Flash Info News

Links to official textile notices in US, EU, Hong Kong and China

1. European Union Commission: Anti-subsidy duties on bed linen from India. 2009 Quotas (Belarus, Serbia):

• COUNCIL REGULATION amending Regulation No 74/2004 imposing a definitive countervailing duty on imports of cotton-type bedlinen originating in India
• COMMISSION REGULATION on common rules for imports of certain textile products from third countries (Quotas on Imports from Belarus and Serbia. Double Checking System on Imports from Uzbekistan)

2. Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department: Textiles Control Arrangements for the EU and the US Markets in 2009. China’s 2009 rules regarding textile Certificates of Origin and Export Licensing.

• Textiles Control Arrangements for the EU and the US Markets in 2009
• The Mainland of China : Notice Concerning Application for Certificates of Origin for Exports of Textile Products to the EU in 2009
• The Mainland of China : Export Licensing Documents for Exports of Textile Products in 2009

3. U.S. President: CAFTA-DR Implementation for Costa Rica. FTA with Oman

• Proclamation 8331 of December 23, 2008 To Implement the Dominican Republic-Central America- United States Free Trade Agreement With Respect to Costa Rica and for Other Purposes
• Proclamation 8332 of December 29, 2008 To Implement The United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement By the President of the United States of America
• Proclamation 8330 To Take Certain Actions Under the African Growth and Opportunity Act and the Generalized System of Preferences (Mauritania loses AGOA eligibility)

4. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP): ELVIS cancellation

• Cancellation of Electronic Visa Information System (ELVIS) Requirements for Textiles and Textile Products Produces or Manufactured in the People’s Republic of China and Exported on or after January 1, 2009

5. U.S. International Trade Administration (ITA):Entries in excess of textile limits.

• Certain Polyester Staple Fiber From Taiwan: Correction to the Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review
• Notice of Allocation of Tariff Rate Quotas (TRQ) on the Import of Certain Worsted Wool Fabrics for Calendar Year 2009

6. U.S. Committee for the Implementation of Textile Agreements (CITA)

• Entry of Shipments of Cotton, Wool, and Man-Made Fiber Apparel in Excess of 2008 Agreement Limits

7. U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC)

• Use of the “First Sale Rule” for Customs Valuation of U.S. Imports: Institution of investigation.

8. U.S. Trade Representative (USTR)

• Statement of U.S. Trade Representative Susan C. Schwab Regarding Entry into Force of the CAFTA-DR for Costa Rica
• United States Files WTO Case Against China Over Illegal Support for Chinese “Famous Brands”
• Fact Sheet: US Challenges Chinese Famous Brand Programs at WTO
• 2008 Report to Congress On China’s WTO Compliance

Enterprise Mauritius (EM) intends to organize the participation of Mauritian Jewellery manufacturers in the world’s leading Watch and Jewellery Show namely the BASELWORLD to be held from 26th March - 2nd April 2009 at Basel, Switzerland.

Companies interested to participate as exhibitor on the Mauritius Pavilion at BASELWORLD 2009, are invited to contact:

Enterprise Mauritius
7th Floor, St James Court
St Denis Street
Port Louis
Tel: 212 9760
Fax: 212 9767
Email: info@em.intnet.mu or veepre.kureeman@em.intnet.mu

Closing date: 29th December 2008

Further information on BASELWORLD 2009 is available on www.baselworld.com

Enterprise Mauritius thanks you for your precious collaboration.

Enterprise Mauritius (EM) is proposing to organise the participation of Mauritian Seafood operators in the forthcoming edition of the European Seafood Exposition (ESE) to be held from 28-30 April 2009 in Brussels, Belgium.

The ESE brings together seafood buyers and sellers from all over Europe and the World.  With over 1600 exhibiting companies from 87 countries, ESE offers seafood business professionals access to a one-stop resource to reach global retail, food service and wholesale companies.

Companies interested to participate as exhibitor on the Mauritius Pavilion at the European Seafood Exposition 2009, are invited to contact:

Enterprise Mauritius
7th Floor, St James Court
St Denis Street
Port Louis
Tel: 212 9760
Fax: 212 9767
Email: info@em.intnet.mu or lynn.chung@em.intnet.mu

Closing date: 29 December 2008

Further information on the “European Seafood Exposition 2009″ is available on www.euroseafood.com

Enterprise Mauritius thanks you for your precious collaboration.

Enterprise Mauritius (EM) is proposing to organise the participation of Mauritian ICT operators in the forthcoming edition of SECA + IT to be held in Paris, France from 31st March 2009 to 2nd April 2009.

In 2009, SECA + IT, at its 13th edition, will not exclusively focus on call centre activities, but will offer a platform for enterprise solutions and technologies, with special emphasis on innovation and focusing on CRM, call centres, information systems, eBusiness, VoIP and mobility.

Companies interested to participate as exhibitor on the Mauritius Pavilion at the SECA + IT 2009, are invited to contact:

Enterprise Mauritius
7th Floor, St James Court
St Denis Street
Port Louis
Tel: 212 97 60
Fax: 212 97 67
Email: info@em.intnet.mu or yogesh.amoroo@em.intnet.mu

Closing date: 29 December 2008

Further information on “SECA + IT 2009″ is available on www.salon-seca.com

Enterprise Mauritius thanks you for your precious collaboration.

Enterprise Mauritius (EM) invites expression of interest for the provision of consultancy services to:

(i) Carry out a Salary Review, and

(ii) Provide a Performance Management System for the Organisation

Consultants with experience in the field are invited to express their interest by submitting their application to:

The Chief Executive Officer
Enterprise Mauritius
7th Floor, St James Court
St Denis Street
Port Louis

Consultants must also submit their full C.V and proof of having conducted similar exercises.

Closing date: 15 January 2009

The “excellent facilities in Ethiopia” are proving successful as the country achieved its first fruit sales in UK supermarkets earlier this year, according to a study.

Strawberries from Ethiopia were on the shelves of Morrisons earlier this year and performed well in independent comparison trials carried out by the Writtle Postharvest Unit, which is part of Writtle College.

The strawberries were of the Yuval variety and this was thought to be the first time that Ethiopian fruit was sold in the UK by one of the leading supermarkets.

The fruit was grown by the Ilan Tot strawberry farm just outside Addis Ababa and this was their first season of full production for the export market. The farm received some assistance from the Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program in Ethiopia, in particular with integrated pest management work to reduce any agrochemical inputs to the very minimum.

Senior soft-fruit buyer for Morrisons Michael Jackson, said: “We are pleased with the quality of the strawberries and the excellent facilities in Ethiopia.”

The strawberries were evaluated for appearance, weight loss, disease, occurrence of condensation and shape, from the day of purchase until a day after the “best before date” and then assessed for firmness and brix.

Dr Chris Bishop of the Writtle Postharvest Unit said: “The results from the Ethiopian strawberries were very similar or better than those purchased at other supermarkets.”

Source: Freshinfo News, UK

Savile Row tailor Richard James has been forced to take ‘Made in England’ labels out of suits after admitting they were produced by factories in Mauritius.

The made-to-measure suits, which sold for up to GBP2,000 (US$2920), were cut and sewn by manufacturers on the Indian Ocean island, before being shipped to the UK where workers added sleeves and buttons.

But following a complaint from a rival tailor, Trading Standards officers ordered that the labels be removed. Country of origin will be omitted from new labels.

One of the companies making Richard James suits is Wensum Tailoring in Norwich, which moved most of its production to Mauritius in late 2005.

Soho tailor Tony Lutwyche, who made the complaint to Trading Standards said: “The Made in England label promises customers a superior quality product.”

He estimates that false labelling is taking away over GBP3m per year from British industry and costing Britain’s workforce 100 potential jobs.

See the petition here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/realenglishsuits/

Related articles:

http://www.fuk.co.uk/news/tailor_tony_lutwyche_accuses_richard_james_false_made_england_labelling

http://www.independent.co.uk/incoming/savile-row-slipping-out-of-style-1057889.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/news/made-in-england-sold-on-savile-row-ndash-but-stitched-in-mauritius-1040243.html

http://www.xebusiness.com/press%20releases/wensumrelease.html

Source: Just-Style.com, fuk.co.uk, and The Independent

HELP DESK FOR MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

The Ministry of Industry, Science and Research together with Enterprise Mauritius has set up Help Desks to provide assistance to enterprises and if necessary to guide them to relevant support institutions.

Enterprises may contact the following persons:

• Help Desk at the Ministry of Industry, Science and Research, 6th Floor, Air Mauritius Building, Port Louis

Website of the Ministry of Industry, Science & Research: industry.gov.mu

• Help Desk at the Enterprise Mauritius, 7th Floor, St. James Court, St Denis Street, Port Louis

Website of Enterprise Mauritius: www.enterprisemauritius.biz

Enterprise Mauritius in collaboration with Cim Finance and ADG Brokers Ltd are conducting breakfast series on “Factoring  Services”.  The objective of the event is to sensitize manufacturing enterprises of alternative sources of finance available for working capital purposes. There will be 30 companies participating at the breakfast series.

• Date: Wednesday 3rd December 2008
• Time: 8h30 a.m.
• Venue: Clos St Louis, Domaine Les Pailles

Enterprise Mauritius
7th Floor, St James Court
St Denis Street, Port Louis
Mauritius
T: (230) 212 97 60 - F: (230) 212 97 67
Email: info@em.intnet.mu
Website: http://www.enterprisemauritius.biz

The EU’s import tariffs for bananas break global trade rules, according to a ruling this week from the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The WTO believes the regulations put some Latin American countries at an unfair disadvantage against former French and British colonies, it emerged on Wednesday.

As reported on Associated Press, the ruling bears out a decision taken in April by the WTO that called on the EU to change its duties in line with global commerce rules.

The WTO was forced to intervene after a complaint from Ecuador, where banana growers are claiming the barrier offers preferential conditions to some African and Caribbean states.

This latest decision comes after more than a decade of WTO rulings against the EU’s banana regime, stipulating the bloc is in breach of free trade obligatons.

The US has also complained about the European tariffs, seeking compensation that would allow it to levy retaliatory taxes on European goods equal to the damage incurred by American companies such as Chiquita.

Next month will see a round of negotiations in Geneva to attempt to reach a deal with WTO members.

Source: Freshinfo News