The World Resources Institute (WRI), Enironmental Investigation Agency (EIA-US) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have created a global initiative, the Forest Legality Alliance, to help private corporations reduce their trade in illegal wood. The alliance's formation comes after the U.S. amended the Lacey Act in 2008 to ban the trade of illegal wood products in the US.
GOV.cn reports that China has unveiled a new National Medium and Long-term Talent Development Plan (2010-2020) that states the government will work out favorable policies in terms of taxation, insurance, housing, children and spouse settlement, career development, research projects, and government awards for high-caliber overseas talents who are willing to work in China.
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 following are details of the June 7, 2010 European Court of Auditors report which concludes that European Union Member Country controls over simplified customs procedures for imports are deficient.
In the June 9, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices regarding the WTO banana dispute were posted:
The European Commission has posted the most recent edition of its Market Access newsletter. Among other things, the newsletter discusses the EU-Latin America summit in May 2010, an update on recent meetings with the U.S., China and Russia, and the EU's expected fall announcement of a new trade policy.
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.
In the June 8, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
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 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: