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Trying to ensure I dont lose my property :)-

UPS lobbyists are strong in washington !

"According to records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, nonprofit Washington research group that tracks money in politics, UPS contributed $22.5 million to federal candidates in the 1989-2008 period. That gave the company a ranking of No. 21 on the center's ''top all-time donors'' list.

About two-thirds of its spending went to Republican candidates. On the list of contributors to Republicans' political action committees, UPS ranked No. 7 for the 2007-2008 election cycle, with $948,208 donated, according to data released by the Federal Elections Commission on Sept. 17.

UPS does not reveal how many lobbyists it employs, but the Center for Responsive Politics says UPS has spent at least $17.3 million on lobbying since 2002, with more than $2.5 million being spent just in the first half of this year."

 

Via source

 

 UPS has a presence in virtually every congressional district..  I wonder when the How long it will take for them to get the Washington and all them polictian's  to wearing brown pants and a t-shirt with the UPS logo on it.

TNT and UPS talks

"Dutch parcel delivery group TNT NV stayed tight-lipped on Sunday about a newspaper claim that it has received an informal takeover approach from U.S. rival United Parcel Service Inc (UPS).   The rising price of fuel had increased the likelihood of consolidation among logistics groups like UPS, TNT, DHL and Federal Express." Source Forbes

This is going to be really interesting , consolidation talks. DHL will swing by TNT I think. They are both EU based entities. FEDEX will never merge with UPS. However, this is all speculation , remember that oil prices are going down. Once Oil prices level, pricing wars will begin again. PErsonally, I Think that both Fedex ad UPS will go thru de-vestments first before going thru a consoladation.

FasTrak Hacked- Driving Home Privacy and Security Risks of RFID

This is bound to happen !!

"Researcher Nate Lawson has discovered that FasTrak transponders are vulnerable to sniffing, cloning, and surreptitious tracking of a driver's comings and goings.

That is because the systems have no encryption or other technological protection measures to ensure that the information is not read by unauthorized readers or copied and cloned for misuse. Without protections, it is not just those toll booth and freeway sign readers that can track who you are and where you are going, but also that homegrown sniffer that Lawson plans to put up to collect information."

Source : ACLU

lets remove the tag, before we eat the chicken !!

With the Bird flu pandemic. This is gotta be  good method to track and trace food supply.

IBM keeps tracks on chickens with RFID

 

"IBM has developed radio frequency identification (RFID) tracking technology to track chickens from farms to supermarket shelves. The supplier is working with a Norwegian food producer Nortura to build a proof of concept item-level tagging application for the food industry.

RFID has been used successfully to track animal movements, such as the movement of cattle during the BSE outbreak, and to protect high-value items such as whisky and clothing, But it is unusual to find examples of item-level RFID tagging in food production, according to Stefan Pique, European director at GS1, the supply chain data standards body."

Doha Pact - another push to be done

Since the so-called Doha trade round was started in 2001, talks have repeatedly become deadlocked because of disagreements between trading powers like Brazil, the European Union, India and the United States.

The meeting is scheduled to be held over five days at the W.T.O. headquarters in Geneva starting July 21, with the goal of agreeing to specific tariff and subsidy cuts. Up to 40 countries are expected to attend.

Status Brief - CBP

Backgrounder :

From the Senate Finance Committee, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Ralph Basham - Date June 24th 2008

Brief :

HTSUS 9801. Timothy Skud, deputy assistant secretary for tax, trade and tariff at the Treasury Department, said that the HTSUS 9801 proposed rule is under review at the Treasury Department, but noted that a proposal to include language in the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill may render the issue moot. In January, CBP had proposed to revoke an interpretation regarding qualification under HTSUS 9801.00.20, which permits the duty-free return of certain previously-imported goods that have been exported pursuant to a lease or similar agreement.

ACE. Basham reported that CBP expects to fully implement the Automated Commercial Environment by 2011 and that the agency has sufficient funding to meet that requirement.

Collection of AD and CV Duties. Basham said that CBP has proposed a continuous bond to be set upon entry, which would give the agency a better opportunity to collect duties at a later date when the liquidation is determined. CBP is working closely with the Department of Commerce on collecting antidumping and countervailing duties. Basham said that CBP would like to work with the Finance Committee to develop a better process for collecting duties and fees. Skud said that CBP collects over 99 percent of duties due, but the figure drops below 50 percent for AD duty obligations that result from retroactive increases after entry….

10+2 Cargo Data Proposal. Basham said that CBP is currently working to finalize the importer security filing rulemaking for the collection of imported cargo data. The "10+2" rule would require additional data elements from importers and ocean carriers before oceanborne cargo is brought into the U.S. He said that the trade community helped CBP to identify the data elements needed to increase the transparency of the global supply chain and to improve the overall targeting process for containers destined for U.S. ports. Basham said that they hope to submit the rule to OMB by the end of the week and have it ready for publication by the end of the summer.

International Trade Data System. Skud reported that the federal agencies that participate in the International Trade Data System are unable to access other data CBP already collects electronically, and that the ACE team is looking for ways to make the information available.

IPR Enforcement. Committee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., inquired about the agencies' progress on intellectual property rights enforcement. Basham said that the agencies are working together on the issuCommittee Chairman Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., inquired about the agencies' progress on intellectual property rights enforcement. Basham said that the agencies are working together on the issue.

Via:CSCB

Inflation and Canada

Canadians are already feeling the effects of strong emerging-market demand for commodities. They'll feel it more next week when hundreds of thousands will see their Enbridge natural gas bills jump 30 per cent. They'll see it when they fill up their cars' gas tanks for summer vacation.

The U.S. Federal Reserve, facing a rapidly slowing American economy and a collapse in the U.S. housing market, will likely lay the anti-inflation rhetoric on thick Wednesday. The Fed is widely expected to not only keep rates steady, but maybe even hint at future increases, after months of aggressive cuts to stimulate growth.

Around the world, inflationary pressure is increasing. Total global inflation was rising at a 6.0-per-cent annual pace in May, and core inflation – which excludes the most volatile prices such as energy and food – was 3.5 per cent. …

But in emerging markets – which now make up about half the globe's economy – total inflation is bubbling over, and in many countries, core prices are jumping too, rising from about 3 per cent in 2006 to 5.3 per cent this May

... according to Goldman Sachs

For years, emerging markets have kept prices low around the world, producing copious amounts of cheap goods of increasingly better quality. This helped the US and Canada. However , this is a red alert situation. While Global inflation hits the emerging markets , the cost of their food, oil and cost of living goes up. This is directly being transfered to commodities. This means that nothing will be cheaper in Canada or the US and thereby the CPI will continue to increase.

Bottom line, The cost of living is on the raise and thereby the expandable income of consumer will continue to drop. Sometime in the near future, there will be the tipping point. Economic depression will hit. There's a vicious cycle in the making.

WTO, Canada and China - Follow the $$$ Trail

On June 20, 2008, pursuant to the WTO Agreement, Canada requested consultations with China concerning measures affecting foreign financial information suppliers in China.

The objective of the consultations is to seek a better understanding of China's regulatory regime governing the provision of financial information services by foreign suppliers, including how the relevant measures are applied. Canada seeks to resolve concerns over measures adopted by China that put Canadian financial information service suppliers at a disadvantage relative to domestic suppliers.

The consultations will also provide Canada with an opportunity to confirm its understanding of the Chinese measures and their consistency with China's obligations under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and its Protocol of Accession. Canada's goal is to ensure that Canadian financial information service suppliers operate on a level playing field.

As a global leader in financial information services, Canada has significant interests in the Chinese market. Timely and reliable financial information is of crucial importance to financial markets and to the ability of financial service providers to operate effectively in the global marketplace.

The European Communities and the United States launched consultations with China concerning these same measures in March 2008.

WTO consultations are a first step toward finding a resolution to a dispute through a discussion of the matter at issue. If consultations fail to resolve the matter, a party may request the establishment of a WTO dispute settlement panel.

Form B227 is no more !!

Woot Woot ? They have pulled out a advance ruling form ? Not sure why, my daily brief brings me this !!

Form B227, Request for a Free Trade Agreement Advance Ruling or for a Review of a Free Trade Agreement Advance Ruling, has been cancelled by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). Changes have been made to the "Guidelines and General Information" section to remove references to this form.

 

This memorandum has also been revised to include updated contact information in Appendix C, CBSA Regional and Headquarters Offices.

 

Summary

 

This memorandum outlines the Canada Border Services Agency's (Agency or CBSA) program for issuing advance rulings under paragraphs 43.1(1)(a) and (b) of the Customs Act pursuant to Article 509 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Article 5.8 of the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), Article E-09 of the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement (CCFTA) and Articles V.9 and IX.2 of the Canada-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement (CCRFTA).

 

The revised Memorandum is available on the here