The World Bank reports that while many International Development Association (IDA) countries have made major headway in realizing the benefits available through access to international markets, the recent financial and earlier food and fuel crises have put this progress at risk. The slowdown in trade activity has been widespread, impacting both wealthy nations and poorer ones. IDA countries, which are generally the most vulnerable to these kinds of market shocks, have been deeply affected. Moreover, IDA countries continue to face supply-side constraints that affect their trade capacity such as weak institutions and inadequate physical infrastructure has also hampered their export performance.
The European Commission has been granted a mandate to open negotiations on an ambitious air transport agreement with Brazil. Negotiations will aim at opening market access for airlines and achieving a high level of regulatory convergence in areas such as security, environmental aspects or consumer protection.
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has added another sentence to its recent notice on extending the exemption for Advance Commercial Information (ACI) notification requirements for U.S.-loaded marine freight remaining on board cargo to December 31, 2010.
The European Taxation and Customs Unit has made available an updated version of the guidelines for the Economic Operators Registration and Identification number (EORI). An EORI is a number, unique throughout the European Community, assigned by a customs authority or designated authority in a Member State to economic operators and other persons for customs purposes.
In the October 15, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
The World Customs Organization announced that more than 40 countries have taken part in an international week of action called Operation Pangea III targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illegal medicines to raise awareness of the associated health risks, resulting in arrests across the globe and the seizure of thousands of potentially harmful medicines.
In the October 16, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
Mexico's Diario Oficial of October 15, 2010 lists a notice from the Secretary of the Economy as follows:
The European Commission has posted three presentations on EU agriculture and trade. The first is on latest developments in trade and agriculture. The second is on market access opportunities and sanitary and phytosanitary concerns, and the third is on how the EU agriculture and development policies fit together.
On October 14, 2010, China reaffirmed its determination to advance the reforms of the formation mechanism of the Renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, exchange rate but dismissed calls for the currency's appreciation, states GOV.cn.