The World Customs Organization created a dedicated site and medical supply classification guide to help during the COVID-19 epidemic, the WCO said in a news release. “During this time of crisis, the global Customs community is invited to continue advocating for and realize the facilitation of not just relief supplies but of all goods being traded in order to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,” WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya said. The WCO said it “will continue to proactively communicate with its Members and partners, not only on measures to facilitate the movement of relief consignments, but on action to safeguard supply chain continuity.”
The June 8-11 ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization will not go forward, the director general of the WTO told members March 12. The coronavirus pandemic makes it not feasible, he said. A worldwide agreement on fisheries subsidies was supposed to come together in time for the meeting.
European Union Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan, who was scheduled to give a speech in Washington next week, canceled his trip because of the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesman said. The groups that had invited him to speak canceled the events. The cancelation was made before Trump announced that non-citizens and non-green card holders would not be allowed to fly between the EU countries that have open borders and the U.S. That ban does not cover Ireland, Hogan's home country, but does cover Belgium, where the EU has its headquarters.
The U.S. and the United Kingdom will begin trade negotiations this month, the U.K.’s Department for International Trade said March 10. U.K. Minister of State for Trade Policy Greg Hands visited the U.S. this week to meet with industry and government representatives, when he planned to discuss trade “opportunities” with administration officials. In a statement, Hands said the deal will “scrap unnecessary red tape” and “bring more opportunities for businesses.”
The American Apparel and Footwear Association published the 21st edition of its Restricted Substance List, which provides information on regulations and laws that restrict or ban certain chemicals and substances in finished home textile, apparel and footwear products around the world. The AAFA released the last list in February 2019. The list “serves as a practical tool to help individuals in textile, apparel and footwear companies, and their suppliers -- responsible for environmental compliance throughout the supply chain -- to become more aware of various national and international regulations governing the amount of substances that are permitted in finished home textile, apparel, and footwear products,” the AAFA said.
A Canadian government analysis of NAFTA's replacement -- known as the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement in that country -- estimates that it will increase Canadian GDP by just under 0.25% over five years. The estimate is based on comparing CUSMA to a withdrawal from NAFTA, not from the present trade deal.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement reached a 91% ratification rate among World Trade Organization members three years after it was introduced, according to a Feb. 22 news release from the WTO. The TFA, which applies only to WTO members who accept it, has the “potential” to “slash members' trade costs by an average” of about 14.5%, the WTO said. It reduces “time needed to import and export goods” and helps “expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods across borders.” As the TFA’s implementation rate increased, WTO members have shared information to help traders within the agreement understand varying import, export and transit procedures and the use of customs brokers, single windows and customs contact points, the WTO said.
A pro-free trade think tank in Canada published an analysis of the new NAFTA, known as CUSMA in Canada, and finds it lacking. “CUSMA has little traditional tariff liberalization, introducing only minor changes to market access compared to the NAFTA, and limited improvements in trade facilitation, while at the same time introducing a number of features that promise to be more restrictive of trade,” wrote the authors of the C.D. Howe Institute paper.
The World Customs Organization rescheduled its Authorized Economic Operator conference to Feb. 15-17, 2021, it said in a news release. The event was previously scheduled for next month in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. “To ensure the success of the Conference in view of the prevailing global circumstances, Dubai Customs and the UAE Federal Customs Authority proposed to the WCO to postpone the Conference,” the WCO said.
As the coronavirus outbreak continues, companies should review their contracts to determine whether they contain force majeure provisions and what those contracts define as force majeure qualifying conditions, according to a Feb. 13 post from Crowell & Moring. A force majeure provision can be triggered by specific language in a contract clause -- such as natural disasters, human threats or acts of God -- or by official announcements from government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, including the World Health Organization, the post said. But the coronavirus outbreak “presents an unusual situation” because it includes both components -- a naturally occurring element and a government action. China confirmed Feb. 10 that the virus outbreak should be considered a force majeure under Chinese law, the law firm said