The latest Agricultural Outlook by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization will be released on June 15, 2010. The Outlook forecasts market trends, assesses the impact on food security of the economic crisis, and discusses how farm production can meet growing global demand.
The European Commission has decided to encourage industry, governments and NGOs to set up certification schemes for all types of biofuels, including those imported into the EU. This will help implement the EU's requirements that biofuels must deliver substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and should not come from forests, wetlands and nature protection areas.
European Trade Commissioner De Gucht has stated that the European Commission is expected to propose granting duty-free, quota-free access for Palestinian exports to the EU in the coming months. This would improve the access of Palestinian exports to EU markets beyond the current free trade agreement and help to revamp the private sector.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Office of Intellectual Property Protection has decided to investigate Turkey’s revised trademark law, as requested by the Special Committee on Intellectual Property Rights Protection of the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.
Canada's Minister of International Trade reaffirmed Canada’s commitment to strengthen trade and economic cooperation with the Asia-Pacific region before wrapping up his trade visit to Japan. While in Japan, Minister Van Loan attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting, where he held a number of bilateral meetings with counterparts from APEC member economies.
The World Resources Institute (WRI), Enironmental Investigation Agency (EIA-US) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have created a global initiative, the Forest Legality Alliance, to help private corporations reduce their trade in illegal wood. The alliance's formation comes after the U.S. amended the Lacey Act in 2008 to ban the trade of illegal wood products in the US.
The Canada Border Services Agency has launched a three-month pilot project to broadcast via Twitter estimated border wait times for crossing the Canada-United States land border.
The following are details of the June 7, 2010 European Court of Auditors report which concludes that European Union Member Country controls over simplified customs procedures for imports are deficient.
In celebrating World Environment Day 2010, the World Customs Organization reaffirmed the commitment of Customs administrations across the globe to protecting the environment, adding that it is now now joining the CITES Secretariat, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), INTERPOL, and the World Bank to hammer out an international consortium to fight crime against wildlife.