China will again allow imports of beef and pork from Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a Nov. 5 tweet. China stopped accepting the meat from Canada earlier this year after China said it found falsified veterinary health certificates (see 1906260053). China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang confirmed the announcement during a Nov. 6 press conference. "The Chinese Customs and the Canadian competent authority have been in close communication on this matter and working for a solution," he said. "Recently Canada proposed an action plan as a corrective measure for certificate issuance and delivery. After reviewing it, we believe this plan will meet our safety requirements and agree to accept veterinary health certificates for meat products exported to China issued by the Canadian authority."
The government of Canada issued the following trade-related notices as of Nov. 6 (note that some may also be given separate headlines):
U.S. agriculture official Ted McKinney said pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs) are too often used as trade barriers and praised an endorsement by the Inter-American Board of Agriculture that emphasized the need for global science-based agricultural regulations.
NEW YORK -- A former WTO appellate body panelist criticized the administration's trade policies as chaotic and ineffective and former U.S. Trade Representative General Counsel Stephen Vaughn defended them, while a top WTO official tried to see the good in both arguments. They were all speaking on the state of world trade at an International Trade Symposium co-sponsored by Finastra and The Economist on Nov. 6.
Switzerland adopted adjustments to its sanctions against North Korea that align with the exceptions of the export ban agreed to by the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee, Baker McKenzie said in a Nov. 6 post. The exceptions allow for exports of humanitarian aid to North Korea and will “increase legal certainty for those companies involved,” the post said. Switzerland’s amendment will take effect Dec. 1.
The World Trade Organization cannot negotiate trade liberalization, and trade distorting agricultural subsidies are getting worse, not better, said Aluisio de Lima-Campos, chairman of the ABCI Institute, the Portuguese acronym for Brazilian International Trade Scholars. He was leading a panel Nov. 5 at American University, the end of a daylong trade symposium co-sponsored by ABCI.
The State Department plans to publish its guidance for exports of surveillance technology by early January and will make several changes based on industry comments, officials said. Changes include the elimination of a “kill switch” suggestion and an effort to revise the definition for “surveillance,” which some companies complained was too broad.
The World Customs Organization issued the following release on commercial trade and related matters:
Britain's Department for International Trade updated its export control training bulletin for November through April, the DIT said Nov. 5. The bulletin provides details of courses, seminars and workshops from the country’s Export Control Joint Unit aimed at giving industry more guidance and training.
The United Kingdom's Department for International Trade released a Nov. 4 policy paper on the country’s approach to continuing trade with Georgia after Brexit. The paper provides an overview of the agreement and explains “significant differences” between the deal and the current agreement between the European Union and Georgia. The paper also includes information on tariff rates, customs procedures, rules of origin, technical barriers to trade and more.