Seoul | Reuters — South Korea’s food ministry on Tuesday said it had lifted a temporary suspension on sales of Canadian wheat as it had not discovered any unapproved genetically modified strains during tests on imports. South Korea suspended sales of Canadian wheat last week after Canada announced the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved […] Read more

South Korea lifts suspension on Canadian wheat sales

Ex-JBS chair Batista charged with corruption
Brasilia | Reuters — Brazilian federal prosecutors on Monday charged JBS SA shareholder Joesley Batista, another senior executive of the meatpacking company and a former federal prosecutor with corruption. The charges against Batista, former executive Francisco Assis and former federal prosecutor Marcello Miller were filed before a federal court in Brasilia, prosecutors said in a […] Read more

Argentina’s grain exports halt in strike against Macri
Buenos Aires | Argentina — A strike called by Argentina’s largest trade union federation in protest over President Mauricio Macri’s market-friendly economic policies brought the country to a standstill on Monday, freezing grains exports and halting banking and public transit. The CGT umbrella labour union demanded wage hikes to keep up with inflation rates running […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Bargain buying pares some CME hogs’ losses
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures closed moderately higher on Thursday, with support from bargain buying and short-covering that pared some recent market losses amid U.S. trade worries, said analysts. U.S. hog farmers, still reeling from higher retaliatory tariffs on pork imposed by China in early April, are bracing for another round […] Read more

Senate approves recreational use of marijuana
Toronto | Reuters — Canada’s upper house of Parliament on Tuesday approved a revised bill to legalize recreational marijuana, setting the stage for the country to become the first Group of Seven nation to legalize cannabis. The Senate voted 52-29 in favour of the revised bill from the House of Commons, paving the way for […] Read more

Trump says ‘getting there’ in NAFTA talks
Washington | Reuters — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday progress was being made in slow-moving talks to update the NAFTA trade accord between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, but he held out the prospect of striking bilateral pacts if a three-way deal could not be reached. “We’re trying to equalize it. It’s not […] Read more

South Korea halts sale of Canadian wheat, flour
Seoul | Reuters — South Korea has suspended the sale of wheat and flour from Canada after Canadian officials announced last week the discovery in mid-2017 of an unapproved genetically modified trait in southern Alberta. “We will only allow sale of wheat products that are confirmed not to contain unapproved genetically modified wheat,” South Korea’s […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle pivot higher on bargain buying
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle turned up sharply on Friday, with support from short-covering and bargain buying after Thursday’s losses that were partly led by U.S. trade uncertainty, said analysts and traders. On Friday China said it planned to impose similar size tariffs soon after Washington announced duties on $50 billion […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Trade fears drag down CME live cattle, hogs
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and hog futures closed lower on Thursday, partly weakened by uncertainty over U.S. trade with China, traders said. China on Thursday urged the U.S. to make a “wise choice” on trade, saying it was ready to respond in case Washington chose confrontation, as U.S. President Donald […] Read more

EU backs plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance
Brussels | Reuters — EU member states backed a plan on Wednesday to combat antimicrobial resistance, an increasing global health issue, that would reduce the use of antibiotics in the food chain and limit certain drugs to humans. Antimicrobial resistance threatens the effectiveness of medicines such as antibiotics to treat infections in humans, as bacteria […] Read more