On July 21, 2010, Slovenia became a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, pledging its full dedication to achieving OECD's aims.
The European Commission has proposed to simplify European Union law on agricultural and forestry vehicles (tractors, trailers and towed equipment) so that 50 Directives and the related implementing legislation of 27 Member States would be replaced by just five Regulations. The proposal also foresees increased safety for these vehicles.
The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The National Institute of Standards and Technology posts drafts and changes to foreign technical regulations for manufactured products which may be considered technical barriers to trade and are therefore required to be reported to the World Trade Organization, which distributes the information to WTO Member countries.
The World Trade Organization announces that the European Union has notified the Dispute Settlement Body of its decision to appeal to the Appellate Body certain issues of law covered in the Panel Report and certain legal interpretations developed by the Panel in the dispute European Union - Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft (WT/DS316).
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: