An Oregon ballot initiative that would require labeling of genetically modified (GM) foods is headed for a recount after narrowly failing to pass on Election Day, according to press reports from Reuters (here). State Ballot Measure 92 failed by about 800 votes on Nov. 4 (here). But under Oregon law, any vote that is decided by 0.2% or less must be recounted, said a spokesman for Oregon’s Secretary of State. The recount will take place Dec. 2-12. If the result of the ballot measure changes, Oregon would require labeling of all GM foods sold in the state as “Genetically Engineered” beginning on Jan. 1, 2016, says a text of the measure included in Oregon’s 2014 voter guide (here). Oregon would join Vermont as the second state to require GM labeling. Vermont passed a law in April 2014 that requires labeling of GM foods by July 1, 2016 (see 14042523). Connecticut and Maine have similar laws on the books, but they only take effect if enough states require GM labeling. A bill to require GM labeling in California failed to pass in May (see 14053026).

The U.S. Energy Information Administration released a new crude oil import tool that will improve the ability for users to find and review data on the subject, the Department of Energy agency said (here). Among other features, "the tool allows users to sort and display crude oil imports in monthly or annual time series, by crude type (i.e., light, medium, heavy), country source, receiving terminal, processing company, processing facility," it said. The tool could also "be used to provide timely data during emergency response situations, including how much crude is imported through a given port, what types of imported crude enter that port, and which refineries are serviced by that port," it said. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, celebrated the release. “Our nation is importing record low levels of oil from the world’s volatile regions and exporting record volumes of all sorts of energy to our friends and allies,” Murkowski said (here). “This new tool is a welcome addition to the analytical arsenal at EIA.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service issued a final rule adding the Gunnison sage-grouse to the Endangered Species List in the threatened category (here). The listing of the bird species, which is native to Colorado and Utah, as well as new import and export restrictions, take effect Dec. 22.

Exports were up, but imports fell by half of a percent in 2013, mainly because of a decline in energy imports, said the International Trade Commission in its annual report on changes in U.S. trade patterns. “Shifts in U.S. Merchandise Trade 2013,” released on Nov. 12 (here), includes data and analysis of changes in trade with key U.S. partners and important industries. The report focuses on changes in U.S. exports, imports, and trade balances of agricultural and manufacturing industries, key natural resources, as well as changes in U.S. trade with major partners and country groups, said the ITC in a press release (here). Also included are profiles of the U.S. industry and market for over 250 industry groups and subgroups, offering data for 2009-13 on consumption, production, and trade, it said.

The Obama administration is failing to fully enforce labor provisions in U.S. free trade agreements, and FTA partners are also coming up short in implementing environmental reform, the Government Accountability Office said in two reports released on Nov. 13. The GAO reviewed labor enforcement in the Central American Free Trade Agreement, as well as FTAs with Colombia, Peru and Oman (here).

The Brazil-U.S. Business Council (BUSBC) and the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry inked a deal on Nov. 11 to investigate the terms of a bilateral trade agreement, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an affiliate of BUSBC, said in a statement (here). The two associations will report their findings to the U.S. and Brazilian governments, the statement said. “Brazil is currently the United States’ ninth largest goods trading partner, but there is room to grow that relationship,” noted Jodi Bond, the chamber’s vice president for the Americas. “This joint effort by the private sectors of both countries will shed light on exactly where the opportunities and challenges lie within the framework of a mutually beneficial agreement.” The BUSBC is currently in Brasilia, leading a trade delegation of U.S. business leaders.

Negative advertising on the 2014 campaign trail eclipsed debate over the issues that Americans are most concerned about, but the Communication Workers of America is committed to obstructing progress on Trade Promotion Authority and the Trans-Pacific Partnership in order to safeguard U.S. workers, said the CWA in a Nov. 5 statement (here). Republicans trounced Democrats in the Nov. 4 mid-terms, and some analysts have said newfound Republican strength will help advance the U.S. trade agenda (see 1411050007).

The Obama administration railed against Guatemalan labor rights violations in the agency’s first brief since re-opening a labor dispute under the Central American Free Trade Agreement. Despite agreeing to a bilateral Labor Action Plan that went into force in 2013, Guatemala is still failing to uphold CAFTA-mandated labor protections, namely freedom of association and worker’s conditions, in the shipping, apparel, steel and agriculture sectors, said the 70-page brief released on Nov. 3. The U.S. resumed litigation in the dispute in September (see 14091902). The apparel industry may be eligible for sanctions as a result, said one industry representative before USTR made the decision to reopen the dispute (see 14082701). The labor violations cited in the brief total more than 400. The Guatemalan government’s failure to uphold its laws and CAFTA commitments allowed local manufacturers in the sectors mentioned to produce and sell goods without having to pay the costs involved with compliance, said the briefing. “With respect to the apparel sector … 97 percent of Guatemala’s apparel exports were destined for CAFTA-DR countries, and 94 percent of these came to the United States,” said the briefing, referring to the Dominican Republic, also a partner in the agreement. “Guatemalan imports from other CAFTA-DR countries also compete with the apparel products made by these companies.”

U.S. supporters of the investor-state dispute settlement are doing a bad job of accurately describing the mechanism,and major corporations often fare poorly at the arbitration forums already set up in investment agreements worldwide, said Scott Miller, senior analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, during an Oct. 31 event (here). The vast majority of investment treaties brokered globally in recent decades lack the mechanism, but disputes have spiked over the last ten years in those agreements that include investor-state, said Miller.

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing will make for another opportunity for the U.S. and China to make headway in Information Technology Agreement negotiations, said John Neuffer, an Information Technology Industry Council senior vice president and an advocate for ITA expansion. Neuffer said in a Nov. 4 blog post that the two sides should narrow the gaps between negotiating positions following a recent groundswell of industry support for imminent expansion of the ITA, a pact that has not expanded its tariff liberalization since 1996 (see 14092912). ITA supporters, including Neuffer, have said a compromise between the U.S. and China could be on the horizon, but those negotiations have repeatedly collapsed (see 13112217). Both sides blame each other for the problems (see 13112727). Nonetheless, “as host to the APEC leaders’ meeting this year, ITA expansion is an opportunity for China to deliver a strong economic and trade outcome to the region. Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, and others in the neighborhood are heavily reliant on tech trade and are big supporters of ITA expansion,” said Neuffer, saying ITA progress could invigorate multilateral negotiation progress at the World Trade Organization. “There are high expectations that China can seize this APEC moment to clear a path forward that will allow all the negotiating parties involved in ITA expansion to return to Geneva to conclude this landmark trade deal this year.” Many trade supporters are also targeting progress on a Trans-Pacific Partnership deal at APEC (see 1410300001).