In the July 1, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
The European Commission's Taxation and Customs unit has announced it will hold a high-level European Union-China customs conference September 1-2, 2010 in Shanghai with China's General Administration of Customs.The Conference is open to participants from businesses and the public sector, both from Europe and China.
The European Commission has issued a press release on new EU rules on organic food labeling which enter into force on July 1, 2010. The “Euro-Leaf” symbol will now be obligatory on pre-packaged organic food products that have been produced in any of EU Member States and meet the necessary standards. The logo remains optional for non-packed and imported organic products.
In the June 30, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
The World Customs Organization has issued a press release announcing that it held its 115th/116th annual meetings in Brussels on June 24-26, 2010 which included three days of intensive discussions by Directors General of Customs representing the 176 Members of the WCO.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reports that the 9th round of negotiations for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement will be held in Switzerland on June 28 to July 1, 2010. All the Chapters of the Agreement draft text will be discussed in the meeting. The Government of Japan looks to actively lead discussions with the other concerned countries with a view to realizing ACTA in 2010.
The World Customs Organization reports that the Republic of the Philippines and the Republic of Kenya deposited their instruments of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention) on June 25, 2010. Having entered into force on 3 February 2006, the Convention now has 71 Contracting Parties.
On June 26, 2010, the Republic of Liberia deposited with the Secretary General of the World Customs Organization (WCO) its instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System (Harmonized System).
In the June 26, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notice was posted:
The European Commission has posted a report entitled, "EU-China Trade in Facts and Figures." Among other things, the report states that Europe's imports from China grew by about 16.5% annually from 2004-2008 but this growth rate reversed in 2009 and recorded a 13% drop due to the crisis.