There is widespread support in Europe for the new revisions to the General Food Law, but research may prove the risk that the critics have warned about. Under the new law, the European Food Safety Authority must be much more transparent about the information it uses to determine the safety of chemicals. Critics of the change warned that competitors would simply copy the propriety information, undermining the competitiveness of European chemical firms. Indeed, research (see NBER Working Paper No. 25401) by academics at four different institutions found that mandatory disclosure of chemicals allowed competitors to catch up with industry leaders. However, the result was not just greater competition but a large reduction in research at the ori...
Dry bulk markets were volatile but ultimately steady this week with notable differences in rate developments across vessel classes. The Capesize sector, which led the recent rally in freight rates with its dramatic surge, pulled back slightly amid more cautious chartering activity, partic...
New Trade Agreements U.S. and Indian officials say that bilateral trade negotiations are progressing on a comprehensive deal to expand earlier completed chapters on market access, NTBs and purchases. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has become more free trade oriented since consolidating his power...
Free Trade to State Direction Conceptually, American farmers are huge winners under a free trade policy promising fair and equitable terms. As critics of President Trump’s trade wars will be quick to point out, “U.S. farmers have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of U.S...
Key Takeaways: Soyoil futures have been trading at the highest levels since 2022. Higher crude oil prices have allowed biofuels to be more cost-competitive with fossil fuels. Recent U.S. biofuel policy, including 45Z, has been favorable toward soyoil as a feedstock. California will be limiting...
From WPI Consulting
Communicating importance of value-added products
Facing increasing pressure to quantify the value of export promotion efforts to investors, a U.S. industry organization retained WPI to develop a quantitative model that better communicated the importance of exports. The resulting model concluded that value-added meat exports contributed $0.45 cents per bushel to the price of corn, increasing support for that sector’s financial support of WPI’s client. In addition to serving the red meat industry with this type of analysis, WPI has generated similar deliverables for the U.S. soybean and poultry/egg industries.