The World Trade Organization has posted a notification from Brazil, which expresses its readiness to hold prior consultations regarding extension of the safeguard measure in the form of quantitative restriction on imports of desiccated coconut, and proposes that such consultations take place until August 20, 2010. (May have to click on source document twice for proper viewing.)

The World Trade Organization has posted a notification by the U.S. to the WTO Committee on Agriculture of a summary of safeguard actions taken in 2009, which includes the tariff item number, a description of the product, whether volume-based action was taken (none), and whether price-based action was taken and affected quantities. (May have to click on source document twice for proper viewing.)

On August 16, 2010, China's Ministry of Commerce launched the China-Africa Research Center, a think-tank focused on the economies of the two regions, to further bolster trade relations with Africa. The new unit will utilize ministry resources and discuss and deliberate on key economic issues about African nations. It will also provide the government with theoretical clues on future policies for Sino-Africa economic and trade ties and help Chinese companies planning ventures in Africa with consultancy services.

China's Ministry of Commerce reports that Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, during her first visit as Commissioner, said on August 13, 2010 that China is improving its oversight of exporters in a bid to root out problems ranging from the contamination of its dairy products to the safety of pharmaceutical exports. She said that U.S.-China teamwork on food safety was part of a broader move to create a global community of regulators, adding that FDA has set up offices in three Chinese cities and is cooperating in many areas, including training and joint inspections. The article adds that the Chinese government introduced a new Food Safety Law in June 2009 with tougher punishments.

Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry commented on the World Trade Organization's release of a panel report on the European Union's customs duties on products covered by the WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA). METI states that the report presents a decision that fully approves Japan’s claim that the EU’s customs duties in question are inconsistent with Article II of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The EU may file an appeal against this report with the WTO Appellate Body within 60 days. If no such appeal is filed, the panel report will be adopted by the WTO as its final decision.

In the August 17, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:

Mexico's Diario Oficial of August 17, 2010 lists notices from the Secretary of the Economy on the following:

The European Commission has issued statistics covering of the European Union's antidumping, anti-subsidy and safeguard activities during the first six months of 2010.

The European Chemicals Agency has issued its August 2010 newsletter which discusses the November 30, 2010 registration deadline under the EU REACH program, the December 1, 2010 classification, labeling, and packaging (CLP) deadline, and other topics to help the trade comply with EU chemical substance regulations.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea has announced that imports of U.S. beef more than doubled in the first half of 2010 from a year ago, making Korea the 4th largest importer of U.S. beef after Mexico, Canada and Japan. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says some 57,000 tons of U.S. beef were exported to Korea in the first six months of 2010, compared to 28,000 tons in the same period last year.