Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for African Affairs Florie Liser will participate in the 23rd African Union Summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea from June 23-27, said the Office of the USTR in its weekly schedule. Acting Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler will deliver remarks on June 24 to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the 10th Anniversary of the U.S.-Singapore Free Trade Agreement. Assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East Dan Mullaney will also on June 24 deliver the keynote address at the Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) Stakeholder Forum on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Deputy Assistant USTR Carlos Romero will then participate from June 25-26 in Amman, Jordan labor meetings in accordance with the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement, USTR said.

The Obama administration is increasingly concerned about Russian unwillingness to conform to wide-ranging trade liberalization principles and multilateral regimes, said the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) in a review on Russian participation in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Russia is continuing to implement sanitary and phytosanitary measures that violate WTO rules, said the report. Russia has a virtual “zero tolerance” for residues of the antibiotic tetracycline but has not yet provided WTO members with related risk assessment. “Russia also has adopted a zero tolerance for ractopamine and certain hormones,” said USTR. “While Russia published a purported scientific justification for its measure on ractopamine, which we are reviewing in close consultation with U.S. industry and interested stakeholders, Russia has not provided any risk assessment with regard to hormones.”

The Obama administration is committed to fighting “illegal, unreported and unregulated” fishing through the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), said U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman at the Department of State "Our Ocean" Conference. The administration is aiming to prohibit harmful fishery subsidies, such as those that foster overfishing, said Froman, while saying USTR is asking for European Union collaboration. “While the details of proposals are not yet fully agreed upon, they are gaining momentum,” said Froman. “When completed, the TPP will include the most advanced environment chapter of any trade agreement ever negotiated, and it will be fully enforceable and subject to the same strong dispute settlement mechanism that applies to other obligations in the agreement.” President Barack Obama recently called for a multi-agency task force to look at the issue (see 14061726).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative will continue to work with Tunisian officials to address organic product certification, strengthen cooperation in sectors such as olive oil and handicrafts, and collaborate on quick implementation of the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Facilitation, said USTR in a June 17 statement. A U.S. delegation, led by Assistant USTR for Europe and the Middle East Daniel Mullaney, met with Tunisian counterparts in Tunis on June 16 under the U.S.- Tunisia Trade and Investment Council framework. During the summit, the officials discussed market access, services, investment, and intellectual property rights. USTR did not elaborate on the details of the negotiations. USTR pledged to convene with Tunisian officials to review bilateral progress before the end of 2014.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is aiming to propose mechanisms to strengthen U.S. economic ties with Sub-Saharan Africa, including the “seamless” renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), as the White House prepares to host the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in August, said U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman on June 16. Froman spoke before the Council on Foreign Relations. U.S. industry is pressing for quick introduction of proposals to improve AGOA, and subsequently pass a renewal bill, before the program’s 2015 expiration generates costly uncertainty (see 14040402).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) is aiming to “break ground” in securing wildlife trafficking rules in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), USTR said on June 16 in a press release. The other 11 TPP partners are already combating wildlife trafficking by clamping down on illegal ivory shipments and increasing sanctions against transgressors, among other measures, said USTR. TPP is intended to foster a “framework” for shoring up those efforts, said USTR. The U.S. and more than 40 other nations pledged to engage in a global fight against wildlife trafficking in February (see 14021922).

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) outlined its confidentiality procedures for Transatlantic Trade and Investment negotiations in a July 5, 2013 letter from Assistant USTR Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Europe and the Middle East Daniel Mullaney to Ignacio Garcia Bercero, the chief EU negotiator for TTIP. The non-profit group Knowledge Ecology International released the letter on June 12, after obtaining it through a May Freedom of Information Act request to USTR, said the group (here). The letter emphasizes the need to maintain vigilance in handling the documents, and describes certain security measures. For instance, related documents are not required to be kept in safes and may be discussed over insecure lines of communication, it said. The U.S. will also keep the documents confidential for five years following the entry into force of the agreement or the unsuccessful conclusion of negotiations, said the letter. The Office of the USTR did not immediately confirm the authenticity of the document.

Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Europe and the Middle East Daniel Mullaney will lead on June 16 an interagency delegation to Tunis, Tunisia to meet on issues related to the U.S.-Tunisia Council on Trade and Investment, the Office of the USTR said in its weekly schedule. USTR chief Michael Froman will meet in Washington, D.C. with Chilean Minister of Foreign Affairs Heraldo Munoz on June 17. Froman will then meet on June 18 in Washington D.C. with Karel De Gucht, the European Commissioner on Trade, and will participate the following day in a public meeting of the President’s Export Council. Froman will also meet on June 19 with Cambodian Minister of Commerce Sun Chanthol.

U.S. trade officials met with Central Asian counterparts on June 10 to discuss customs coordination, sanitary measures and other bilateral trade and investment issues, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) said in a statement. The meetings, held under the U.S.-Central Asia Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, targeted the facilitation of increased trade flows through 2015, said USTR. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan are partners in the agreement. The Office of USTR did not elaborate further on details of the meetings.

U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman canceled plans to deliver remarks to America’s Small Business Summit on June 11, a USTR spokesman confirmed. The Chamber of Commerce will host the event (see 14060801).