The Canadian International Trade Tribunal will hold a public hearing on July 27, 2010 to consider A.M.A. Plastics Ltd. v. President of the Canada Border Services Agency, on whether blocks of rock wool, which are classified under tariff item No. 6806.10.90, are entitled to the benefit of tariff item No. 9903.00.00 as articles and materials which enter into the cost of manufacture or repair of, and are for use in agricultural or horticultural machines of heading No. 84.36.
The Ministry for Economic Development of the Russian Federation has created a new website in English about Russian trade regulations, the customs union between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, trade events. etc.
The European Commission has issued a statement of extreme disappointment that the World Trade Organization panel examining the Boeing dispute (DS 353) is delaying its report. According to the EC, the time lag between this case, and the U.S. case against support to Airbus (DS 316) has constantly increased over the six years this dispute has been running, and the gap is now at nearly a year. It creates the wrong impression that Airbus has received some WTO incompatible support, whereas Boeing has not. Only when both panel reports have been issued will both sides have a more complete picture of the dispute.
On July 13, 2010, the European Commission proposed to confer to EU Member Countries the freedom to allow, restrict or ban the cultivation of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) on part or all of their territory. According to the EC, the legislative proposal will be adopted through co-decision with the European Parliament and the Council.The EC has also issued a question and answer document on the European Union's "new approach" to the cultivation of GMOs.
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.
On July 13, 2010, Gov.cn reported that the China National Textile and Apparel Council stated that half of China's textile firms may risk going bankrupt if the value of the Chinese currency yuan rises 5 percent against the U.S. dollar given the industry's thin profit margins. Profit margins for the country's textile companies stands at 3 to 5 percent, which has been squeezed by the the appreciation of the yuan, rising raw material and labor costs. The government conducted a yuan stress test in March, which showed profit margins of labor-intensive textile companies would drop by 1 percentage points if the yuan appreciates by 1 percent.
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 has made minor revisions to the table of contents and "summary" section of its third Trade Policy Review for China, which was issued in June 2010. The most significant of these revisions, which is in the “summary” section, replaces the phrase “to manage periodic” trade and economic balances with the phrase “to redress” trade and economic imbalances.
The International Organization for Standardization has announced that the future ISO 50001 standard for energy management was recently approved as a Draft International Standard (DIS). ISO 50001 will establish a framework for industrial plants, commercial facilities or entire organizations to manage energy.
The World Trade Organization has circulated an announcement by the Chairman of the panel considering "U.S. - Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft (DS353) regarding possible subsidization of Boeing that the panel's work will not be able to be completed on time. Instead, the panel expects to issue its interim report by mid-September 2010, and expects to complete its work in the first half of 2011. (May have to attempt to open source document twice for proper viewing.)