On May 26, 2016, the Department of State published in the Federal Register a document [Public Notice: 9584] announcing that on May 3, 2016, it certified that 14 shrimp-harvesting nations (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gabon, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, and Suriname) have a regulatory program comparable to that of the United States governing the incidental taking of the relevant species of sea turtles in the course of commercial shrimp…
On May 17, 2016, the Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA) published in the Federal Register a determination that certain warp stretch woven rayon blend fabrics, as specified in the Federal Register document, are not available in commercial quantities in a timely manner in the CAFTA-DR countries. The products will be added to the list in Annex 3.25 of the CAFTA-DR Agreement in unrestricted quantities.
On December 30, 2015, the Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense (DoD) published in the Federal Register a final rule [Docket DARS–2015–0066] amending the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) to incorporate increased thresholds for application of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement and the Free Trade Agreements, as determined by the United States Trade Representative (USTR). Every two years, the trade agreements thresholds are escalated according to a predetermined formula set forth in the…
On December 15, 2015, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice of determination of procurement thresholds for calendar years 2016 and 2017. Executive Order 12260 requires the USTR to set the U.S. dollar thresholds for application of Title III of the Trade Agreements Act of 1979, as amended (19 U.S.C. 2511 et seq.), which implements U.S. trade agreement obligations, including those under the WTO Agreement on Government…
On December 11, 2015, the Office of U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) published in the Federal Register a notice of its determination of the trade surplus in certain sugar and syrup goods and sugar containing products of Chile, Morocco, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, and Panama. As described in the notice, the level of a country’s trade surplus in these goods relates to the quantity of sugar and syrup goods…
On October 8, 2014, the Canada Gazette published several regulations to implement the Canada–Honduras Free Trade Agreement (CHFTA), which was signed on November 5, 2013. When implementing free trade agree¬ments in Canada, legislation and associated regulations and orders are necessary to implement commitments into the Canadian legal framework. The Canada — Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act received Royal Assent on June 19, 2014. The associated regulations and orders required to fully implement the commitments…
On 27 September 2014, the Official Journal published Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1015/2014 of 22 July 2014 amending Annexes II and III to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council applying a scheme of generalised tariff preferences, and repealing Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 154/2013 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1016/2014 of 22 July 2014 amending Annex II to Regulation (EU) No 978/2012 of the European Parliament and of…
On September 3, 2014, the Canada Gazette published the Canada–Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act (C-20) which implements the Free Trade Agreement and the related agreements on environmental and labour cooperation entered into between Canada and the Republic of Honduras and done at Ottawa on November 5, 2013. The general provisions of the enactment specify that no recourse may be taken on the basis of the provisions of Part 1 of the enactment or any…
The Canada Gazette of July 5, 2014, reported that on June 19, 2014, the following Bill was assented to in Her Majesty’s name by His Excellency the Governor General: An Act to implement the Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the Republic of Honduras, the Agreement on Environmental Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Honduras and the Agreement on Labour Cooperation between Canada and the Republic of Honduras (Bill C-20, chapter 14, 2014).
On June 19, 2014, the Hon. Ed Fast, Minister of International Trade, announced that the Canada-Honduras Economic Growth and Prosperity Act—an act to implement the Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement and parallel agreements on labour and environmental cooperation—has received Royal Assent. Canada will now work with Honduras for a coming into force of the agreement as quickly as possible.The Canada-Honduras Free Trade Agreement includes provisions on market access for goods, services (including financial services), investment and…