Tax removal opens door for first US corn shipment to Algeria

Following a 3½ year effort by the US Grains Council (USGC) in cooperation with USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, the taxes were finally removed in September 2012, including those on distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and corn gluten feed (CGF).

Sarl Nutrimag, an Algerian commercial importer, made the first ever purchase of US DDGS and CGF into Algeria, which began unloading on Sept. 5, 2013. According to Cary Sifferath, USGC regional director for the Middle East and Africa, this shipment is one of the beginning steps to a greater future for US DDGS and CGF in the Algerian market.

“Through continuous Council efforts and support from our allies, products like DDGS and CGF were included in a list of feed ingredients that have had their import duties and VAT reduced to zero until August 2014,” said Sifferath. “This shipment of US DDGS and CGF will open the door for end-users in Algeria to buy US corn co-products in the future. The Council sees opportunities for these products fitting well into both the Algerian poultry and dairy industries.”

In coordination with work on the policy side, the Council is educating the larger commercial feed companies and other large end-users in Algeria, so that they become comfortable using DDGS and CGF in livestock rations.

Algeria is the second-largest African importer of feed grains after Egypt.