At a meeting in Bali, Indonesia last December, ministers from 159 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached a deal that will make it easier to move goods around the world and streamlines customs procedures. 

The new trade liberalization measures will lower barriers to global commerce, bringing a much-needed boost to economic development in established and emerging markets alike. 

In spite of limitations to the agreement, some experts have estimated that potential gains from the deal would be close to $1 trillion in world trade and 20 million jobs.

Concrete actions to materialize from the so-called "Bali package" are expected to be completed in 12 months.  

The 2013 National Conference on Supply Chain and Logistics presented by CITT covered a wide range of topics. Over the course of two days, more than 200 registered delegates learned how to survive everything from natural disasters to international import/export challenges, and thrive while doing so.

Among the presenters, GHY's Nigel Fortlage, VP of Information Technology, conducted a session explaining why a fully integrated, cross-functional risk management strategy is a new imperative for companies, and how to signal this priority and engage senior leadership. 

Dramatic case evidence was presented that delegates could cite to help their colleagues and most senior leadership better appreciate the risks of not having an integrated global trade strategy and comprehensive support for their supply chain and logistics professionals, as well as the benefits of moving to a shared approach to global trade compliance across departments all the way up to the Board of Directors.

You can view the entire presentation (complete with slideshow) as part of CITT's "Virtual Sessions" by clicking here.  

Only a third of chief executive officers believe their procurement departments are well prepared for "transformative change", according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The 2014 PwC Global CEO Survey found 33 per cent of CEOs thought their procurement and sourcing departments were ready for the changes necessary to capitalize on global trends, compared to 56 per cent who felt their finance departments were.

At the same time, just 6 per cent of CEOs thought supply chain would be the "next big thing" to impact business and society over the next 10 years, with technology and the role of government taking the top spots.  

Many thanks to all those associates, partners, and clients who recently helped GHY as we went through a "Branding from the Inside Out" exercise with the assistance of innovative Winnipeg advertising agency ThinkShift.  

You will notice the cleaner layout and less busy design that is optimised for mobile use as well. For the sake of efficiency it is also a consolidation of three existing websites into one encompassing our corporate website, the Tradelines news blog, and our Trade Compliance blog. 

In late October last year, Canada and the European Union signed a tentative deal to open markets and drop nearly all import taxes on everything from food to cars. Under the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) and NAFTA, Canada will have preferential access to more than half of the world's economy.  The agreement also provides for working groups to look at non-tariff barriers - regulations on health and sanitation, for example - that interfere with trade.

The sweeping free trade deal with the 28-member European Union - the largest trading bloc in the world which has a total population of 500 million and generates $17 trillion in annual economic activity is, as the name suggests, "comprehensive" - covering not only trade in all manner of commodities and finished goods, but extending also to such matters as investment facilitation, regulatory harmonization and  the management of intellectual property.

The agreement comes five years after negotiations started, and nearly one year after the deal was supposed to be done. Other countries have been closely watching the process and it is bound to be a reference point for America's own FTA negotiations with the EU and in some sectors, at least, it is likely to affect trade flows.

Some notable Canadian exports affected include: passenger cars, auto and aerospace parts, medical and IT equipment, chemicals and plastic products, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, processed foods, grains and oils, dairy products, forest and lumber products, shrimp, lobster, metals, minerals, iron and steel. Imports from Europe that would see tariffs eliminated include: automobiles, industrial machinery, wine and spirits, some cheeses, fish and seafood products and many others.

It's unclear what the overall cost will be to the government of losing the revenue it presently earns from tariffs on imports of European products in addition to the amount involved compensating certain sectors that may be negatively impacted by the agreement.  For example, the government is negotiating with the provinces and territories about compensation if the provision to extend drug patents by two years increases their costs.

For now the text of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement remains a confidential document that still requires "drafting and fine tuning." It could be another 18 to 24 months before final European approval is given, and Canada will likely proceed along a similar time frame in moving towards ratification.  Meanwhile, the Harper government has made available a 30-page document, entitled Technical Summary of the Negotiated Outcomes, which provides an outline of the agreement in principle. 

2014 promises to be a pivotal year for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the Obama administration works to complete a host of regulations to shore up a food safety system seen as exposing the American public to too many health risks. The centrepiece of the administration's effort is a series of rules now being developed in accordance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), signed into law almost three years ago.

A set of initial FSMA rules, proposed in January 2013, were followed last summer by draft regulations seeking to prevent contaminated foods from entering the country through third-party audits and a new supplier verification program.  The two new proposed regulations - Foreign Supplier Verification Programs and the Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors - represent a "huge sea change" for food safety, according to Michael Taylor, the FDA's first ever deputy commissioner for foods, because they shift the regulatory system toward prevention, instead of relying heavily on FDA inspectors to catch problems at the border or port of entry.  According to FDA, the agency is only able to physically inspect about two percent of all of the food coming into the country.  

Under the Foreign Supplier Verification Program, regulations will for the first time clearly define U.S. food importers' responsibilities. Importers will have to have a plan in place that identifies the potential hazards for each food they're procuring, they will have to document what is being done to control the hazards, and FDA will have access to those documents.

The Accreditation of Third-Party Auditors is also a key change as many in the food community look to improve the integrity and consistency of food safety audits. Under the rule, FDA would recognize accreditation bodies, which could be foreign governments , non-profits, or private companies, to accredit third-party auditors, which can then be used for certifying foreign food facilities and for food, in some cases. According to the FDA, importers will not be required to obtain such certifications, but the process might be used by the agency to determine whether to admit a particular imported good that might pose a food safety risk.

FDA officials have indicated that the agency will be spending much of the year wading through thousands of public comments submitted in response to the draft rules and potentially re-proposing drafts of some of the regulations before the final language is unveiled.

"Beyond the Border" Cargo Pre-inspection Concept Deemed Feasible    

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in partnership with Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Public Safety Canada recently concluded a five month pilot test of cargo pre-inspection at the Pacific Highway border crossing, and deemed the concept feasible.
 
Phase I of the initiative was designed as a "proof of concept" to determine the feasibility of placing CBP officers on Canadian soil to pre-inspect selected southbound trucks, drivers and cargo prior to arrival into the United States. The Phase I concept was also designed to test the feasibility of using certain technolog ies and jointly-developed procedures in order to conduct CBP primary truck processing in Canada. 

Eligible participants were enrolled members of CBP's Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program. FAST-eligible trucks entering the United States had the opportunity to use a dedicated pre-inspection commercial primary booth located on the Canadian side of the border. Secondary inspections, when required, were conducted in the U.S. port of entry.

Phase II of the pilot will be conducted at the Peace Bridge Crossing in Buffalo, N.Y./Fort Erie, ON and will begin in January 2014 for up to one year. Phase II will test the ability of the pre-inspection process to reduce wait times and border congestion thereby streamlining the flow of cross-border trade that is vital to both country's economies.

eManifest Updates

eManifest is the third and final phase of the Canada Border Service Agency's Advance Commercial Information (ACI) program. The first two phases of ACI required air and marine carriers to electronically transmit pre-arrival cargo and conveyance information to the CBSA, within advance time frames. eManifest applies to most highway carriers who transport commercial goods into Canada.

The program was to have been fully implemented last year, but due to the timelines associated with the regulatory process, the CBSA pushed back the date on which it will become mandatory for all highway carriers to the summer of 2014 - expected to be July, but an exact date has yet to be announced.

The CBSA advises that there are currently over 10,200 carriers registered with the eManifest project which represent 95% of the commercial traffic at the border. There are, however, still 15,000 highway carriers that are not registered. It is therefore in your best interest to ensure the carriers you hire (or that your vendor chooses) are eManifest registered and have the capability to transmit the required pre-arrival information electronically. 

GHY's ACI and ACE eManifest Portal making eManifest requirements for northbound or southbound freight easier and faster for highway carriers and importers with their own trucks. Click here to find out more.