According to the Office of Textiles and Apparel, Ecuador has implemented a system of mixed tariffs on more than 300 products, including certain textile, apparel, and footwear articles, effective June 1, 2010.
The World Customs Organization visited Bangladesh on July 20 and 21, 2010 for the Customs-Business Partnership Conference, where he met the management team of Bangladesh Customs as well as senior political and business leaders to discuss Customs modernization and the Customs-business partnership. At the conference, the Minister of Finance announced that Bangladesh would sign a letter of intent to implement the WCO SAFE Framework of Standards and would work with the WCO on Customs reform. He also announced that his country would start the process of acceding to the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention.
China may calculate the yuan's exchange rate against a basket of currencies, instead of only against the greenback, a Chinese central bank official said July 22, 2010. The People's Bank of China, or the Central Bank, may publish the nominal effective exchange rate on a regular basis, Hu Xiaolian, deputy governor of the PBOC, said in a signed article published on the PBOC website.
In guidance documents on the European Union's import procedures, the EU reminds carriers that after January 1, 2011, the EU will require that the entry summary declaration (ENS) be filed at least 24 hours before loading in each foreign port.
In the July 22, 2010 edition of the Official Journal of the European Union, the following trade-related notices were posted:
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, merchandise trade volumes for the G7 countries as a whole continued to grow in the first quarter of 2010, but at a slower pace than in the fourth quarter of 2009.
As of September 1, 2010 importers and exporters of cattle, bison and sheep will be asked to provide their Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA) or Agri-Traçabilité Québec (ATQ) database account number on animal health export certificates and import permits. Adding the database account number to import permits and export certificates will enhance Canada’s ability to track animals entering or leaving the country. Producers can contact the CCIA at 1-877-909-2333 or the ATQ at 1-866-270-4319 for their database account number.
The World Trade Organization Committee on Regional Trade Agreements has prepared a report on the regional free trade agreement between Peru and Singapore, which is the first regional trade agreement concluded by Peru with an Asian country.
The European Commission has published its Annual Report on EU Customs actions to enforce intellectual property rights. In 2009, EU Customs took action in 43,500 cases involving several million products suspected of being counterfeited or pirated. Cigarettes, clothing and brand labels were among the main articles stopped by customs on suspicion of IPR infringements. However, shampoos, toothpaste, toys, medicines and household appliances also accounted for a significant part. FAQ on EU IPR customs actions is available here.
The European Chemicals Agency is seeking comments by September 3, 2010 on the harmonized classification and labeling of 8:2 Fluorotelomer alcohol (8:2 FTOH) . The comment request is part of the EU Regulation on Classification, Labeling and Packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP Regulation), which allows individual EU Member States and industry to propose harmonized classification and labeling of substances (e.g. as mutagenic, carcinogenic, etc.).