On 1 June 2021, the government extended the exemption from imports, customs and value-added taxes for a number of commodities, including cereals and cereal products until the end of August 2021. The measure follows a series of previous extensions on these goods (FPMA Food Policies), which have been in place since 2019, aiming to boost imports and contain food price spikes amid hyperinflation pressure. Imports of essential foodstuffs steadily declined between 2014 and 2018 due to a spiraling macro‑economic crisis, but increased modestly during the 2019/20 and 2020/21 marketing years, partially offsetting the below-average domestic cereal production curtailed by economic constraints.