The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety released draft standards for discussion at a Sept. 7 International Labour Organization (ILO) meeting, the Alliance said in a statement. The Alliance shared the standards with the ILO, Accord, and the Bangladeshi Ministry of Labour and Employment prior to the meeting, in hopes of accelerating the process “to identify a common, shared set of standards” that will ultimately improve safety in Bangladeshi garment factories. it said. The drafts focus exclusively “on the technical aspects of fire and building safety” and were developed with a commitment to align with the Bangladesh National Building Code,” the Alliance said. The issue has gained attention following the April 24 factory fire there (see 13062820).

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. cleared the Shuanghui International purchase of Smithfield Foods, the companies said Sept. 6. The companies also gained approval from the Ukraine, the press release said. The deal will next face a vote by Smithfield shareholders on Sept. 24, with the transaction expected to close soon after, the companies said. Senate Finance Committee members previously voiced some concern with the deal over Chinese pork import restrictions (see 13062402).

UPS will buy assets and operations of two Costa Rican companies, Union Pak de Costa Rica and SEISA brokerage, an acquisition that will help “better connect Costa Rica’s expanding economy to regional and world markets” through the UPS market. UPS said they will now be “better positioned” to provide Costa Rican shippers with “one source for small package, freight forwarding, brokerage, and contract logistics, with a stronger link to UPS’s global transportation network.” The additions will also provide access to multi-modal services, which will improve shipping capabilities across borders and boost export trade lanes from Latin America to the U.S. UPS said they expect to complete the transactions in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Indonesia will announce acceptance of “merchandise passports,” also known as carnets, during the December’s World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Bali, a move that should boost U.S. trade with the country, said the U.S. Council for International Business. "Indonesia aims to begin accepting ATA Carnets in early 2014," said the USCIB. The 73 countries that participate in the ATA Carnets passport system waive customs duties and taxes on various goods brought into a country temporarily.

The most recent round of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations included fewer opportunities for stakeholder input than previous rounds, said Knowledge Ecology International in a blog post (here). Previous rounds included a briefing and question-and-answer session with chief negotiators, while this round only made negotiators available during a "dialogue," the post said. "It's not a great process and even if you know who all the chiefs are, if you want to know the position of a country on a particular issue, you have to hunt down every chief individually and repeat your concerns and follow it up with your question." The time for stakeholder presentations was shortened to seven minutes, KEI wrote. "In 7 minutes it is difficult to say anything of substance or present much analysis." The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative didn't comment.

According to poll results released Aug. 20 by the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce U.S., senior executives are optimistic about future U.S. investment in Southeast Asia, with 91 percent of 475 respondents expecting investment and trade to increase in the coming five years. But the respondents expressed concern over regional corruption, burdensome laws and regulations, infrastructure inferiority and customs procedures. Respondents said they expect the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to provide significant potential for business growth.

Livingston International will be one of the nine customs brokerages to test CBP's broker importer security assessment (ISA) pre-certification program, the company said in a press release. UPS and A.N. Deringer also recently said they would test the program (see 13081415 and 13081610). CBP declined to provide the names of the other participants, but said it would release them soon.

The global importation of wood chips has increased over the past 10 years, reaching the “second highest import levels on record in 2012” at just over 31 million tons, according to the Wood Resources Quarterly market report. The report indicated that the 2012 global chip trade was valued at over $5 billion, “slightly below the all-time high in 2011.”

A.N. Deringer will be one of the nine customs brokerages to test CBP's broker importer security assessment (ISA) pre-certification program, the company said in a press release. UPS also recently said it would be a participant in the program (see 13081415). CBP declined to provide the names of the other seven participants, but said it would release them soon.

UPS will be one of nine customs brokerages testing CBP's broker importer security assessment (ISA) pre-certification program, the company said. The program, announced in April (see 13041623), is hoped to make use of customs broker relationships to increase importer participation within ISA. CBP didn't return a request for comment on whether other participants have been announced.