The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that on 26 August 2016, the EEA EFTA States and the European Union adopted a Joint Committee Decision (JCD) incorporating the new Marine Equipment Directive into the EEA Agreement.
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…
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that the EFTA Standing Committee and the EEA Joint Committee met in Brussels on 17 and 18 March 2016 respectively. At the Joint Committee, the EU side gave an update on the EU-US negotiations on TTIP. In the Joint Committee meeting, 25 decisions were adopted incorporating 39 EU legal acts into the EEA Agreement. Among the acts incorporated was a regulation aiming to further prevent illicit trade in…
On 26 February 2016, the European Free Trade Association announced that the third and final round of negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the EFTA States and Georgia was held from 24 to 26 February 2016 in Tbilisi, Georgia. The Agreement will comprise the following: Trade in Goods (including TBT, SPS, Trade Remedies and Trade Facilitation), Rules of Origin, Trade in Services, Establishment, Intellectual Property Rights, Government Procurement, Competition, Trade and Sustainable Development…
On October 26, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it and enforcement agencies from seven other countries launched a new information-sharing system that will enable them to better coordinate international efforts in protecting consumer privacy. The announcement said: On Sunday October 25, FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez joined representatives from several agencies, which are members of the Global Privacy Enforcement Network (GPEN), in signing a Memorandum of Understanding among users of the new system,…
On 18 May 2015, Norway notified the WTO (G/TBT/N/NOR/23) that its Ministry of Health and Care Services was proposing regulations to establish standardised packaging standards for tobacco products in Norway. This proposal will apply to all types of tobacco products. If adopted, the regulations would make it unlawful to import into Norway, or to sell or distribute tobacco packaging and tobacco products that are not of standardised design in accordance with detailed provisions established by…
On 27 October 2014, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that in a final round of negotiations held in Guatemala City on 14 and 15 October 2014, delegations from the EFTA States and Guatemala substantially concluded free trade negotiations within the framework of the EFTA-Central America Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In intensive discussions, held over two days, the two sides managed to reach an agreement on the remaining outstanding issues, mainly in relation to…