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 18 June 2014, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) announced that the free trade agreement (FTA) between the EFTA States – Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland – and the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, will become operational for all parties. The FTA, which was signed five years ago, covers activities such as trade in goods, trade in…
On May 28, 2014, the Department of State (State) [and the US Trade Representative (USTR)] published in the Federal Register a document [Public Notice 8746] announcing that the governments of the United States and Oman intend to hold a meeting to review implementation of the Environment Chapter of the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the United States-Oman Joint Forum on Environmental Cooperation (Joint Forum), and a public session in Muscat, Oman, on June 4…