Canada has signed on to an international agreement that aims to prevent the trade and spread of counterfeit and pirated goods. 

International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced on September 30, he signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, an accord that has been in development since 2006 for which negotiations including 38 countries concluded in October last year.

A statement from Fast's office said the agreement improves international co-operation in fighting the spread of pirated and counterfeit products, establishes an effective legal framework for dealing with such issues, and better protects the rights of artists, innovators and entrepreneurs whose creations are targeted by counterfeiters.

The United States, Australia, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, South Korea and Singapore are among the countries that have also signed the ACTA.

Fast's office said the government still needs to create and pass legislation to implement the anti-counterfeiting agreement in Canada.

The mention of fencing in a recent environmental impact statement from the US Customs and Border Protection agency sparked concerns in Canada that the US government is planning a fence along the Canadian border.

However, David V. Aguilar, deputy commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, subsequently stated, "There are no plans at all for a fence along the northern border."

He added that any fencing under consideration would be for protecting infrastructure or buildings at individual "ports of entry" (border crossings)

"Any fence that is being considered at the northern border is specific to a port of entry footprint or complex. There is no intent at the current time to build a fence between the ports of entry," said Aguilar.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made available a guidance document on the implementation of new fees related to food under the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011.

This law provides FDA with the authority to assess and collect fees from (1) the responsible party for each domestic facility and the U.S. agent for each foreign facility subject to a reinspection to cover reinspection-related costs, (2) the responsible party for a domestic facility and an importer who does not comply with a recall order to cover food recall activities associated with such order that are performed by FDA and (3) each importer subject to a reinspection to cover reinspection-related costs. 
  

before Jan. 1, 2011. 

FDA has extended from Oct. 17 to Nov. 30 the deadline for comments on the burden of new fees on small business. The agency is seeking input on what burdens these fees might impose on small business, whether a reduction of fees or other consideration for small business is appropriate, and, if so, what factors should be considered for each.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has made available a staff report submitted to Congress Sept. 9 on the risk assessment methodology the CPSC is required to formulate to identify imported products that are most likely to violate consumer product safety statutes and regulations enforced by the Commission.
 
The objective of the RAM is to integrate newly available import risk data into a coordinated risk-based decision making process.

The RAM provides a means to evaluate products entering the U.S. based on a predetermined rule set designed to identify imports with the highest risk to consumers. The CPSC staff report can be downloaded from our website.

Speaking to business leaders in Ottawa this week, Alan Bersin, the commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, championed the idea of a "thinner" border for low-risk traffic as he seeks to reassure Canadians he understands what they want from the controversial North American Security Perimeter agreement.  

Mr. Bersin said Canada and the U.S. need to look at efforts such as joint inspection of foreign cargo where "cargo coming from Antwerp would be analyzed by both countries in tandem," along with an information management system that shares alerts.

"The notion that in order to obtain an incremental growth in your security you need to slow down the trade is actually a wrong way of viewing it in the world in which 97 per cent to 98 per cent of the traffic - or more - is perfectly legitimate and lawful," he said.

Bersin wants to get more serious about pre-clearing cargo and people before they hit the border. Canadian shippers currently complain they use pre-clearance inspections in an attempt to speed up their transit time, only to find their cargo being double-checked at the border.

The Transportation Security Administration announced Oct. 4 that it will not set a Dec. 31, 2011, deadline for 100% screening of cargo on international passenger aircraft bound for the U.S.

TSA said it reached this decision after careful consideration of industry comments and a thorough examination of the unique challenges facing international cargo screening. TSA will continue to work toward meeting the statutory requirement for 100% screening but has not set a new anticipated deadline.

Free trade will help the economy more than a Buy American rule, International Trade Minister Ed Fast told the U.S. government in a statement released by his office this week.

Fast was responding to comments by U.S. Ambassador David Jacobson that argued Canada will benefit from a U.S. stimulus bill, even if it does have Buy American clauses that make it harder for Canadian exporters to get U.S. contracts.

Fast said Jacobson's comments reflect a  flawed view of economic history that concerns him.

"In these challenging times, there is simply no better American job creator than trade with Canada. And vice versa. And the best way to do that is through free and open trade," Fast said in the statement. 

Canada-U.S. Border Agreement Faces Uphill Battle 

In a paper released last month by The School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, policy advisor and international lawyer Brian Flemming examines Canada-U.S. efforts to create a more porous border between the two countries. He finds that despite the best of intentions on both sides, real change will prove difficult to achieve. 

Flemming examines the many border issues that the Beyond the Border agreement - signed in February 2011 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and President Barack Obama - is intended to address. These include an integrated Canada-U.S. entry-exit system, harmonization of regulations on Canadian or American products, the protection of citizens' privacy, and border installations.

While these issues are considered important by political leaders, there are other factors at play. "Overarching all issues and all packages in the Beyond the Border negotiation will be the twin hydras of trust and timing," Flemming writes.

Citizens of both countries must trust that politicians are serving national interests with any international agreements. Flemming argues that "Trust in the abilities of politicians to solve problems of any kind is at an all-time low in both Canada and the United States." As an example, the author refers to the current debt problem in the U.S. and the public's perception that Congress has failed them.As for timing, President Obama is unlikely to make striking trade and security deals a priority given the run up to the 2012 election, with voters most concerned about his action on the U.S. economy.

Flemming also argues that the results of the U.S. election could make progress on border issues even tougher. "If too many members of Congress with erroneous opinions get elected, no agreements of any kind may be possible," he writes.

The paper can be downloaded from our website.

Canada should set ambitious goals in trade talks with the European Union (EU), which resume next week, since it has much to gain from a comprehensive trade accord, according to a report released today by the C.D. Howe Institute.  In Go Big or Go Home: Priorities for the Canada-EU Economic and Trade Agreement, Daniel Schwanen, Associate Vice President, International and Trade Policy, says a comprehensive economic and trade agreement (CETA) between Canada and the EU is both desirable and possible. 

"For Canada," argues Schwanen, "an agreement with the EU is a strategic opportunity to significantly diversify the market for its high-value-added goods, services and skills, to increase the attractiveness of its economy for investors. It's also a chance to make a statement that it is ready to engage with other important trade partners on reducing barriers to mutually beneficial trade and investment"

Schwanen says a good agreement would, in addition to addressing more traditional trade barriers, open up bidding on public procurement contracts in Canada and the EU more equally to each party's firms, address the protection of intellectual property rights, facilitate the mobility of skilled personnel, and provide assurances that regulation will be applied even-handedly between Canadian and EU firms.

Many of these issues can be contentious, as they require scrutiny of a number of Canadian government practices, including at the provincial level. Indeed, for this reason, provinces are for the first time at the
negotiating table.

"Canada should seize the strategic opportunity presented by the CETA negotiations. Inability to do so would risk confining Canada's economic horizons increasingly to home," he concludes.