Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade is seeking the views of Canadians by September 28, 2010 on the scope of possible free trade negotiations between Canada and Turkey. In October 2009, Turkey first indicated its interest in pursuing a free trade agreement with Canada. Canadian and Turkish officials met informally in Ottawa in February 2010 to better understand their respective interests in possible free trade negotiations.
Xinhuanet.com reported on August 7, 2010, that exports of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the global market were valued at 1.46 billion U.S. dollars, according to Wang Guoqiang, director of the State Administration of TCM. Wang, also vice minister of the health ministry, said the number of countries and regions which recognize the advantages and special features of TCM in treating modern diseases were on the rise and many countries were seeking cooperation with China on TCM.Traditional Chinese medicines are mostly mixtures of a number of ingredients or medical plants such as herbs, which makes them much more difficult to explain and analyze in a quantitative sense than western drugs.
On August 6, 2010, GOV.cn reported that preferential electricity rates granted by 22 provincial governments for high energy-consuming businesses have been totally scrapped. All energy-intensive enterprises must be subject to the new power tariff surcharges introduced in May, said the National Development and Reform Commission in a statement posted on its website. The news comes three days after Chinese statistics authorities said China's consumption of energy relative to economic output rose in the first half by 0.09 percent from the same period last year. "This points to the difficulty of the country reaching its target of improving energy efficiency by 20 percent between 2005 and 2010," said Li Zuojun, researcher of energy policies at the Development Research Center of the State Council.
GOV.cn reports that on August 9, 2010, a Chinese commerce official called for creating indigenous brands to reduce China's trade deficit in intellectual property. At the Intellectual Property Rights Summit in Beijing, Ministry of Commerce official Wu Guohua noted China spends a large amount of funds on foreign intellectual property every year, adding that it is an imperative China create indigenous brands. In 2009, China's services trade deficit stood at 29.6 billion U.S. dollars -- 1.6 times the 2008 level -- of which 10.6 billion U.S. dollars was royalties and licensing fees payments to foreign companies.
According to July 15, 2010 remarks by Chairman Wasescha of the World Trade Organization Negotiating Group on Market Access, a revised version of a textile labeling proposal sponsored by the U.S., European Community, Mauritius, and Sri Lanka is being drafted and is expected soon.
In the August 7, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notice was posted:
In the August 6, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
The U.S. embassy in India has announced a project entitled, "Converging Against Child Labor: Support for India." The project will be implemented by the International Labor Organization, and the U.S. Department of Labor is contributing $6.85 million to fund the project.
The Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation reports that Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Putin signed a resolution on August 5, 2010 to introduce a temporary ban on the export of some agricultural products from the Russian Federation, due to a sharp change in crop forecast. The ban is imposed from August 5 - December 31, 2010. The issue of lifting the embargo on the export of Russian grain is postponed till December, after the results of harvesting campaign are known.
Xinhuanet.com reported on August 5, 2010 that China's ambassador to the World Trade Organization, Sun Zhenyu, stated the country is committed to joining the government procurement agreement (GPA) "as soon as possible", but still hopes GPA member nations including the U.S. are not "too demanding" on its revised offer.The GPA is a set of standards that grant foreign companies nondiscriminatory access to government purchases. Many expect China's procurement market to become open to foreign businesses if the country joins the GPA. Joining will also allow Chinese enterprises to enter the government procurement markets in 41 WTO member nations that have joined the GPA.