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Food and Fertilizer Export Restrictions Tracker

Reports and Data

Laborde D. & Mamun A. (2022). Food Export restrictions during the Ukraine-Russia crisis

Who we are

Suggested citation:
Laborde, David, Abdullah Mamun, and Marie Parent. 2020. COVID-19 Food Trade Policy Tracker [dataset]. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to expose global food security to high uncertainty, exacerbating already soaring food prices stemming from COVID-19-induced supply disruptions and drought-reduced yields. As seen in past global food price crises, some countries have begun restricting food trade with the objective of controlling domestic food inflation. These restrictions can have dire unintended consequences for vulnerable people in food-importing countries, increasing prices and exacerbating food insecurity.

Following the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown and continuing with the Russia-Ukraine conflict, some national governments have moved to restrict food exports in an attempt to secure their domestic food supply. IFPRI began tracking these food export restrictions and documenting their impacts to provide up-to-date trade information, enable better cooperation, and curb knee-jerk policies, like export restrictions, that can exacerbate hunger and increase poverty. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict has intensified and caused supply chain disruptions around the world, food and fertilizer prices have again surged, making continued food export restriction monitoring critical to ensuring food security.

The Food and Fertilizer Export Restrictions Tracker monitors restrictive policies for food products and fertilizers. The impacts of export restrictions around the world are shown as a percentage of each country’s imported calories that are impacted by export restrictions. The tracker can also be used to compare the current situation to COVID-19 and the 2007-2008 food price crisis. Check out these and other features in the tracker below.

The Tool: Food and Fertilizer Export Restrictions Tracker

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The next update will be on April 8, 2024.

February 2024

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, no new measures were announced by any country in February 2024. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions remains the same as in the previous month.

January 2024

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, no new measures were announced by any country in January 2024. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions remains the same as in the previous month.

December 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, no new measures were announced by any country in December 2023. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions remains the same as in the previous month.

November 2023

The Food Security Portal Food and Fertilizer Export Restriction Tracker continues to monitor country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. No new trade measures were announced by any country in November 2023. The share of traded calories remained at 8 percent, the same as October 2023. The next update will be on January 8, 2024.

October 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, three new export restrictions were taken in October 2023.

Myanmar started to use the export license system, which will be applied only after the rice and rice products to be exported are pre-screened and 100 per cent ready.

India has set a floor price of $800 per metric ton minimum export price on onions up to Dec. 31, in a bid to ensure adequate domestic availability and to stabilize prices.

Thailand approved the classification of sugar as a controlled commodity, which means any price changes or exports of one ton or more need to be first cleared by a regulating panel.

The share of traded calories that are restricted, thanks to the new measures, climbed to 8% in October, up from 3% in September.

September 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, no new measures were announced by any country in September 2023. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions remains at 3% in September. (The next update will be published on November 7, 2023.)

August 2023

The Food Security Portal Food and Fertilizer Export Restriction Tracker monitors country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. India announced three new restrictions were announced in August 2023. The new measures, particularly those impacting rice, reflect the country’s concern about rising inflation, as well as political economy considerations going into the general election to be held in early 2024.

On August 19, India imposed an immediately effective export duty of 40% on onions to check price increases and improve supply in the domestic market.

On August 25, India imposed a 20% duty on exports of parboiled rice, also immediately effective. This move could further reduce shipments from the world's largest exporter and lift global rice prices.

On August 29, India imposed a $1,200 per ton minimum export price (MEP) on basmati rice shipments in an effort to calm local prices ahead of key state elections.

All of the above measures are valid until the end of 2023.

The share of global traded calories restricted due to export restrictions stood at 3% in August.

(The next update will be published on October 7, 2023.)

July 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, two new restrictions were announced during July 2023. India has prohibited the export of non-basmati white rice on July 20, 2023, with immediate effect, as the government observed a late start to seasonal monsoon rains hurting rice harvesting. This raised fears of a production shortfall. On July 29, the Russian government said that it had imposed a ban on the export of rice and rice groats until December 31, 2023, to maintain stability in the domestic market. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions stands at 6% in July. 

 

June 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker, there are no new restrictions imposed by any country during June 2023. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions remains the same as it was last reported in May – 8%. 

*Next update: August 7 2023

May 2023

The Food Security Portal Export Restriction Tracker continues to monitor country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. There were no new restrictions imposed by any country during May 2023. However, India announced that the country will continue to its export restrictions on wheat and rice, citing domestic inflation and shortfall in rains. India imposed a 20 percent export tax on un-milled and husked rice in September 2022; in May, they announced that this tax will remain in place until the end of 2023. The share of traded calories restricted due to export restrictions remains the same as reported in April at 8 percent. 

April 2023

The Food Security Portal export restriction tracker continues to monitor country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. There were no new restrictions imposed by any country in April 2023. The share of traded calories restricted due to export restrictions remained at 8%, the same level reported in March.

March 2023

The FSP export restriction tracker continues to monitor country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. In March 2023, there were no new trade restrictions imposed by any country. On March 18, 2023, Kazakhstan suspended its ban on onion exports and set a limit (20,000 tons) on the volume of exports. This decision was effective immediately and will remain in place until April 28 of this year. The share of traded calories that are restricted due to export restrictions in March 2023 remained at 8%, the same as it was last reported in February. 
 

February 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues to monitor country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. According to our data, several countries have recently placed new export embargos on vegetables, including onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots. 
On February 8, 2023, Kazakhstan halted the export of onions for three months to stabilize onion prices and ensure self-sufficiency in the crop. Similar measures were taken by Morocco, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan to prevent local prices of onions, tomatoes, and potatoes from soaring even further. Some of these bans are likely to remain in place until end of April-May 2023.
On February 5, 2023, Belarus stopped exporting apples, cabbages, and onions. 
With these developments, the share of traded calories that are restricted due to ban, licensing, or tax reached 8 percent in February. This represents an increase of 0.2 percentage points since January 2023. 

January 2023

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. We note several trade restrictions nearing their scheduled end date; we will continue to watch these restrictions to see whether the enacting countries phase them out or renew them.

On January 16, 2023, Mexico announced a temporary 50% tax on white corn exports, arguing the need to guarantee domestic supply and stabilize prices. With this development, the share of traded calories that are restricted due to bans, licensing, or taxes has fallen to 7.81% in January 2023. This represents an increase of 1 percentage point since October 2022.

 

December 2022

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. We note several trade restrictions nearing their scheduled end date; we will continue to watch these restrictions to see whether the enacting countries phase them out or renew them.

No new restriction on food products was observed during December 2022.

November 2022

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring country-level food and fertilizer trade policies. We note several trade restrictions nearing their scheduled end date; we will continue to watch these restrictions to see whether the enacting countries phase them out or renew them.

Only one new restriction was enacted recently. On October 30, 2022, Bolivia briefly suspended exports of soybeans, soybean meal, soybean flour, sugar, oil, and beef. This policy was intended to safeguard the country's food supply as protests raged in Santa Cruz over the postponement of the population census. The suspension was withdrawn on November 21, 2022.

October 2022

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our data there are coupled of trade restrictions near to phase out. We keep watching these restrictions whether the countries end or renew them. Only one new restriction has come into place during this time.

On 2 October 2022, China imposed export ban corn starch signaling that the country, the biggest importer of corn, is likely worried about local supplies.

With this development, now the share of traded calories that are restricted due to ban or licensing or tax has reduced to 6.98% in October 2022, a slight decrease by 0.2 percentage points from September 2022.

August and September 2022

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our data there are couple of export restrictions withdrawn in the month of August and September. Several new restrictions have come into place during this time.

In August and September 2022, we see Kazakhstan ended ban of sunflower seeds, wheat and wheat flour, and Malaysia withdrawn export ban of live chicken and chicken meat.

On 8 September 2022, India first imposed export tax  as the country seeks to secure domestic supplies of the food grain after planting shrank due to lack of adequate rains. Un-milled rice and husked brown rice will attract an export levy of 20% with effect from Sept. 9. Semi-milled or wholly milled rice, other than parboiled and basmati rice, will also attract a duty of 20%. On the same day, India also banned export of broken rice.

With this development, now the share of traded calories that are restricted due to ban or licensing has reduced to 7.2% in September 2022, a slight increase by 0.4 percentage points from July 2022. The increase is largely due to new restrictive measures taken by India.  

July 2022

Our export restriction tracker continues monitoring food and fertilizer trade policies by the countries. According to our data there are couple of export restrictions withdrawn in the month of July. Two new restrictions have come into effective. In July 2022 we see Turkey withdrawn banning export of oil, Georgia on wheat and barley, and Kazakhstan on live cattle. On 18 July 2022, Indonesia set its July crude palm oil reference price at $1615.83 per ton. The July reference price would place the export levy and export tax at a maximum $200 per ton and $288 per ton respectively. On the other hand, new restrictions have been put in place by Bangladesh and India. Bangladesh has banned exporting rice until end of the year, while India has restricted exporting wheat flour from 12 July 2022. Please note that India earlier imposed export restrictions on wheat grain, effective from 13 May 2022, which is still in place. With this development, now the share of traded calories that are restricted due to ban or licensing has reduced to 6.84% in July 2022, a decline by around 4 percentage points from June 2022. The decline is largely due to ending of export tax and ban by Indonesia, Kazakhstan, and Turkey.   

June 2022

Our food and fertilizer export restriction tracker is updated when a country put restrictions on items that they export globally. We also keep tracking of the countries that announce lifting of ban or where the end date of export restriction comes to an end or expired.

According to the latest news, Indonesia decided to lift export ban of palm oil on May 19, 2022, which came into effective from May 23, 2022. However, the country has reimposed a domestic market obligation (DMO) on palm oil to ensure 10 million tons of palm oil remains at home. Other notable countries where end date of their restriction has expired recently include Kazakhstan, Hungary, Morocco and Moldova.

On the other hand, India has put export ban of wheat and sugar on May 13, 2022. Though India’s share of wheat export in global trade in 2020-21 was small, this has come as a shock to importers who were expecting to import wheat from the country as the large sources of the grain – Russia and Ukraine – are now blocked. 

With this development, now the share of traded calories that are restricted due to ban or licensing has reduced to 10.6% in May 2022, a decline by around 6 percentage points from April 2022. The decline is largely due to ending of export ban by Indonesia and Kazakhstan.   

Data

The data is available in csv format here. The Food Export Restrictions Tracker data is made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License.

The Food Export Restrictions Tracker provides daily updated information on export restrictions affecting international food trade. Our export restriction data comes from a variety of sources, originating primarily from news articles that are then verified with official government sources. We supplement with other data sets to create impact indicators for the export restrictions. We have also constructed a data set from the 2007-2008 world food price crisis for comparison.

To learn more about the tracker data, please see our working paper. As the project evolves, we will update the working paper, so please check back for the latest version. Please provide feedback about a data point or on any other aspects of the tracker project here.

The Food Export Restrictions Tracker is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.