Canada's Minister of International Trade reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to strengthen trade and economic cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region before wrapping up his trade visit to Japan. While in Japan, Minister Van Loan attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, where he held a number of bilateral meetings with counterparts from APEC member economies.
The Canada Border Services Agency has launched a three-month pilot project to broadcast via Twitter estimated border wait times for crossing the Canada-United States land border.
The Canada Border Services Agency has initiated a reinvestigation of the antidumping or countervailing normal values, export prices and amounts of subsidy of certain thermoelectric coolers and warmers (with a passive heat sink and a thermoelectric module) originating in or exported from the People's Republic of China. Classification is generally under 8418.69.00.90, but 8418.50.10.00, 8418.50.29.00, 8418.61.91.90, or 8418.99.90.90 may also be used.
In celebrating World Environment Day 2010, the World Customs Organization reaffirmed the commitment of Customs administrations across the globe to protecting the environment, adding that it is now now joining the CITES Secretariat, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, and the World Bank to hammer out an international consortium to fight crime against wildlife.
The Port of Long Beach has announced a $40 million project deepening the Port of Long Beach Main Channel to allow safer transit for the largest ships including oil tankers was officially kicked off on June 8, 2010, by the Port and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The European Court of Auditors has published a report on European Union simplified customs procedures which concludes that these procedures are not yet effectively controlled in the majority of the audited Member States. As such, there is no reasonable assurance that traders comply with the obligations deriving from the common trade policy. (See future issue of ITT for details.)
On June 8, 2010, the Bureau of Industry and Security’s Regulations and Procedures Technical Advisory Committee met to discuss a variety of export-related issues, including:
The North American Plant Protection Organization is announcing its 34th NAPPO Annual Meeting to be held October 18 - 22, 2010, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. NAPPO provides a forum for public and private sectors in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico to collaborate in the development of international science-based phytosanitary standards to protect agricultural, forest and other plant resources against regulated plant pests while facilitating trade.
On May 26, 2010, the Forest Legality Alliance was launched to support private sector efforts and policies to reduce trade in illegally harvested wood. The Alliance will (i) ensure that importers and supply chains know and understand the emerging new trade policies, (ii) develop new online resources that help companies assess the risk of encountering illegal wood, conduct due care, and complete import declarations, and (iii) work with suppliers to document best practices and unforeseen challenges associated with purchasing legal wood and complying with import regulations.