In a surprising turn of events, the US Congress quickly passed a bipartisan bill to reform the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of 2008. The surprise passage comes after almost 3 years of debate by Congress on whether the CPSIA should be reformed to fix some of the “unintended consequences” that surfaced after the CPSIA initially came into force in 2008. It now sits on the President’s desk for final approval, and, if signed, will take effect immediately — which could cause a hitch in the process for anyone involved with consumer products.
The Advisory Committee on Commercial Operations (COAC) of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced its next public meeting will be held on August 18th in Long Beach, California. Those interested in attending the meeting can register here to attend in person or if you are unable to make it in person, CBP is offering for the first time a live webcast but you must register no later than August 12th for the webcast.
Has the recent spike in fuel costs had your company thinking about utilizing free trade agreements (FTAs)? With this and other supply chain factors looming, companies are beginning to look for new ways to save. Free trade agreements could be the answer, but many companies are stymied by unknowns of trade agreements — what are the requirements, how to get it done without adding more headcount, and understanding the real value trade agreements bring to the table. Register for a free, educational webcast on August 16th to find out more about trade agreements.
Staying up-to-date on new regulations that affect global trade can be difficult. Global Trade News takes news and information we gather and provide it to you in one, easy to read place. We have added a monthly summary of free trade agreement news we’ve collected from governments around the world, posted here for you. You can access this information at any time by clicking on the Free Trade Agreement category on this blog. Once there, you will see all related FTA posts, including these monthly updates.
So far so good for Mexican manufacturers which are showing continued growth thus far in 2011. This may be due to both new and existing companies expanding operations across multiple sectors with the most notable record-breaking numbers in auto production and vehicle exports, making Mexico the ninth-biggest vehicle producer in the world.
Take a look again at the most important news and start the weekend fully informed with the news that Global Trade News brought to you this week in Twitter: read more…
In a recent proposal, the European Commission is considering changing its focus by planning to concentrate its import preferences on developing countries that are most in
need. This proposed change will limit the European Union (EU) Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that grants specific tariff preferences to developing countries in the form of reduced or zero tariff rates or quotas.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued a report entitled Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality that puts in place a new global strategy designed to address the challenges caused by a complex global supply chain and rapidly growing imports of FDA-regulated products. Currently, FDA-regulated products account for about 10% of all imports into the US, arriving from more than 300,000 facilities in 150 different countries. The growth in imports has been rapid and promises to accelerate with the world economy being shaped by various distinct forces in
the decade ahead, including rise of emerging markets, scarcity of natural resources, and increased flow of capital, information and goods across borders.
In a final rule, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) amended the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) to add controls on exports and re-exports of US origin dual-use items to a new nation, the Republic of South Sudan. This addition to the EAR came on the heels of the formation of the Republic of South Sudan as a separate nation, which became effective early July 2011, and formal recognition by US President Obama as part of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
At the recent Association of American Exporters & Importers (AAEI) Annual Conference, Kevin Willis, Vice President of International Trade Compliance at Tyco International led a session about doing business in the countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) and how companies can address trade compliance challenges faced when conducting business in those countries. In recent years, the global supply chains and sales efforts in BRIC countries have been accelerating, but there are various difficulties that you should know about before jumping in to do business there. These struggles in trade compliance when working with BRIC countries stem from the evolving regulatory environment and increasingly complex nature of the export and import control regimes in these countries.
