GHY Tradelines

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Canadian Trucking Alliance)/spanbr /br /The Canadian Trucking Alliance says the implementation of a new system for renewing the transponder technology used by most truckers to pay US border crossing fees has been so fraught with problems that unless immediate contingencies are put in place, traffic could be snarled at Canada-US border crossings starting on January 1, 2009. Moreover, the Alliance which represents over 4,500 trucking companies from across Canada warns that the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program, which is heavily relied upon by the automotive manufacturing sector, for example, could be particularly compromised.br /br /Transborder trucking companies are charged a combination of fees each and every time they enter the United States. The fees are collected by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP) a branch of the US Department of Homeland Security. Trucking companies have two options for paying the fees. They can either pay US$10.75 each time one of their trucks crosses the border; or they can equip their trucks with transponders and pay an annual fee of US$205 per truck. Obviously, for most transborder carriers the transponder option is optimal. However, trucking companies must renew the transponders each year before December 31st.br /br /The root of the problem is that CBP recently changed its process for transponder renewal. The new system, called the Decal and Transponder Online Procurement System (DTOPS), was to have been introduced in September 2008. However, implementation was delayed twice due to problems uncovered during testing and was not introduced until November 17th – a mere seven weeks before the end of the year renewal deadline. Generally, it takes anywhere from 8 to 12 weeks for the application and renewal process to be completed. Moreover, significant problems have been encountered during the transition to the new system creating an enormous backlog. Paper applications for transponder renewal which CBP had been accepting were suspended last month and carriers were told to go to a new online web-based system. But, the website has not been functioning properly. Within a half an hour of going live, it crashed. Technical difficulties persist.br /br /Compounding the problem is that the DTOPS office has a staff of only 30 people to handle the processing of electronic applications, the backlog of paper applications and troubleshooting system errors and technical glitches. Carriers complain that when they call the DTOPS office for assistance, they are put on hold for extended periods, or are asked to send an email or leave a voice mail. Follow-up is slow or non-existent.br /br /In November, the DTOPS office told CTA it would have to process 1,400 applications per day to be able to issue all renewals before the end-of-year expiry date. The current completion rate may actually be as low as 285 per day. Moreover, just last week CBP said there are still almost 90,000 transponder renewals to be processed, which would require a process rate of about 3,100 applications per day.br /br /The inescapable conclusion, according to CTA, is that many transborder trucking companies will not have valid transponders on January 1, 2009 and they will have to pay the border crossing fee every time one of their trucks crosses the border into the United States. US border officials will require additional time to process individual payments and issue thousands of receipts. The FAST program, which works in conjunction with an active and functioning transponder, would be rendered meaningless.br /br /But according to CTA’s CEO, David Bradley, “So far there appears little sense of urgency at CBP; as of last week we were told there had been no internal discussion of possible contingency plans.” CTA and its US counterpart, the American Trucking Associations (ATA), have suggested that CBP could adopt a policy of soft enforcement of transponder renewals on January 1st, 2009 that will allow existing transponders to be used without having to produce proof of renewal. Alternatively, CBP could track cross-border trips using the Automated Customs Environment (ACE) database — all commercial vehicles entering the US are required to file an ACE e-Manifest — and cap the cost to carriers at the same level as the annual cost of a transponder.br /br /“The clock is ticking towards the end of the year; if the potential chaos at the border is going to be averted then we really need action now,” says CTA’s CEO, David Bradley. “It will be very tough to get anything done in a couple of weeks’ time when more people are on Christmas holidays.” CTA is calling upon the Government of Canada to intervene on the matter.

(Canwest News Service)br /br /Canada’s finance minister said Monday that a request by the three Detroit automakers for $6 billion in emergency aid from the Ontario and federal governments is “capable of being dealt with,” cautioning, however, that all company stakeholders will have to make concessions before any funding is disbursed.br /br /Jim Flaherty said federal and Ontario officials are reviewing the viability plans submitted Friday by the Canadian arms of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC as a condition for aid.br /br /Asked for his initial impressions of the business plans submitted, the minister said: “It’s capable of being dealt with,” adding that more discussions are needed. “All participants in the industry are going to need to come to the table. To invest taxpayers’ money will require terms and conditions,” he said.br /br /Flaherty said he expects the federal and state governments in the United States, and the federal and Ontario governments will all be involved in the aid discussions. He spoke to reporters in Toronto following a ceremony for the Evergreen Brick Works environmental renewal project.br /br /GM, Ford and Chrysler submitted plans Friday requesting a combined $6-billion in aid to help them stabilize their Canadian operations and fund future manufacturing in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Read the rest a href=”http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1048197″here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Forbes/Reuters)/spanbr /br /The chairman of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on [industry], Swiss ambassador Luzius Wasescha, issued a revised negotiating draft on December 6. This, together with a similar document for agriculture, would serve as a blueprint for an outline deal by a meeting of ministers that WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy may call this month.br /br /The following lists the main changes in the text since the last draft on July 10 and compromises reached in the meeting of ministers that month, and highlights where difficulties remain:br /br /bTariffs/bbr /br /The new text retains a compromise from the July meeting, setting single figures instead of a range of options for the proposed overall cuts in maximum industrial tariffs.br /br /Developed countries will have tariff ceilings of 8%.br /br /Developing countries subject to full industrial tariff cuts will end up with ceilings of 20%, 22% or 25%, depending on which option they accept. The higher the ceiling, the bigger the cut in overall tariffs.br /br /A member choosing to cap tariffs at 20% would be entitled to make a cut of half the normal reduction on 14% of its most sensitive products, provided these do not exceed 16% of industrial goods imports. Alternatively they can exclude 6.5% of products from tariff cuts provided they do not exceed 7.5% of industry imports.br /br /A member choosing to cap tariffs generally at 22% can make a cut of half the normal reduction on 10% of products provided they do not exceed 10% of industry imports. Alternatively they can exclude 5% of products from tariff cuts provided they do not exceed 5% of industry imports.br /A member capping tariffs at 25% would apply the normal cut on all products.br /br /Read the complete article a href=”http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/12/07/2008-12-07T172703Z_01_L7707634_RTRIDST_0_TRADE-WTO-TEXT-INDUSTRY-FACTBOX.html”here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(World Trade Interactive)/spanbr /br /The Food and Drug Administration has issued a final rule establishing January 2, 2012, as the uniform compliance date for all final FDA food labeling regulations issued between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010, that require changes in the labeling of food products. The FDA is taking this action to minimize the economic impact of labeling changes by allowing sufficient lead time to plan for the use of existing label inventories and the development of new labeling materials.br /br /The FDA states that this action is not intended to change existing requirements for compliance dates contained in final rules issued before January 1, 2009. As a result, all final FDA regulations published in the Federal Register before that date will still go into effect on the date stated in the respective final rule. However, when industry members voluntarily change their labels, it is appropriate that they incorporate any new requirements that have been published as final regulations up to that time.br /br /Comments on this rule, including whether to modify or revoke this uniform compliance date, are due by February 23, 2009.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(The Canadian Press – Agriculture Canada)/spanbr /br /Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz today [Sunday] issued the following statement in response to the release of a revised draft modalities text on agriculture by Crawford Falconer, Chair of the World Trade Organization (WTO) agriculture negotiations.br /br /“The Conservative Government is standing up for Canadian farm families during the WTO trade negotiations in Geneva. We are working hard to deliver a balanced WTO agreement that benefits all Canadian farm families by protecting our supply managed sectors and creating new opportunities for exporters.br /br /“Canada has very serious concerns about some elements of a revised text released yesterday that would negatively affect our supply managed industries. We remain opposed to these provisions.br /br /“Canada is committed to the WTO process. With this text, the Chair has attempted to reflect the progress achieved among Members on many issues in recent weeks. Canada is pleased with many positive elements in the text such as significant reductions in trade-distorting support and new market access opportunities for our agricultural producers and exporters.br /br /“However, we remain deeply concerned about the implications for supply management of some of the provisions. While there has been an acknowledgement that Canada has insisted on having 6 per cent of tariff lines as sensitive, the approach to this and other elements of the text remain unacceptable and more work remains to be done.br /br /“In the event of a meeting of WTO Ministers in Geneva, the Government of Canada is going to continue to press hard to achieve all of its objectives. We will continue to seek an outcome that benefits all of Canadian agriculture, including both our exporters and our supply managed industries.br /br /“As the negotiations proceed in Geneva, Canada will continue to work constructively with other WTO Members in an effort to move the agriculture negotiations forward. An agreement on modalities would not be a final conclusion, but one more step in the process to moving the Doha Round toward a successful conclusion.”

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Stephen Clarkson — The Ottawa Citizen)/span br /br /bThe paradox of North American relations after NAFTA and 9/11 is that poor Mexico is stronger in Washington than rich Canada/bbr /br /There is an understandable rationale for the heavy thinkers of Canada’s political-economic elite meeting Monday at Carleton University’s Canada-U.S. Project to advocate a blueprint for reviving the once special Canadian-American relationship. After all, the North American project, which was launched with such fanfare by the same business leaders, conservative politicians and policy analysts 15 years ago, has largely failed.br /br /The signing of the North American Free-Trade Agreement might have begun the process of welding the world’s only superpower along with its northern and southern neighbours into a coherent regional entity that played a role greater than the sum of its parts on the world stage. But NAFTA had been designed to operate without effective institutions so that once its rules – which cut back the peripheral governments’ powers more than those of the United States – came into effect, there were no instruments through which Ottawa and Mexico City could play a continent-wide game.br /br /For its part, Washington soon lost the interest that it had briefly manifested in developing North America as its regional power base. True, NAFTA’s rules of origin temporarily gave the U.S. automobile and textile industries special protections in the continental market, but the relentless globalization of these industries’ ownership structure undermined what little economic logic there had been for promoting the three-state entity as a regulatory area. Read the rest a href=”http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1044882″here/a.

span style=”font-size:85%;”(Ontario Apparel)/spanbr /br /Presented by: United States Customs and Border Protection – Kristine Dodge, Jim Neubert, Maryalice NowakHosted by: The Canadian Apparel Federation (CAF)br /br /Toronto – Yorkdale Holiday Inn Tuesday December 16, 2008br /1:00 p.m. – 1:30 .m. Registration, 1:30 p.m – 4:00 p.m. Seminarbr /br /CAF/Apparel Ontario Members: $35.00 (plus GST)br /Non-members: $70.00 (plus GST)br /br /Seminar topics:br /br /• Requirements for companies importing goods into the U.S., including “reasonable care”br /• Enforcement priorities and proceduresbr /• Best practices companies should follow re. documentation etc.br /• Procedures for both NAFTA and third country (including China) merchandisebr /br /Please click a href=”http://www.ontarioapparel.com/_static/webupload/websiteDocuments/100000/Dec%2016%20CBP%20registration%20form.doc” target=”_blank”here/a to download registration form. Complete and return by fax to: (613) 231.2305