West Africa

• Chad, on 24 April 2020, exempted from import custom duties basic food products, including maize, rice, millet, sorghum and wheat. The exemption will be valid until December 2020.

• Mali, on 17 April 2020, banned exports and re-exports of selected food products, including rice, millet, sugar, milk and pasta and reduced custom duties on the imports of rice and milk. In addition, the General Directorate for Commerce and Competition, on 27 March, introduced price ceilings on key staple foods, including rice, sugar, vegetable oil and bread.

Southern Africa

• In South Africa, informal traders, initially prohibited to operate during the lockdown, were authorized to trade in early April but require a permit.

• In Zimbabwe, the Government and businesses in the food sector agreed a price moratorium in April to stabilize the prices of essential foods at their levels as of the end of March.

East Africa

• Kenya, on 26 March 2020, reduced the Value Added Tax on all goods from 16 percent to 14 percent, starting from 1 April.

• Somalia, on 15 April 2020, suspended taxes on rice and dates and reduced those on wheat flour and cooking oil.

• The Sudan, on 2 April 2020, introduced a ban on sorghum exports effective from 15 April to ensure domestic availabilities. Measures were also put in place in April to counter the over-pricing of food items.

East Asia

• Bangladesh has increased the 2020 “Boro” paddy procurement target compared to the same season last year to boost its reserves and is distributing rice at subsidized prices for the poor.

• Myanmar approved, in late April 2020, a MMK 38 billion fund to procure 50 000 tonnes of rice and 12 000 tonnes of cooking oil for its State reserves.

• Sri Lanka, on 10 April 2020, set its new maximum retail prices for rice and declared rice mills an essential service to ensure market availabilities (FPMA Food Policies).

CIS (Asia and Europe)

• A number of countries in the subregion implemented measures to temporarily remove or ease import restrictions (FPMA Food Policies).

• Kazakhstan, on 3 April 2020, had approved the introduction of price ceilings on 9 socially-significant food products; subsequently, on 6 May, these products were increased to a total of 19, including wheat flour, bread, rice and sunflower oil. The price ceilings were suspended on 11 May with the end of the state of emergency.

• Tajikistan, on 25 April 2020, introduced a temporary export ban on a number of food staples, including cereals, pulses, potatoes and meat products.

• Ukraine, on 23 April 2020, reintroduced State regulations on prices of a range of food items, including wheat flour, buckwheat, pasta, bread, milk and sugar.

Central America and the Caribbean

• Costa Rica, on 25 April 2020, decreed the import of 50 012 tonnes of rice at a reduced tariff rate of 6.5 percent, rather than the 35 percent currently in force.

• Honduras, on 25 April 2020, extended price ceilings on basic food items, introduced on 21 March, until 27 May.

• El Salvador purchased around 50 000 tonnes of white maize, 7 000 tonnes of rice and 5 000 tonnes of beans to boost its national strategic reserves (FPMA Food Policies).

• In El Salvador and Honduras, exports of red beans were halted in late March to ensure sufficient domestic supplies. These temporary export bans will be valid until 31 December 2020 in El Salvador and until further notice in Honduras.

• Guatemala, on 21 March 2020, set duty-free quotas for the import of 200 000 tonnes of white maize and 152 000 tonnes of rice valid until the end of this year, with the aim to boost domestic supplies.

South America

• Argentina, on 17 April 2020, extended price ceilings on basic food items introduced on 20 March for an additional period of 30 days, until 20 May.

• Bolivia (Plurinational State of), on 13 April 2020, suspended import tariffs on wheat for a period of two years.

• Colombia, on 9 April 2020, set duty-free imports for maize, sorghum and soybeans until 30 June 2020 (FPMA Food Policies).