Trade News

The following is a 13 January 2011 report by DFAIT. Bruno Ferrari, Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, the Honourable Peter Van Loan, Canada’s Minister of International Trade, and Ambassador Ron Kirk, United States Trade Representative, are pleased to release the following Joint Statement, which outlines the overall results of the January 10, 2011 meeting of the NAFTA Free Trade Commission (FTC), in Mexico City, Mexico.

The following is a 11 January 2011 release by DFAIT. The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, today welcomed the opening of Canadian exports of spruce lumber to India. The announcement is effective immediately and comes as a result of India’s recent certification of Canada’s spruce lumber for import.

The following is an 18 January 2011 news release by Department of Finance. The Department of Finance today released the 2010 Tax Expenditures and Evaluations report. This report provides estimates and projections of the revenue impacts of federal tax measures designed to support the economic and social priorities of the Government. The publication reflects tax measures that the Government of Canada has implemented to reduce the tax burden on Canadians.

The following is a 18 January 2011 release by DFAIT. Minister Van Loan announced the beginning of the sixth round of trade negotiations with European Union toward a comprehensive economic and trade agreement. Canada and the European Union have held five successful rounds of negotiations toward an agreement since October 2009. To date, significant progress has been achieved in such areas as goods, services, investment and government procurement, as well as many others.

1. This In Brief page has been revised to denote changes made as a result of the Government of Canada’s Paperwork Burden Reduction Initiative. The revisions are aimed at eliminating obsolete and duplicated requirements. This revision replaces Memorandum D7-4-2 dated January 31, 1996. 2. In accordance with the above, the following changes were made: a. All information regarding the North American Free Trade Agreement can be found by referencing D7-4-3, NAFTA Requirements for Drawback and Duty Deferral.

1. Memorandum D19-7-2 has been updated and replaces the previous Memorandum D19-7-2, dated February 10, 2010.

1. This In Brief page has been revised to denote changes made as a result of the Government of Canada’s Paperwork Burden Reduction Initiative. The revisions are aimed at eliminating obsolete and duplicated requirements. This revision replaces Memorandum D7-4-1 dated January 31, 1996. 2. In accordance with the above, the following changes were made: a. All information regarding customs bonded warehouse can be found by referencing D7-4-4, Customs Bonded Warehouses.

Members are advised that two policies on animal health have been amended: Import Policies - Animal Products and By Products http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/pol/pole.shtml#prod

Members may be interested in the following, published on 15 January 2011 in Part I of the Canada Gazette. 1. Canadian International Trade Tribunal. Issue: Whether the goods in issue are properly classified under tariff item No. 2106.90.99 as other food preparations not elsewhere specified or included, as determined by the President of the Canada Border Services Agency, or should be classified under tariff item No. 3004.50.00 as other medicaments containing vitamins or other products of heading No. 29.36 as claimed by Nutricia North America.

The following is excerpted from the 14 January 2011 edition of the "American Shipper". The St. Lawrence Seaway said ships passing through it moved 35.5 million tons in the 2010 navigation season that ended Dec. 29, 15 percent more than in 2009. Iron ore shipments rose 35 percent, grain was up 10 percent, and general cargo up 63 percent. General cargo consisted principally of iron and steel breakbulk shipments and project cargo such as wind turbine components.

The following is a 14 January 2011 news release by DFAIT. The Honourable Peter Van Loan, Minister of International Trade, today concluded a two-day visit to Orlando, Florida, where he met with the state’s newly elected governor, Rick Scott, and promoted Canadian expertise in the construction and energy sectors.

The following is a 14 January 2011 news release by DFAIT. The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement at the conclusion of his visit to Algeria, where he met with Algerian leaders including President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mourad Medelci, and to Qatar, where he co-chaired the meeting of the 7th Forum for the Future of the G8-Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENA):

Serial No. 175 Date: January 01, 2011 1.0 Background 1.1 On October 12, 2006, the Canada-United States Softwood Lumber Agreement (SLA) entered into force. Under the SLA, shipments of softwood lumber products from Canada to the United States are subject to certain Canadian border measures. In particular, under "Option A" of the SLA, an export charge is payable based on the export price of softwood lumber; and, under "Option B", an export charge is payable at rates lower than under Option A, combined with volume restraints (quotas).

The ACROSS EDI release requests received report for December 2010 is available on the CSCB website at: http://www.cscb.ca/listinfo/EDI-Release-Oct-2010.xls The National Percent EDI was 93.6%.

The following meat hygiene directives are now available in HTML and PDF versions at: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/meavia/man/direct/directe.shtml MHD 2011-05 Chapter 19 The PDF version of directives should be used for maintaining print copies of the meat hygiene manual of procedures.

The following is a 13 January 2011 Customer News item from www.cn.ca. In line with our goal of keeping you informed, here is where things stand with respect to our upcoming negotiations.

The following is from the 10 January 2011 edition of The Journal of Commerce ”joc.com”. It’s been almost 11 years since I left the public sector after 21 years at Customs headquarters in Washington as a trade compliance attorney to begin my second career in the private sector. While the international trade landscape has changed significantly over the last decade — most notably the ushering in of the post-September 11 trade security regime — the basics of Customs compliance have remained relatively constant.

The following is from the 13 January 2011 edition of "The Canadian Business Journal". Canada's trading gap fell from record highs in 2010 to a mere $81 million in November, according to Statistics Canada's latest numbers. Imports fell 3.2 per cent in November, led by a 15.1 per cent drop in energy import volumes. Exports saw a 0.8 per cent increase, posting a $34.3-billion total that just fell short of Canada's $34.4 billion in imports.