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US outlines "specific negotiating objectives" for post-Brexit trade deal with UK

The US government has outlined what it would expect to achieve from a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK.

In its Summary of Specific Negotiating Objectives, the US Trade Representative said it seeks to support higher-paying jobs in the US and to grow the country's economy by improving US opportunities for trade and investment with the UK.

Trump has sought to follow 'America First' policy on trade

It follows the Trump Administration notifying Congress in October the President intends to negotiate a trade agreement with the UK once it leaves the EU.

"As the first and fifth biggest global economies, the US economic relationship with the UK is one of the largest and most complex in the world, with annual two-way trade totalling more than US$230bn," the document said.

"Multiple tariff and non-tariff barriers have challenged US exporters in key sectors while the UK has been a Member State of the EU and therefore a part of the common trade policy of the EU.

"The UK's decision to leave the EU creates a new opportunity to expand and deepen the US-UK trade relationship. A new US-UK trade agreement could address these challenges, as well as provide an opportunity to develop new approaches to emerging trade areas where the United States and the UK share common interests and are global leaders."

The US Trade Representative said its aim in negotiations with the UK is to "address both tariff and non-tariff barriers and to achieve fairer and deeper trade in a manner consistent with the objectives that Congress has set out in section 102 of the Trade Priorities and Accountability Act".

It added: "We are committed to concluding these negotiations with timely and substantive results for US consumers, businesses, farmers, ranchers, and workers, consistent with US priorities and the negotiating objectives established by Congress in statute."

The UK government is hoping to forge a meaningful trade deal with the US after it leaves the EU on 29 March but it is likely to face tough negotiations as President Trump has sought to pursue an 'America first' stance on such deals, stating on numerous occasions that he feels the US had done badly out of trade deals it has agreed in the past.

Once the UK leaves the EU it it would then start trading on the basis of World Trade Organization (WTO) rules. Every WTO member has a list of tariffs and quotas (limits on the number of goods) they apply to other countries. These are known as their WTO schedules.

The UK could choose to introduce low tariffs or waive them altogether, in an attempt to stimulate trade, but under the WTO's most favoured nation (MFN) rules, the UK would not be allowed to lower tariffs for any specific country, alone. It would have to treat every other WTO member around the world in the same way.

One area of the negotiations that will have to be navigated skilfully is around regulations.

In a section in its document referring to agricultural goods, the UK Trade Representative said one of its objectives is to "promote greater regulatory compatibility to reduce burdens associated with unnecessary differences in regulations and standards, including through regulatory cooperation where appropriate".

It added it wants to "establish specific commitments for trade in products developed through agricultural bio-technologies".

The US administration takes the view that under its EU membership the UK food and agricultural sector has been over-regulated.

Last week the US Ambassador to the UK, Woody Johnson, urged the UK to leave the EU's "Museum of Agriculture" and dismiss "misleading scare-stories" about American agriculture.

But Jim Moseley, CEO of UK food standards body Red Tractor responded by saying the UK's food standards are now under threat from the United States food lobby.

The US allows practices such as chlorinating chicken, which consists of dipping meat into chlorinated water to prevent microbial contamination. This practice is banned in the EU.

US activist Investor Paulson ups stake in UK's Premier Foods

US-based investor Paulson & Co. has upped its stake in UK manufacturer Premier Foods to 11.9%.

The move, confirmed in a regulatory notification seen by just-food, sees New York-based Paulson significantly increase its previous stake of 7% and comes less than three months after Premier CEO Gavin Darby announced he was stepping down and the company revealed its plan to sell off its Ambrosia custard brand.

This followed a rancorous battle for control of the company last summer when activist investor Oasis Management, Premier's second-largest investor with a 17.3% stake, supported by Paulson, its third-largest, called for a new strategy, involving the sale of assets and for Darby to be replaced.

Darby retained his position in a vote at the company's annual general meeting in July, largely because he won the support of the Bisto gravy and Oxo cube maker's largest shareholder Nissin Foods, which has a 19.6% holding in Premier and its three largest pension funds, only to announce his departure four months later.

Premier's chief financial officer Alastair Murray was named acting CEO last month.

Digital technologies at the ХХIV International Industrial Trade Fair “MVC: Cereals – Mixed Feed – Veterinary - 2019”

Our new digital service – electronic terminals - will be available for exhibitors and visitors during the ХХIV International Industrial Trade Fair “MVC: Cereals – Mixed Feed – Veterinary - 2019”. The exhibition will take place in pavillion No 75 at the Exhibition of National Economy Achievements (VDNH) in Moscow, Russia. The dates are - January 29-31, 2019

This kind of service is offered with the help of a device equipped with a touchscreen and bar-code reader. The visitor just scans the bar-code and gets an access to all the information about the exhibitor which booth he has just visited . At the same time the exhibitor obtains all personal data of the visitor on-line. The new service also gives you a possibility to analyze the interests of each visitor by his activity in the digital catalogue.

Any additional information is available on our web. site: www.mvc-expohleb.ru

Feelgood factor: Shades of sunshine set to drive food color innovation in 2019

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Shoppers will gravitate towards food and drink colored with natural yellow and orange shades

The sunshine spectrum – bright yellow through to deep orange – will stimulate colorful food and beverage development in 2019 as consumers seek out products that inspire upbeat, positive emotions and unite people with a feeling of joy, according to GNT Group.

Shoppers – particularly younger ones hailing from Generation Z – will gravitate towards food and drink colored with natural yellow and orange shades in order to tune into the optimistic sentiments they convey, GNT said.

Food and beverage brands are increasingly developing marketing messages that communicate the ability of their products to bring happiness to the consumer. Innova Market Insights has announced ‘I Feel Good’ as one of its top trends for 2019, noting that the number of food and beverage launches with a ‘feel good’ claim on the label increased by 36% year-on-year in 2017.[1]

Maartje Hendrickx, Market Development Manager at GNT, said: “In 2019 consumers will prefer food and drink that can arouse a sense of freshness and light, qualities that yellow and orange shades deliver. Just as pink was embraced by Millennials, Generation Z will channel the positivity of sunshine shades to sprinkle cheerfulness into their lives.”

GNT has harnessed this trend in a new collection of coloring foods – EXBERRY® Sunshine Shades. Ranging from bright sunbeam yellow to warm harvest orange, they are all derived from raw materials rooted in nature, including pumpkin, carrots and turmeric.

The Sunshine Shades range has been developed as part of GNT’s new Love Color with EXBERRY® initiative for 2019, which will explore how color can influence mood and deliver feelings of excitement and contentment, while also satisfying adventurous, curious consumers who are keen to discover new experiences. Market experts The Food People recently identified ‘Mellow Yellow’ as a key trend[2] and observed that “color trends are becoming as important as the food and drink itself.”[3]

Maartje Hendrickx added: “Natural yellow and orange coloring foods fit perfectly with the desire among consumers to re-connect with the natural world. We are planning some exciting activity in 2019 to maximize engagement with Sunshine Shades, with innovative product concepts and technical information in the pipeline. We will also be busy showcasing feelgood application ideas on the EXBERRY® Instagram feed – @gntgroup – and on the GNT Group Linkedin page.”

EXBERRY® coloring foods are natural color ingredients obtained exclusively from fruits, vegetables and edible plants using gentle, physical processes such as pressing, chopping, filtering and concentrating. Consequently, they are not classed as additives but foods with coloring properties and, therefore, qualify for cleaner and clearer labelling declarations. Made with GNT’s own innovative processes, they can impart almost any color shade to foods and beverages and are ideally suited for industrial use.

To ensure the highest level of quality and year-round availability, GNT controls the entire EXBERRY® supply chain. In fact, around 80% of the raw materials used are grown within a 200-kilometer radius of EXBERRY® production sites, with cultivation and harvesting monitored by GNT’s agricultural engineers.

For more information about this press release, please contact:
Richard Clarke, Ingredient Communications
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | +44 (0) 1293 886291

Russian banks set for almost half of Agrokor

Two Russian banks could hold almost 50% of the embattled Croatia-based food manufacturer and retailer Agrokor, the largest business in the Balkans set to come under the ownership of its creditors.

A local commercial court said yesterday (20 June) Agrokor's creditors are to vote on a settlement deal on the business on 4 July.

Two-thirds of creditors must vote in favour of the settlement for it to go through and it is expected to receive at least that level of backing.

The vote is on a settlement plan agreed between the extraordinary commissioner overseeing the recovery of Agrokor and a temporary creditors' council.

Under the deal, a Netherlands-based, creditors-owned entity, Aisle Dutch TopCo, will own Agrokor.

Agrokor's largest creditor, Russia's Sberbank, is lined up to be the company's biggest shareholder with a 39.2% stake. A second Russian bank, VTB, would own 7.5% of the business.

Agrokor is the largest company in the Balkans, with retail interests across the region and food-manufacturing assets in sectors such as meat and frozen food. The company is said to generate revenues worth 16% of Croatia's GDP.

Last year, the group was put under state-run administration amid huge debts.

Agrokor-owned businesses include Croatian meat processor PIK Vrbovec, local frozen food and ice cream businesses Frikom and Ledo, as well as Serbian condiments maker Dijamant.

The group also owns Croatian food retail Konzum and Serbia-based grocer Mercator.

Dean Best, managing editor