The State Department, World Health Organization, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have recently issued the following travel warnings, travel alerts, country specific information sheets, and disease outbreak-related information: State Department Travel Warnings are issued when the State Department decides, based on all relevant information, to recommend that Americans avoid travel to certain countries.
Dugie Standeford
Dugie Standeford, European Correspondent, Communications Daily and Privacy Daily, is a former lawyer. She joined Warren Communications News in 2000 to report on internet policy and regulation. In 2003 she moved to the U.K. and since then has covered European telecommunications issues. She previously covered the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and intellectual property law matters. She has a degree in psychology from Duke University and a law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law.
Talks will resume between the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX) and International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) under the auspices of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service during the week of Sept. 17, FMCS Director George Cohen said Sept. 6. Because of the sensitivity of the high profile dispute, and consistent with the Agency's practice, “we will not disclose either the location of the meeting or the content of the substantive negotiations that will take place,” he said.
The Coast Guard is proposing to revise and update Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) regulations, it said in a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication Sept. 10. Comments on the proposed rule are due by Sept. 10.
Trade in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation region continued to outperform the rest of the world despite global economic uncertainty, APEC reported. Growth in the nominal U.S. dollar value of merchandise trade for APEC countries was 4.6% in May 2012, down from 12.1% growth in December 2011 but still at “the top of the heap” compared to the rest of the world, where growth contracted by 5.6% in May, it said. Economic activity in the region is expected to stay relatively robust in the medium term despite lower growth forecasts caused by increased financial shakiness abroad, it said. APEC ministers agreed at their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia, this week to maintain free and open markets, withdraw existing restrictive measures and resist protectionism (see ITT's Online Archives 12090608 for summary).
Russia, which acceded to the World Trade Organization two weeks ago, now has the choice of taking the high road or the low, European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said Sept. 7 at a seminar on EU-Russia trade and economic relations in Helsinki, Finland. The low road would be a “minimalist approach” to its WTO commitments, one that seeks to limit the impacts on companies it now artificially protects, he said. The less Russia reforms its business environment, the harder it will be for internationally competitive companies to develop, he said.
The Export-Import Bank announces an upcoming meeting on Sept. 25, 2012.
The American Association of Port Authorities unveiled its 2013 calendar of program and conferences:
A spike in piracy activity is occurring off the coast of West Africa, the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center said Sept. 6. Since Aug. 18, three vessels have been hijacked in the region, attacks that are notable because they have all involved tankers and the theft of cargoes, it said. In addition, the incidents have been characterized by the degree of violence used against crew, it said. The attacks follow a different modus operandi from those in other parts of the world, said IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan. After the armed robberies, the stolen cargo is then placed on smaller vessels to be taken and sold illegally in the region, he said. Up to Sept. 5, there have been 40 reported attacks on vessels in the Gulf of Guinea, with 19 boarded and eight successfully hijacked, the IMB said. But many incidents in the area go unreported, possibly out of fear of reprisal or the feeling that nothing will change as a result, Mukundan said. He recommended that every attack be reported, and urged all vessels operating in the area to be vigilant.
The Asia-Pacific region continues to be a “key driver for international trade and investment” despite the uncertainty of the global economy, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Ministers said in a Sept. 6 joint statement following their meeting in Vladivostok, Russia. Governments said they remain “strongly committed” to supporting the World Trade Organization as essential for worldwide economic growth and development and have directed their officials to use “different, fresh and credible negotiating approaches” aimed at a successful multilateral conclusion of the Doha Round. They noted with concern the International Monetary Fund's downward projection for global economic growth for this and next year and the rise in protectionism around the world.
The European Commission launched an anti-dumping investigation into imports of solar panels and their key components (solar cells and wafers) originating in China, it said Sept. 6. The move followed a complaint by EU Pro Sun, which represents over 20 European companies that produce solar panels, that solar panels and key components coming from China enter the European market at prices below market value, the EC said.