Recently the trade landscape underwent a dramatic change as twelve major nations reached an agreement on The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal on 5th October 2015. The agreement is one of the few mega-regional trade agreements (MRTA) that has come to be signed in years. The other major MRTA is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) (Between the U.S and the European Union) and not signed as yet.

The international trade regime witnessed a historic moment on Monday, with the United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries announcing the conclusion of successful negotiations on what has been touted as a mammoth free trade agreement covering more than 40 percent of the global economy.

This has been excerpted from a 9 October 2015 news item by The Diplomat and is available in its entirety at: http://thediplomat.com/2015/10/should-india-join-the-tpp/

Panaji: To facilitate the movement of legitimate goods and become a key driver in the contribution of national socio-economic development, the customs administrations should focus on automation, single-window clearance and risk management, central board of excise and customs, chairman, Najib Shah, said during his inaugural address at the 11th edition of the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) of the directors general-commissioners of customs in Goa. 

With his emergence at a time the Nigerian economy is slowing down, stakeholders’ expectations from the new Comptroller General of Customs, Colonel Hammed Ali (rtd) are huge. They say the stakes are high for him to make a difference, writes John Iwori

On Monday, to much fanfare, the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, and 8 other nations on both sides of the Pacific concluded a “mega” free trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). On some measures this trade deal is the largest ever outside of the World Trade Organization (WTO)—it is said to “cover” 40% of the global economy. The deal, whose detailed terms have yet to be released, also addresses important trade-related matters such as policies towards intellectual property, state-owned enterprises, and use of local parts, components, labour, and the like.

In the 2013 WTO Ministerial in Bali, India stood mostly alone as the rich countries tried to isolate the government for its stockholding and food security program. But India is far from alone in recognizing the value of public food reserves as insurance against price volatility, emergency food in the event of shortages, and stocks for anti-poverty programs.

This has been excerpted from a 9 October 2015 news item by All Africa and is available in its entirety at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201510090190.html

This week, President Barack Obama unveiled the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a historic agreement encompassing a dozen nations that would increase opportunities for Americans investing abroad, protect workers here at home and lay the foundation for progressive change around the world. That’s a boon for every American but of special importance to American manufacturers because it would cut 18,000 foreign taxes on made-in-America products and create new opportunities for good-paying, middle-class jobs.

September has highlighted the wide variety of issues that customs professionals must consider in the areas of classification, the Trusted Trader Programme, anti-dumping duties, the process for appealing decisions by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and broker licensing. Our update considers each of this issues and the impact for customs professionals.

The EU today finalised the ratification process of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement – the first major multilateral deal in years, expected to significantly simplify and modernise customs procedures around the world.

The WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo received today from Cecilia Malmström, EU Commissioner for Trade, and Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg - currently holding the EU Presidency - the document confirming the EU's binding commitment to the deal agreed by the WTO Members.