The following is excerpted from a 25 March 2013 news release by the World Customs Organization.
At the invitation of Comptroller General Abdullahi Dikko Inde of Nigeria Customs in his capacity as Vice-Chair, Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya of the WCO participated in the WCO West and Central Africa Regional Meeting of Customs Directors General, held in Accra, Ghana on 21 and 22 March 2013.
The following is excerpted from the 28 March 2013 edition of Industry Week.
Beijing branded a new U.S. spending bill barring government purchases of Chinese-made technology "biased" on Thursday, after the two powers clashed over accusations of cyber-hacking.
The bill, signed Tuesday by President Barack Obama, blocked government buying of information technology equipment "produced, manufactured or assembled" by firms "owned, directed or subsidized by the People's Republic of China."
This article is available in its entirety at:
The following is excerpted from a 13 March 2013 news item by the World Customs Organization.
As part of a continuous effort to enhance donor coordination and collaboration and to strengthen networking, the 6th WCO – AMS/CB regional entities strategic meeting and the 4th regional donor meeting for the Americas and Caribbean took place at the Inter-American Development Bank headquarters in Washington D.C., between the 28th of January and the 1st of February 2013.
The following is excerpted from a 13 March 2013 news item by the World Customs Organization.
The Integrity Sub-Committee (ISC) held its 12th Session on 28 February and 1 March 2013 at World Customs Organization (WCO) headquarters in Brussels. Approximately 160 delegates from all around the world registered. It was held back to back with the 4th Session of the Capacity Building Committee, thus underscoring the fact that integrity underpins Customs reform and modernization.
The following is excerpted from a 13 March 2013 news item by the World Customs Organization.
Asia has enjoyed a surge in trade in proportion to its economic size, is increasingly involved in global supply chains and has turned to free trade agreements to pursue its trade agenda. The time has come to “multilateralize” those agreements, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a conference on “The Future of the World Trading System: Asian perspectives” on 11 March 2013.
The speech is available in its entirety on the World Trade Organization website at:
The following is from the 11 March 2013 edition of American Shipper.
Richard Bruton, the Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, is in Washington today to meet with senior Obama administration officials to generate momentum for a free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States.
Bruton will meet with Ron Kirk, the outgoing U.S. trade representative, and Mike Froman, an international economic affairs advisor.
The following is from a 7 March 2013 speech by DG Pascal Lamy of the World Trade Organization.
The following is excerpted from a 6 March 2013 news release by The Conference Board of Canada.
China and Brazil will shine, Europe and Japan will lose ground, and growth in the United States will remain hostage to political confrontations, according to The Conference Board of Canada’s World Outlook: Winter 2013.
Overall, the world economy will post growth of about 2.6 per cent this year, much the same as in 2012.
The following is from the 7 March 2013 edition of Journal of Commerce.
José Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, and Yingluck Shinawatra, Thailand’s prime minister, have launched negotiations for a free trade agreement between the European Union and Thailand.
Karen De Gucht, EU Trade Commissioner, and Teriyapirom Boonsong, Thailand’s Minister of Commerce, had met earlier to formally agree on the start of negotiations.
