(The Canadian Press – Lee-Anne Goodman)
The close friendship between the incoming U.S. ambassador to Canada and President Barack Obama is delighting those who have been hoping for a better relationship with the United States. David Jacobson, a 57-year-old Chicago lawyer who served as a key fundraiser during Obama’s historic run for White House, got the official nod on Thursday after weeks of speculation.
The president announced his pick for Canada along with a handful of other appointments to countries including Mexico, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
I am grateful that these individuals will help represent our nation abroad during this important time for our country and the world,” Obama, who was in Egypt on Thursday to deliver a speech to the Muslim world, said in a statement. “They bring a depth of experience and I look forward to working with them in the months and years to come.”
Jacobson replaces George W. Bush confidante David Wilkins, who left the post the day before Obama’s inauguration in January. While his appointment has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, there’s no indication it will be held up. In the wake of a series of senior Obama cabinet appointees stepping aside because of past tax issues, the administration has been careful to do extensive and meticulous vetting of its would-be ambassadors to avoid any further embarrassments.
Kory Teneycke, spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, said the PMO welcomed working with Jacobson once his appointment has been confirmed. “It’s good news,” he said, calling the U.S. “our friend, our neighbour, our ally, our largest trading partner.” Read more here.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Worrisome Trend in Retail Label Requirements
(Supply Chain Digest – Dan Gilmore)
If you are a retailer, a consumer goods manufacturer, a logistics consultant, software provider, or materials handling vendor – or anyone connected to those areas – this is an important column.
About a year ago, we first noted in a small piece some changes to carton labeling requirements for goods going to retail that could cause some real problems for manufacturers, and we would argue, ultimately, retailers and consumers.
More recently, Materials Handling Editor Cliff Holste was contacted by a reader at one consumer goods company that had similar concerns. That put some wheels in motion at Supply Chain Digest and Distribution Digest, and we have spent a lot of the last two weeks looking into this issue in-depth. Read the complete article at here.
If you are a retailer, a consumer goods manufacturer, a logistics consultant, software provider, or materials handling vendor – or anyone connected to those areas – this is an important column.
About a year ago, we first noted in a small piece some changes to carton labeling requirements for goods going to retail that could cause some real problems for manufacturers, and we would argue, ultimately, retailers and consumers.
More recently, Materials Handling Editor Cliff Holste was contacted by a reader at one consumer goods company that had similar concerns. That put some wheels in motion at Supply Chain Digest and Distribution Digest, and we have spent a lot of the last two weeks looking into this issue in-depth. Read the complete article at here.
New on the WTO Website – Map of WTO Disputes
(WTO)
View the map on the WTO website.
Click on a country to see a country’s involvement as complainant, respondent or third party.
Example: The one case brought by Canada against Australia concerns measures affecting the importation of salmon.
View the map on the WTO website.
Click on a country to see a country’s involvement as complainant, respondent or third party.
Example: The one case brought by Canada against Australia concerns measures affecting the importation of salmon.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Ottawa Pushes for New Chapter in Free Trade with U.S.
(The Globe and Mail – Campbell Clark and Rhéal Séguin)
To get around Buy American provisions, PM hopes to bring awarding of local contracts under the free-trade umbrella
The Canadian government is asking the provinces to join it in creating a new trade deal with the United States. Motivated by growing concern that Canadian firms are being frozen out of billions of dollars worth of bids in an increasingly protectionist United States, the Prime Minister is attempting to redraw the U.S.-Canada trade map.
Because the 1993 North American free-trade agreement does not include spending by local jurisdictions, contracts across North America involving everything from sewage systems to subway repairs are being awarded outside the framework of continental free trade.
And as the recession continues, Canadian firms have reported it is increasingly difficult to win rich contracts in U.S. cities because of the Buy American provisions of President Barack Obama’s massive economic stimulus package, even though NAFTA countries are supposed to be exempt from them.
So at a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he wants to bring the awarding of local contracts – in both the United States and Canada – under the free-trade umbrella.
Any Canadian proposal to add a new chapter to NAFTA, however carries the risk that the United States will demand trade concessions in other areas. Read more here.
To get around Buy American provisions, PM hopes to bring awarding of local contracts under the free-trade umbrella
The Canadian government is asking the provinces to join it in creating a new trade deal with the United States. Motivated by growing concern that Canadian firms are being frozen out of billions of dollars worth of bids in an increasingly protectionist United States, the Prime Minister is attempting to redraw the U.S.-Canada trade map.
Because the 1993 North American free-trade agreement does not include spending by local jurisdictions, contracts across North America involving everything from sewage systems to subway repairs are being awarded outside the framework of continental free trade.
And as the recession continues, Canadian firms have reported it is increasingly difficult to win rich contracts in U.S. cities because of the Buy American provisions of President Barack Obama’s massive economic stimulus package, even though NAFTA countries are supposed to be exempt from them.
So at a press conference yesterday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he wants to bring the awarding of local contracts – in both the United States and Canada – under the free-trade umbrella.
Any Canadian proposal to add a new chapter to NAFTA, however carries the risk that the United States will demand trade concessions in other areas. Read more here.
New Book Published on Carriage of Goods
(International Freighting Weekly – James Falkner)
TT Club has published a new transport manager’s handbook on the Conventions for the International Carriage of Goods. It replaces an earlier version and offers a guide to what conventions are in use in which countries, for all modes of freight transport.
The handbook is designed specifically for transport managers who do not have a legal background, but who have to deal with claims and insurance for their companies.
TT Club has published a new transport manager’s handbook on the Conventions for the International Carriage of Goods. It replaces an earlier version and offers a guide to what conventions are in use in which countries, for all modes of freight transport.
The handbook is designed specifically for transport managers who do not have a legal background, but who have to deal with claims and insurance for their companies.
FDA Chief: More Money is Needed for Inspections
(GovExec.com – Kasie Hunt, CongressDaily)
The money included in a proposed food safety overhaul will not cover the cost of the new inspections required by the bill, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told lawmakers on Wednesday. “The amount of resources required to achieve these inspection goals would far exceed even the historic increases in the president’s fiscal 2010 budget,” she told the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. “FDA would support modification of these provisions to take into account the operational challenges involved, such as by changing these inspection frequencies.”
Hamburg said approximately 378,000 food facilities are registered with the FDA, and inspecting a domestic facility costs more than $900,000. Inspecting a facility overseas costs almost three times more.
The bill would require FDA to inspect high-risk facilities as frequently as every six months. It imposes a flat $1,000 registration fee for food companies, which is expected to generate $375 million per year for the agency. The bill also requires food companies to pay the costs of FDA re-inspections and those related to food recalls. In addition, President Obama’s budget includes $260 million for food safety. Read more here.
The money included in a proposed food safety overhaul will not cover the cost of the new inspections required by the bill, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg told lawmakers on Wednesday. “The amount of resources required to achieve these inspection goals would far exceed even the historic increases in the president’s fiscal 2010 budget,” she told the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. “FDA would support modification of these provisions to take into account the operational challenges involved, such as by changing these inspection frequencies.”
Hamburg said approximately 378,000 food facilities are registered with the FDA, and inspecting a domestic facility costs more than $900,000. Inspecting a facility overseas costs almost three times more.
The bill would require FDA to inspect high-risk facilities as frequently as every six months. It imposes a flat $1,000 registration fee for food companies, which is expected to generate $375 million per year for the agency. The bill also requires food companies to pay the costs of FDA re-inspections and those related to food recalls. In addition, President Obama’s budget includes $260 million for food safety. Read more here.
Editorial: The Peril of ‘Buy American’
(New York Times)
It’s not surprising that Democrats in Congress could not resist adding a “Buy American” provision to the fiscal stimulus bill earlier this year. It might seem sensible (or at least politically useful) to ensure that taxpayer dollars would be used exclusively to support American jobs.
But as states and municipalities start spending stimulus money, the idea is starting to look as counterproductive as it should have looked from the beginning. It is sparking conflict with American allies and, rather than supporting employment at home, the “Buy American” effort could ultimately cost American jobs.
Foreign and domestic companies that employ hundreds of workers in this country cannot bid for government projects because they cannot guarantee the American provenance of all the steel, iron and manufactured goods in their supply chain, as the provision requires. Others are scrambling to figure out whether American-made alternatives exist to replace their foreign inputs.
The steel company Duferco Farrell, for example, has cut about 600 jobs in Pennsylvania after it lost orders from its biggest customer because some of its goods are partly produced abroad. The Westlake Chemical Corporation of Houston has lost sales to a Canadian vinyl pipe maker that is cutting back production because it can’t bid for some American jobs.
America’s trading partners expected more of President Obama, who signed a declaration against protectionism at the summit of the biggest nations in April. He convinced Congress to add a clause to its “Buy American” effort promising Washington would meet its international obligations. But cities and some states are not bound by the rules of the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Read more here.
It’s not surprising that Democrats in Congress could not resist adding a “Buy American” provision to the fiscal stimulus bill earlier this year. It might seem sensible (or at least politically useful) to ensure that taxpayer dollars would be used exclusively to support American jobs.
But as states and municipalities start spending stimulus money, the idea is starting to look as counterproductive as it should have looked from the beginning. It is sparking conflict with American allies and, rather than supporting employment at home, the “Buy American” effort could ultimately cost American jobs.
Foreign and domestic companies that employ hundreds of workers in this country cannot bid for government projects because they cannot guarantee the American provenance of all the steel, iron and manufactured goods in their supply chain, as the provision requires. Others are scrambling to figure out whether American-made alternatives exist to replace their foreign inputs.
The steel company Duferco Farrell, for example, has cut about 600 jobs in Pennsylvania after it lost orders from its biggest customer because some of its goods are partly produced abroad. The Westlake Chemical Corporation of Houston has lost sales to a Canadian vinyl pipe maker that is cutting back production because it can’t bid for some American jobs.
America’s trading partners expected more of President Obama, who signed a declaration against protectionism at the summit of the biggest nations in April. He convinced Congress to add a clause to its “Buy American” effort promising Washington would meet its international obligations. But cities and some states are not bound by the rules of the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Read more here.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
New Documents to Assist ACE Transition
(CBP)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is providing supporting documentation on its website for the new ACE entry summary process it successfully piloted in Buffalo last month and in Chicago, Laredo and Long Beach in May.
ACE or the Automated Commercial Environment is a CBP initiative designed to modernize the agency’s international trade business processes, improve homeland security and re-engineer the technology system that supports them.
The latest ACE pilot program allows the trade community to file and CBP to process, in ACE, the two most common entry types, 01 Consumption and 11 Informal. The ACE entry summary pilot will be extended to additional ports in stages to permit rigorous testing before it is implemented nationally. ACE entry summary processing for remaining entry types will be added throughout the next few years.
The ACE outreach documents will assist the international trade community in their transition to ACE. This information includes additional links to helpful memos and directives on ACE entry summary processing, and will be continually updated with every major ACE release.
• ACE Entry Summary Instructions These instructions are organized the way the data is transmitted and stored in ACE. They include descriptions of the entry summary data fields and links to program and policy documents.
• Business Rules and Process Document (Trade) Version 1.1 ACE is a true electronic system of record keeping for entry summary processing. This significant change requires revised operational policies and procedures, and this document informs the public of those changes. Links to program and policy documents are included as well.
• CBP Form 7501 TEST – Document/Payment Transmittal This test 7501 transmittal may be used by the trade as a cover sheet to submit required paper documents or monies due related to an ACE entry summary.
• ACE Entry Summary Rejection Response This response template may be used to respond to a CBP initiated electronic entry summary rejection.
CBP has been working closely with the members of the Trade Support Network and the ACE ambassador representatives to develop these documents, and will continue this collaboration over the coming months to ensure clear and transparent guidance on CBP’s importing requirements.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is providing supporting documentation on its website for the new ACE entry summary process it successfully piloted in Buffalo last month and in Chicago, Laredo and Long Beach in May.
ACE or the Automated Commercial Environment is a CBP initiative designed to modernize the agency’s international trade business processes, improve homeland security and re-engineer the technology system that supports them.
The latest ACE pilot program allows the trade community to file and CBP to process, in ACE, the two most common entry types, 01 Consumption and 11 Informal. The ACE entry summary pilot will be extended to additional ports in stages to permit rigorous testing before it is implemented nationally. ACE entry summary processing for remaining entry types will be added throughout the next few years.
The ACE outreach documents will assist the international trade community in their transition to ACE. This information includes additional links to helpful memos and directives on ACE entry summary processing, and will be continually updated with every major ACE release.
• ACE Entry Summary Instructions These instructions are organized the way the data is transmitted and stored in ACE. They include descriptions of the entry summary data fields and links to program and policy documents.
• Business Rules and Process Document (Trade) Version 1.1 ACE is a true electronic system of record keeping for entry summary processing. This significant change requires revised operational policies and procedures, and this document informs the public of those changes. Links to program and policy documents are included as well.
• CBP Form 7501 TEST – Document/Payment Transmittal This test 7501 transmittal may be used by the trade as a cover sheet to submit required paper documents or monies due related to an ACE entry summary.
• ACE Entry Summary Rejection Response This response template may be used to respond to a CBP initiated electronic entry summary rejection.
CBP has been working closely with the members of the Trade Support Network and the ACE ambassador representatives to develop these documents, and will continue this collaboration over the coming months to ensure clear and transparent guidance on CBP’s importing requirements.
Feds Say Bridge Treated Fairly
(The Windsor Star – Dave Battagello)
The Canadian government has assured Michigan lawmakers that Canada is committed to building another border crossing as quickly as possible, despite a bid by the Ambassador Bridge to derail the process.
Michael Wilson, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, said in a letter to state leaders that bridge allegations of unfair treatment surrounding its twin span proposal are unfounded. Wilson denied complaints by bridge officials that the Canadian government has delayed the twin span’s environmental assessment and said the view that the government-sponsored Detroit River International Crossing bridge is costly and not needed are misguided.
Wilson’s three-page letter was addressed to the speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate majority leader. A copy was also issued to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Wilson said the bridge twinning was ruled out by DRIC because of negative environmental impacts in Windsor, lack of system redundancy and inadequate space for a border inspection plaza in Windsor. “In Canada, the bridge company does not have any of the approvals necessary to proceed with construction,” Wilson said. Read more here.
The Canadian government has assured Michigan lawmakers that Canada is committed to building another border crossing as quickly as possible, despite a bid by the Ambassador Bridge to derail the process.
Michael Wilson, Canada’s Ambassador to the United States, said in a letter to state leaders that bridge allegations of unfair treatment surrounding its twin span proposal are unfounded. Wilson denied complaints by bridge officials that the Canadian government has delayed the twin span’s environmental assessment and said the view that the government-sponsored Detroit River International Crossing bridge is costly and not needed are misguided.
Wilson’s three-page letter was addressed to the speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate majority leader. A copy was also issued to Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
Wilson said the bridge twinning was ruled out by DRIC because of negative environmental impacts in Windsor, lack of system redundancy and inadequate space for a border inspection plaza in Windsor. “In Canada, the bridge company does not have any of the approvals necessary to proceed with construction,” Wilson said. Read more here.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
President´s FY 2010 FDA Budget Proposes Food Industry User Fees
(Mondaq – Michael D. Flanagan et al., Foley & Lardner LLP)
President Barack H. Obama’s recently released Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 budget for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes historic spending for the agency of more than $3 billion, an increase of more than $500 million over FY 2009 spending. One of the two major initiatives proposed by the FY 2010 budget is “Protecting America’s Food Supply.” To help fund the budget increases, the president’s proposal would impose four new user fees to generate more than $200 million. The president’s FY 2010 budget for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also proposes new user fees, but would require new legislation to allow the USDA to collect the fees.
Under the food safety initiative, funding for food-industry regulatory activities would exceed $1 billion, a $259 million increase over FY 2009 spending levels. Notably for the food industry, the budget proposes to collect nearly $95 million in new user fees. The proposed user fees would be allocated to register food facilities, increase food inspections, issue food and feed export certificates, and re-inspect food facilities that fail to meet the FDA’s safety standards. Read more here.
President Barack H. Obama’s recently released Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 budget for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposes historic spending for the agency of more than $3 billion, an increase of more than $500 million over FY 2009 spending. One of the two major initiatives proposed by the FY 2010 budget is “Protecting America’s Food Supply.” To help fund the budget increases, the president’s proposal would impose four new user fees to generate more than $200 million. The president’s FY 2010 budget for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) also proposes new user fees, but would require new legislation to allow the USDA to collect the fees.
Under the food safety initiative, funding for food-industry regulatory activities would exceed $1 billion, a $259 million increase over FY 2009 spending levels. Notably for the food industry, the budget proposes to collect nearly $95 million in new user fees. The proposed user fees would be allocated to register food facilities, increase food inspections, issue food and feed export certificates, and re-inspect food facilities that fail to meet the FDA’s safety standards. Read more here.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Tighter U.S. Border Risky to Both Sides
(The Toronto Star)
This country’s financial future hangs somewhere between the optimism of Washington security czar Janet Napolitano’s Wednesday visit here and the pessimism of Monday’s new “papers, please” border controls. In the fight to keep trade flowing freely, painful Canadian sacrifices in blood, money and principles are proving poorly matched against U.S. terrorism fears and rising protectionism.
Two hard truths frame our current reality. Apart from national unity, not much is more vital to this country than timely access to the world’s richest market. And nothing Ottawa has done since 9/11, not even Afghanistan missions costly in lives and loonies, convinced Washington that America’s back door is latched and locked.
That failure, multiplied by recession and the reflex U.S. “Buy American” response, has risky consequences. Along with squeezing arteries carrying more than a $1 million in goods and services every minute, they threaten the success of two economies moving beyond trade to making things together.
Without open capillaries between corporations operating in both countries, job-creating industries vital to Canada, including an auto sector already staggering under continental restructuring, will strangle. After all, only a bonehead CEO would invest on the wrong side of a thickening border easily closed by a terrorist strike.
Liberals recognized that danger and their Conservative successors have been just as willing to counter it by testing Canadian sensibilities. From intrusive anti-terrorism laws to abandoning a teenage Guantanamo Bay prisoner, to sending troops to Asia, key decisions continue to be shaped by determination to prove Ottawa takes security seriously. Read more here.
Day Blasts “Buy American’’ Movement
(Canwest News Service)
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day lashed out Friday at growing American protectionism, warning that if trade barriers continue multiplying, retaliatory action is inevitable.
Day, in Calgary to speak to the city’s chamber of commerce, said Ottawa is aggressively lobbying political, diplomatic and business leaders in the United States in a bid to quell “Buy American’’ fervour.
He encouraged Calgary’s business community and provinces to join the federal effort.
“If this continues - the Buy America provisions - people everywhere are going to get hurt,’’ Day told reporters after his speech. “Workers will be hurt in Canada and the United States, and we want to see this turn around.’’
Day said the Harper government would like to see U.S. President Barack Obama sign an executive order overruling a decision by Congress to expand Buy American rules that bar Canadian companies from bidding on $787 billion US worth of economic-stimulus projects.
The fallout is already being felt in Canada, as some municipal and state governments are prohibiting Canadian firms from bidding on lucrative infrastructure contracts.
In response, one municipality west of Toronto has banned the purchase of goods from any country that bars Canadians products. A similar resolution will be debated at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference next month. Read more here.
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day lashed out Friday at growing American protectionism, warning that if trade barriers continue multiplying, retaliatory action is inevitable.
Day, in Calgary to speak to the city’s chamber of commerce, said Ottawa is aggressively lobbying political, diplomatic and business leaders in the United States in a bid to quell “Buy American’’ fervour.
He encouraged Calgary’s business community and provinces to join the federal effort.
“If this continues - the Buy America provisions - people everywhere are going to get hurt,’’ Day told reporters after his speech. “Workers will be hurt in Canada and the United States, and we want to see this turn around.’’
Day said the Harper government would like to see U.S. President Barack Obama sign an executive order overruling a decision by Congress to expand Buy American rules that bar Canadian companies from bidding on $787 billion US worth of economic-stimulus projects.
The fallout is already being felt in Canada, as some municipal and state governments are prohibiting Canadian firms from bidding on lucrative infrastructure contracts.
In response, one municipality west of Toronto has banned the purchase of goods from any country that bars Canadians products. A similar resolution will be debated at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ annual conference next month. Read more here.
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