EU Government Notices for Jan 18-19
The European Union issued the following trade-related releases on January 18-19, 2011:
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- Philippines lifts ban on EU beef imports.The Philippines has lifted its ban on imports of beef and beef products from Portugal due to false claims of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), after earlier decisions to lift the bans on imports from the other EU States. Now, all EU exporters can apply to export beef products to the Philippines.
- Hazardous substance labeling: construction. The European Parliament has approved a new regulation on labeling requirements for construction products containing hazardous substances, which will enter in force 20 days after its publication in the EU Official Journal, but many of its provisions will apply only as from July 1, 2013.
- Timber traceability, import controls. MEPs approved two draft agreements to improve the traceability of timber from Congo-Brazzaville and Cameroon. The aim of these "voluntary partnership agreements" is to combat bad governance and corruption as well as providing for better traceability of tropical woods and import controls.
- WTO Doha Talks. The EU Trade Spokesman stated that EU Trade Commissioner De Gucht has invited trade ministers from the US, China, India, Japan, Brazil, and Australia to meet informally on January 28, 2011 on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) talks.
- International audit oversight. The EC has adopted a decision recognizing the equivalence of the audit oversight systems in 10 third countries, including the US, China, Canada, South Korea, etc., and a transitional period to auditors from 20 third countries establishing independent public oversight systems was also granted.
- REACH notifications. The European Chemicals Agency has announced a correction to the 3.1 million classification and labeling notifications it received, stating that it covers a total of 107,067 substances, and not 24,529 as published on January 4, 2011.