

Panama lifts ban on US corn imports

   

   

   

Driven by the timely action of the US Grains Council (USGC), USDA and the Office of the US Trade Representative, Panama has reopened its market for US corn exports.

   

   

In September, the Panamanian government published regulations governing quota administration for US corn imports under the Panama - US Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Unfortunately the Panamanian government decided to exploit a loophole in the FTA and closed the imports of corn for January through April 15, 2014 in a move that was counter to the spirit of the agreement. This time period coincides with the harvest of the local corn crop and was an obvious effort to subvert the FTA in order to protect local corn producers and force the Panamanian feed industry to buy local corn.

   

   

The USGC alerted the USDA and the US Trade Representative''s office of this move and outlined how this action restricted and was burdensome to trade between Panama and the US. Despite being shorthanded due to the on-going furlough of vital staff during the US government shutdown, US government officials sprang into action. As a result of the combined efforts of the USGC, Panamanian industry and the US government, the Panamanian government issued a new resolution removing any restrictions on US corn imports in 2014.

   

   

Under the FTA, Panama will import 316,000 tonnes of US corn in 2014 with an export value of approximately US$63 million. In order to feed their growing poultry and swine sectors, the Panamanian livestock sector imports more than 25,000 tonnes of US corn per month. Pro-rated for the period of the proposed Panamanian market closure, the proposed restrictions would have impacted more than 80,000 tonnes of corn imports with an estimated export value of US$16 million.