December 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

December 2000 Edition

 JUICE

Fruit juices continue to play an important role in the Canadian diet. Consumption of traditional products such as orange, apple and grape juices was just over 25 litres per person in 1999, up more than 27% from 1990. Stronger demand for traditional and tropical blended juice products has contributed in some part to this growth.

BALLAST

New measurements show ballast water in ships teems with dangerous microbes that can spread infectious diseases and threaten ecological systems around the world. Probing this "virtually unexplored" mechanism for global dispersal of potentially lethal microorganisms. The investigators uncovered evidence of bacteria--including one that causes cholera epidemics--and virus-like particles stealthily hitching a ride by the billions from foreign ports to the eastern seaboard of the U.S. Chesapeake Bay alone receives some 10 billion litres of foreign ballast water every year.

FOOTWEAR

Import duties on non-rubber shoes will drop to zero three years ahead of schedule if trade representatives in the U.S., Mexico and Canada give final approval to a proposal by the footwear manufacturers and importers. When the NAFTA was negotiated, footwear was a very contentious issue with the industry giving it a 10-year phase out period for import duties, one of the longest. Many U.S. manufacturers have now become importers, so opposition to free trade has diminished.

CHINA

The country's economy will grow over 8 per cent in 2000 to reach about US$1.8 trillion. China's gross domestic product (GDP) will break the US$1 trillion barrier for the first time and putting per-capita GDP at US$849. It is expected that China's GDP will grow even faster in 2001 at 8.5 per cent. The country has set the middle of the century as the date for the economy to reach that of the middle tier of developed countries.

CONCRETE

According to the French cement maker Lafarge Coppee SA, concrete is second only to water as the most consumed substance on earth, with almost one ton being used each year for each human.

INCOME

A new survey has found that fifty-four percent of owners of small businesses in operation since at least 1995 depended on their business as the only source of income for their household. An additional 26% relied on the business as the most important source of income (though not the only source), and 20% reported that the business was neither the only, nor the most important, source of income. The Survey of Micro-enterprises, conducted by Statistics Canada during the summer of 2000, received responses from the majority owners of about 1,500 businesses.

AIRLINES

Online travel is one of the fastest-growing segments of the travel industry. Recent research predicts that online travel sales will quadruple to nearly $120 billion in 2003. There are an estimated 3.5 million seats unoccupied each week and airlines, through their websites, are hoping to generate some revenue from those previously empty seats without diminishing the sales of their full-fare tickets.

CANAL

Panama is faced with a shortage of freshwater needed to float ships through the 51-mile canal and officials are urgently exploring ways to acquire more water and conserve what they already use. Under present operations, each ship that passes through the canal requires 52 million gallons of freshwater to float it through a series of locks. Canal officials are now considering the construction of new reservoirs in the canal's western regions which would collect and store water during Panama's seven-month rainy season.

ACCESS

This year, 68 per cent of Canadians aged nine to 14 have access to the Internet, compared with just 50 per cent a year earlier. However, according to a survey by YTV Canada, this increased computer usage by "tweens" has not cut into their TV viewing time.

RAILWAYS

In an effort to win business from trucks and rebuild credibility with customers, several major U.S. railways are launching new freight services. Some are reviving refrigerated trains for carrying fruit and vegetables. Others are planning fast shuttle trains from dock to dock. Even passenger trains are now hauling fast freight. Though updated with modern technology, some of the new services borrow from concepts that were in vogue when railways still dominated the freight market after the Second World War. The moves are part of the railways' attempt to boost sluggish revenues.

WESTERN EXPORTS

The U.S. West Coast has seen a surge in exports this year due to Asia's economic boom. California has seen a 26 per cent increase in Asian exports. Asia was the destination for 40 per cent of West Coast exports while lesser percentages went to nations of the EU, Mexico and Canada. Much of the increased demand has been for high-tech goods, including telecommunications equipment, computers, semiconductors and machines used to manufacture semiconductors. Other major exports include agricultural products and aircraft.

WOMEN

A study by the J.C. Williams Group of Toronto shows that 55 per cent of Canadian women on-line use the Internet for such items as queries on accounts, transferring funds from accounts and paying bills. Only 14 per cent of those who bank on-line have applied for a credit card over the Internet. Eight per cent have applied for a loan or mortgage, eight per cent have sought investment advice and five per cent purchased insurance. 83 per cent of those polled expressed concern about privacy and security of their personal information.

LAWNS

An automatic lawnmower called the RL500 Robotic Mower has been introduced in the U.S. The 78-pound unit sells for US$800, looks like a vacuum cleaner and is powered by 12-volt batteries. You set up a wire perimeter around your lawn that the mower follows. It circles the lawn at first and then works its way to the centre, using tactile sensors to avoid any objects left in its path. It will mow a 3,000 square foot lawn on a single charge.

DRILLING

The Petroleum Services Association of Canada predicts that 16,699 wells will be drilled in Western Canada in 2001, just topping the previous record of 16,484 wells set in 1997. Of those, 4,851 are expected to be oil wells, 9,831 gas wells, and the remainder will be service and other types of wells. PSAC has forecast 15,345 wells for this year. However, a shortage of workers, especially in entry-level roughneck and drilling jobs could put a damper on drilling activities.

FATS

By the end of the 1990s, each Canadian was consuming just over 45% more oils and fats than at the beginning of the decade. Much of this growth can be attributed to the increasing use of canola, soybean, olive and other specialty oils used by households and food service outlets in salad dressings, deep-fried products and commercially-prepared baked goods.

INFLATION

Throughout the industrialised world, inflation is creeping upward. With the exception of Japan and Denmark, most of the rich countries have seen consumer prices rise faster from October 1999 to September 2000 than they did in the year to September 1999.

HEALTH

Daimler-Chrysler Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers Union have launched a unique workplace campaign against the overuse of antibiotics, part of their commitment to a healthier work force. The initiative has won the immediate endorsement of local physicians who say they are constantly pressured by patients to prescribe antibiotics--often in cases where the patients are suffering from viral infections that will not respond to the drugs. The "Stop Superbugs" campaign is aimed at all employees, their families and the surrounding community in Ontario.

CHARITY

Slightly fewer Canadian taxfilers reported charitable donations on their 1999 tax returns, but they gave substantially more. About 5,394,000 people, or 25.5% of all taxfilers, reported charitable donations, down slightly from 5,396,000 in 1998. However, the amount of donations reached $4.8 billion, up 2.7% compared with 1998, after adjusting for inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Donations have increased every year since 1991. Ontario taxfilers gave just under $2.4 billion, accounting for 49% of the 1999 total. Ontario was home to 37% of all taxfilers.

GROWTH

Until 10 years ago, Pudong was a vast expanse of farmland nearly the size of Singapore on the eastern side of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. Now it's home to offices of 100 of the world's top 500 multinationals, including companies such as Intel, Siemens and NEC. Over 70 foreign and joint-venture companies have set up Research & Development facilities in its industrial parks. And some 80 foreign and domestic financial institutions employ an estimated 150,000 white collar staff in 20 office towers.

SAVINGS

Contributions by Canadians to registered retirement savings plans (RRSPs) rebounded to their second highest level ever in 1999. A record 6,207,000 taxfilers contributed to an RRSP during the year, up 1.4% from the previous year. They contributed $27.8 billion, a 2.6% increase from 1998, after adjusting for inflation. The number of contributors and the amount of their contributions both recovered, after declining in 1998 for the first time since 1991. Contributions last year were still short of the record $28.2 billion set in 1997. About 29% of all taxfilers contributed in 1999, or 36% of those eligible to contribute.

ORGANIC

Representatives of two major U.K. supermarkets have told the government that Britain cannot keep up with demand for organic food. In many cases, they can produce only small quantities, which in turn cost more to transport to the few plants certified to process chemical-free food, and they have to import organic food to overcome the shortage of home-grown produce. The British farming community has reacted very slowly to this market, whereas other countries are modernizing their farms to produce organic food.

FRIES

While the U.S. already claims to be awash in Canadian wheat and lumber, the next threat strikes at the heart of U.S. food culture. Nearly 85 per cent of the 2 billion pounds of frozen french fries produced in Canada are sold in the U.S. The lure of cheap Canadian potatoes, which now account for 10 per cent of the U.S. market, is so strong that even U.S. chip makers are setting up shop north of the border. Americans love their fries and each eat an average of 59 pounds a year.

WINE

Chilean wine exports have increased over the last decade with an annual growth rate of 30 per cent. In 1999, sales exceeded $500 million, a record figure for the country. This year, exports are expected to exceed $600 million and $670 million in 2001.

FEAR

In Hampshire, England, a window cleaner shouting that he was scared of heights was rescued from a garage roof by firefighters. Usually he only cleans ground-floor windows.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp

November 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

November 2000 Edition

ANNIVERSARY

This month we celebrate the 100th consecutive issue of the A&A Economic News Digest. It began as a few copies to selected clients and has expanded considerably over the years. Back in 1992, we did not communicate by e-mail, nor did we have the website www.aacb.com, which is where the majority of our readers see the Digest nowadays. It is interesting to review our first edition and see the important issues of the day. NAFTA was two years from being implemented and the hard bargaining was still taking place on rules of origin. Cross-border shopping was a major issue, as were taxes on Tobacco and Interprovincial Trade Barriers in Canada. Better service in the Retail sector was important and Sunday shopping in Ontario was still very controversial.

MILES

According to OECD Transport Statistics, in 1998, Canadians drove 3,685 miles per capita in passenger cars and station wagons. By comparison: Americans drove 5,700 miles; Australians, 4,282 miles; Britons, 4,050 miles; Germans, 3,989 miles and Japanese, 2,365 miles.

SHOPPING

More than 77% of Americans go to the grocery store at least once a week, many armed with their flyers and coupons. But more often than not, people leave stores with the feeling that they spent more money than they should have. As many as 78% of those polled show their thriftiness by using coupons or waiting for items to go on sale before purchasing. In addition, the majority of shoppers (62%) sometimes invest in the bargain that comes with buying items in bulk. However, even with all of this preparation, 93% of Americans claim that they still buy more than they had originally intended.

FREIGHTERS

Boeing forecasts that during the next 20 years, the world's freighter airplane fleet will double. This means the number of freighter airplanes will increase from 1,676 in 1999, to 3,200 by the year 2019. During that time, the world air cargo industry is expected to add more than 2,600 aircraft as nearly 1,100 will be retired. Of the new freighters, about 1,800 airplanes will come from passenger-to-freighter modifications, and 800 will be new production freighters.

THEFT

Brazilian supermarkets are losing $813 million U.S. per year - or 2.5 percent of total sales - due to theft and bad management according to ABRAS, the national supermarkets association. The items stolen most frequently are electric shavers, whisky and healthcare products such as toothbrushes.

LUNCH

The British working lunch has become more like America's. According to a recent report, the majority of Britons take just 25-30 minutes and often eat sandwiches at their desks. Germans, among Europe's richest folk, spend an average of just $2.69 a day on lunch. Spaniards on average spend $6.30 on lunch, take up to three hours to eat it and often need a nap to recover.

JAPAN FTA

Japan is the only major industrialized country that does not have a free-trade arrangement with any of its economic partners. Next year, Japan and Singapore will launch negotiations on concluding a bilateral free-trade agreement (FTA). The two countries will focus on the liberalization of trade in goods and services, investment and movement of people between the two countries. A key factor behind Japan's selection of Singapore as a possible FTA partner is that an agreement would pose no major problems in Japan's politically sensitive agricultural sector.

VIETNAM

Vietnam is expected to export US$14 billion worth of goods by the end of the year, five percent more than the yearly target and 21 per cent more than last year. Some of the increase is due to the rise in crude oil prices. Other export areas experiencing high growth include seafood, footwear and electronic products. Exports of fruit and vegetables and handicrafts and fine art products have increased 100 per cent over last year. However, exports of rice and textiles and garments are expected to be down significantly.

TONICS

Red Bull is one of many health tonics sold in little brown bottles throughout Asia. It is a mixture of vitamin Bs, taurine (an amino acid that jump-starts the metabolism) and sugar and tastes like cough syrup. Having sprung from humble beginnings in Bangkok, Red Bull now sells 950 million cans in 48 countries and earned US$750 million in profits last year. Single can sales in England are alleged to outsell single can sales of Coke and the company that owns Red Bull is worth US$10 billion. In Europe the product is marketed to active, modern people who are into extreme sports.

MORE CUSTOMS HISTORY

In 1506, the first official "Book of Rates" was published in England. This was the forerunner of the present-day Customs tariff and listed official or notional values of imported goods. From the mid-16th century strict conditions were imposed by the government on the movement of ships. These included hours and places of discharging.

TARIFFS

The U.S. has announced that goods from 34 African countries will enjoy increased duty-free access to America. Fourteen African countries, including Angola, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire and Zimbabwe, were deemed too unstable politically, or too slow in carrying out economic reforms, to qualify for the new trade privileges.

HOMES

All across Russia, Canadian companies are making big inroads in opening up a nearly virgin market for construction technology. From Moscow to Siberia, about 2,000 housing units have been built with Canadian materials or methods in recent years. The Russian and Canadian governments have agreed on a target of 10,000 homes to be built with Canadian technology over the next two or three years. The Russian government has now approved the Canadian building code for wood-frame technology making it easier for Canadian companies to cut through bureaucratic red tape.

PRICE FIXING

The European Commissions' antitrust authorities have accused Belgium's largest brewers of fixing both prices and market share. Belgium's largest beer maker admitted that it had done so in the past but said it was blameless now. The move comes amid a wide-ranging commission probe into similar practices by brewers across Europe.

MOVIES

Canadian moviegoers flocked to the silver screen in droves in the fiscal year 1998/99, attracted by new multi-screen theatres with stadium seating, video games and party rooms. Overall attendance increased for the seventh year in a row, hitting a 38-year high of 112.8 million, a 12% increase from 1997/98. There were 692 theatres across the country with 2,574 screens. Box office receipts were $592 million and total revenues $857 million yielding profits of $76 million. Full-time employment rose 19% to 1,687, and part-time employment increased 15% to 11,509.

TAX

The US senate has given approval to repeal a telephone tax originally imposed to finance the Spanish-American civil war a century after the conflict ended. The three per cent excise tax has been levied on all types of telephone service for the last hundred years to raise money for the war against Spain.

SUBSIDIES

The Global Alliance for Sugar Trade Reform is going to attack European Agricultural subsidies that it says distort trade. The group hopes to get a higher profile for sugar on the agenda of world agricultural talks. The EU is one of the biggest targets for trade distorting subsidies because it hands out $8 billion worth of sugar subsidies and it accounts for 85 per cent of world subsidies in agriculture.

TCF

Over the last decade, the geographical distribution of jobs in textiles, clothing and footwear (TCF) has shifted dramatically to Asia with China emerging as the major producer. According to the ILO, Asia's share of employment in the TCF sector rose from 69 to 72 per cent. China accounts for 20 per cent of the global workforce with exports of clothing in 1998 worth US$30 billion. India is the second largest employer but has seen a decline of 10 per cent in its TCF jobs recently. Indonesian employment in the TCF sector has grown substantially and TCF jobs have more than doubled in Bangladesh.

ROUTES

A joint Canadian-Russian aviation study has been issued suggesting that greater use of air routes over the North Pole could reduce flight hours and save millions of dollars. Flights from Vancouver to India, for example, could be cut by 4.5 hours with a savings of C$40,000. Flights from New York to Hong Kong could be cut by over five hours and result in savings of C$50,000. The cost of implementing the new route system would cost the two countries around C$38 million.

TECHNOLOGY

Looking at your insides will be as easy as taking a pill. An Israeli company has developed a tiny video camera that monitors a patient's intestines. The Swallowable Imaging Capsule contains a miniature video camera, a tiny light, a battery and two microchips. The images are transmitted to a computer's hard drive for analysis by a doctor. The patient swallows the pill and can go out for a few hours instead of waiting around the hospital. The pill makes its course throughout the digestive system in about four hours.

FRAUD

Online auctions are the most common avenue for Internet fraud by a landslide, according to a report from the National Consumers League's Internet Fraud Watch. 87 per cent of Internet fraud in 1999 occurred through online auction sales. Non-auction sales of general merchandise ranked second at 7 per cent with computer equipment and software at 1.3 per cent. Overall, Internet fraud rose by 38 per cent in 1999 and buyers lost over $3.2 million in reported frauds.

APPEALS

A panel of international arbitrators will shortly hand down a ruling as to whether the U.S. violated the NAFTA by not opening its borders to Mexican trucks. The U.S. refused to make good on its NAFTA promise to let in Mexican rigs beginning in December 1995 on the grounds that Mexican trucks were unsafe. NAFTA rules make no mention of truck safety. Currently, Mexican trucks can travel only a narrow strip of the border that lets them get between two and 20 miles into the U.S.

IT

Officials in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to eliminate tariff barriers on information technology (IT) products by 2010. Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will complete tariff elimination on IT products by 2005. The agreement aims at establishing an electronic marketplace within the region by focusing on encouraging and facilitating the growth of E-commerce.

TRIVIA

The Holiday Inn chain estimates that a towel is stolen from one of its hotels every 11 seconds.

SCALE

An actor dressed up like a duck for a walk-on role in a West End stage production in London because it was cheaper than using the real thing. A real duck costs $545 per day to hire whereas the minimum weekly wage for a walk-on actor dressed as a duck is $635.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp

October 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2000 Edition

 KIDS

Kids and teens are expected to spend $4.9 billion via the Internet in 2005, but they are expected to spend an estimated $21.4 billion off-line based on information that they have found on the Internet, according to new research from Jupiter Communications. Although teens often experiment with new and innovative online products, winning their time and attention is becoming increasingly difficult. Businesses must broaden their online marketing efforts and focus on driving off-line purchases, not online transactions. 49 percent of teens said they use the Internet to research goods and products and purchase them off-line.

SMUGGLING

The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) still ranks marine containers as the highest risk for smuggling contraband into Canada. Over the past decade, $6.2 billion in drug seizures were made by Customs. Of these, 45 per cent ($2.8 billion) were made in marine containers. Consequently, the CCRA continues to place significant emphasis on the targeting and examination of high risk containers arriving in Canada to protect Canadians from smuggled drugs and other types of dangerous goods.

MOVING

Between 1991 and 1996, rural communities experienced a net loss of teenagers, according to a new study on migration patterns in rural Canada. However, the rural communities' population of individuals aged 25 to 64 increased in most provinces, particularly in Ontario and B.C. Between 1991 and 1996, rural communities had net losses of 12% of their population of teenagers aged 15 to 19. During the same period, rural communities saw their population of individuals 25 to 64 increase 4%. Rural areas have been, in demographic terms, booming in B.C. showing net gains of individuals aged 15 to 29 of about 15% from 1991 to 1996

SHOES

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange is to prohibit traders from wearing shoes that have soles thicker than two inches. To see and be seen from the trading pits and to stand out in a sea of green jackets and high pitched voices, many traders have been turning to platform shoes with heels of up to six inches thick.

KINDNESS

McDonald's will no longer do business with farmers who withdraw food and water from their hens, a controversial practice used to increase egg production. The chain also said it will not buy eggs from suppliers who trim the birds' beaks to keep them from hurting each other. The new guidelines, established in conjunction with the Animal Welfare Council, also require egg suppliers to double the living space for each caged hen to a minimum of 72 square inches per bird from a current industry average of about 40 square inches. McDonald's buys about 2 billion eggs annually in the U.S.

METALS

Eight of the world's biggest specialty metals concerns are combining forces to develop an on-line business-to-business marketplace to buy, sell and distribute aluminum, stainless steel and other metals. Specialty metals represent a $200-billion (U.S.) global market and the companies expect to realize savings from lower materials costs and reducing inventory.

PEACHES

The peach industry in California plans to bulldoze more than 100,000 trees loaded with ripening fruit that would have been destined for the canneries. The program will take about one million cases, or 5 per cent of canned peaches, out of the marketplace.

STATISTICS

Canadian and U.S. export statistics are derived from the counterpart import data so there are no unexplained differences in their trade statistics. However, differences in the trade statistics between Mexico and Canada and the U.S. are sizeable. Mexico's import trade statistics exceeded Canada's export statistics by $1.1 billion in 1996 and by $1.4 billion in 1997. The difference in northbound trade between Mexican export figures and Canadian import figures was $3.1 billion in 1996 and $4.0 billion in 1997. A reconciliation study to identify the causes of the differences in trade between the countries has been undertaken.

CUSTOMS HISTORY

The advent of a nationally organized customs service may be traced to King John. In 1203, a duty of one-fifteenth was placed on all imports and exports and it was decreed that all customary dues at the port should be accounted direct to the Treasury and not through the local lords and sheriffs. The duties in the port were paid to a collector who submitted his accounts to the Exchequer.

WOMEN

Canadian women have made tremendous strides in their educational attainment in the past several decades. In 1996,12% of all women aged 15 and over had a university degree - double the figure in 1981 (6%) and four times that in 1971 (3%). In 1999, women made up 49% of business and financial professionals, up from 41% in 1987. Women also made up 47% of all doctors and dentists in 1999, up from 44% in 1987. Women have also increased their share of total employment in managerial positions from 29% in 1987 to 35% in 1999

DATA

Postal area profiles, a databank profiling more than 5,000 communities across Canada, is now available from Statistics Canada. Based on tax records filed in the spring of 1999, these data are ideal for supporting policy analysis as they provide a comprehensive picture of communities. The profiles consist of five tables, which include information on taxfilers and dependants, selected sources of income of individuals, labour force participation and family characteristics. Data on each community can be compared with provincial and national figures to show how communities fit into the broader picture. They can also be used to assess trends over the past four years.

ENERGY

Asia's energy market is on the brink of being transformed as the world's two most populous nations, China and India, shift from traditional coal and oil to cleaner-burning natural gas. For more than three decades, Asia's main consumers of liquified natural gas (LNG), have been Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. But in coming years, they will have to compete for supplies with Chinese and Indian buyers.

BEER

The beer market in Romania is worth annually over 550 million US dollars and is estimated to become the second distribution market in Central Europe, after Poland, in less than five years. The annual Romanian beer consumption has reached 49 litres of beer per capita and increases by 4 per cent each year.

COMPETITIVENESS

In its latest report, The Geneva-based World Economic Forum states that the U.S. has knocked off Singapore to become the world's most competitive nation. Countries scored well if they were judged to be innovative and effective users of technology, had high rates of saving and investment and were well integrated in the world economy. Second was Singapore followed by Luxembourg, Netherlands, Ireland Finland, Canada, Hong Kong, Britain and Switzerland. Bottom was Ecuador just ahead of Bulgaria, Ukraine, Zimbabwe and Russia.

RESEARCH

The Clinton administration proposed to allow federal funds to be used for embryo research. This followed a British government decision also to use public money. Both plans will be controversial with legislators. Scientists are keen to use stem-cell research on cloned embryos as a way of curing several previously untreatable diseases.

SHOWERS

A Seattle company has developed an airplane shower that runs on five gallons of water. The same five gallons is continuously recycled, and is good enough to drink

STEEL

The car industry uses nearly half the steel shipped in Canada, more than twice the percentage in the U.S. A recent study concludes that the automotive industry accounts for 47.7 per cent of steel shipped in Canada. Other sectors that use a lot of domestic and imported steel are construction, accounting for 26 per cent, and the stamping industry--which produces parts for barbecues, lawn mowers and other products--at 10.4 per cent.

FISH

Canadian fish farmers generated record revenues in 1999 as sales climbed to an estimated $548 million, up 7% over 1998. The driving force behind the 1999 revenue increase was the higher value of exports, which reached $386 million, an advance of 5% over 1998 and more than double the annual levels exported in the early 1990s. These exports went largely to the U.S., where demand for Canadian finfish, principally salmon, remained strong. Domestic sales, meanwhile, remained relatively flat. Farmers in B.C.and New Brunswick continued to be the industry leaders accounting for 85% of total sales of aquaculture products.

SOAP

It is recorded that the Babylonians were making soap around 2800 B.C. and that it was known to Phoenicians around 600 B.C. Soap was used in the cleaning of wool and cotton in preparation for weaving into cloth.

INFLUENCE

It is estimated that American children directly influenced $146 billion (U.S.) of food and beverage purchases in 1999. Babies first go to supermarkets at two months and are able to point to and name brands at 19 months.

CARDS

A major credit card company is to issue disposable credit card numbers for safer on-line shopping. The program allows consumers to buy on-line without transmitting actual card numbers over the Internet. For each on-line purchase, the customer gets a random number which expires after the transaction.

DOT.COMS

Niue is an atoll the size of downtown Singapore with a population of 1,750, little electricity and 100 telephones, all of them old hand-crank ones. But the South Pacific island, 2400 kilometres from New Zealand, also has a top-of-the-line computer server, a satellite Web connection and a thriving New Economy business. Since 1997, Niue has made a tidy profit selling its domain name--.nu-- to companies and individuals around the world who can't afford the hard-to-come-by--.com, which comes at the end of most corporate Web addresses. So far, 70,000 Niue addresses have been registered at $45 each. The island is spending the money earned so far to build roads and lay electrical cables to remote areas.

CORKS

For centuries, cork has been a way of life in Portugal supporting entire families and towns. The industry provides work for 16,000 Portuguese who produce 190,000 tonnes of cork, about 55 per cent of world production--last year, earning more than $1 billion. But there is now a threat from plastic stoppers. Synthetic stoppers only account for 1 per cent of the annual world market of 13 billion stoppers. Some, like British supermarkets, have adopted plastic stoppers with enthusiasm.

TRIVIA

Angkor is in Cambodia. NASA researchers, using ground-mapping radar, have collected images suggesting that Angkor was the world's largest city in 1100 AD. It had one million people.

CULTURE

Sweden has opened the world's first museum dedicated to fermented herrings. The museum will explain the ancient technique developed by fishers in the Gulf of Bothnia.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp

September 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

September 2000 Edition

 FORECASTS

The Economist reports that the OECD, in a preliminary edition of its Economic Outlook, states that prospects for the world economy are more favourable than they have been for over ten years. Strong growth in Europe, America and Asia has led to a forecast 4% growth rate for all OECD countries this year. However, the OECD added the caveat that, if central banks are mindful of inflation, interest rates will have to rise steeply.This is particularly true in America, where the OECD suggests that rates might have to go above 7% in order to avoid a hard landing.

LUMBER

Japan is to reduce restrictions on four-story wood frame buildings and change its land and lease laws which will likely expand new housing starts within an hour's drive of Tokyo by 17 percent. It is expected that US and Canadian companies, in turn, will increase timber product sales to Japan by hundreds of millions of dollars. Japan is the world's second-largest building materials market. The US currently sells approximately US$3.3 billion in building materials to Japan each year.

KOREA

The WTO dispute panel has published a ruling in favour of a complaint filed by the U.S. and Australia that South Korean restrictions on imports of fresh, chilled and frozen beef, are in breach of global trade rules. The finding, which recommends that South Korea bring its various measures into conformity with the WTO accords, is expected to sweep aside the barriers put in place by Seoul, and enhance market access to one of Asia's most lucrative beef markets, after Japan.

TASTE

British experts, tasting an array of expensive bottled waters for a consumer magazine, awarded top marks to a humble sample of tap water from Thames Water, a less-than-fashionable utility. Some of the water sampled costs more than $1.50 a litre; Thames Water will fill a medium-sized bath for around 25 cents.

VIETNAM

Vietnam has worked out a scheme to develop the vegetable and fruit sector to reach an output of 20 million tonnes and to earn an export turnover of more than US$ 1 billion by 2010. Of the export turnover, US$690 million is expected to come from vegetables and US$ 350 million from fruit.

PAYMENTS

The U.S. Treasury Department is setting up a new Internet gateway to streamline the handling of payments to the federal government. The project, called Pay.gov will allow the government to process, more cheaply and efficiently, any of the 80 million transactions it handles each year. The system is to be phased in starting in October.

SHIPPING

Fourteen Asian shipping firms have filed a suit with the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice asking it to annul a decision by the European Commission slapping the companies with millions in fines for allegedly forming a cartel. The commission, the executive body of the 15-member European Union (EU), announced it will fine 15 firms operating shipping lines between Europe and the Far East a total of $6.3 million for allegedly joining together to agree not to offer discounts to customers.

ASIA

Trade between Japan and China surged 30 percent in the first half of the year to a record as Japan's economic recovery boosted demand for imports. Trade between the two Asian nations rose to $38.76 billion during the period, up from $29.80 billion in 1999. That surpassed the previous record of $29.90 billion set during 1997. The expansion was attributed to Japan's gradual economic recovery which helped boost imports and exports of finished manufactured products. Other positive factors included China's demand for information technology products and services amid increased production of cellular phones and personal computers.

CLAIMS

A report released recently shows that since NAFTA came into effect, the U.S. has filed 17 claims against Mexican exports. On the other hand, U.S. products represent a third of Mexican investigations into unfair trade. Mexico is the second most important trade partner of the U.S. after Canada. Trade between Mexico and the United States went from $81 billion in 1993, a year before NAFTA came into effect, to some $200 billion in 1999. Mexican products facing U.S. sanctions include oil, livestock, rubber, wire, lamb, tomato, millet brooms, TV sets, steel pipes and plates.

SWEETS

Cookies accounted for 48.4% of U.S. sweet baked goods sales in 1999. Pastries followed with a share of 15.3%, just beating out snack cakes at 14.0%. Projected retail sales of packaged sweet baked goods will top $12.2 billion in 2004, as a result of a 3.1% compound annual growth rate for 1999-2004. Since the 1960s, increasing awareness of health and fitness issues, including harmful effects of fat, cholesterol and sodium had caused Americans to stop eating sweets. However, in the early to mid 1990s, Americans began to ignore previous warnings and started indulging again, but in moderation.

GMOs

Reuters reports that while there may be an uproar in Europe over genetically modified (GMO) ingredients in food, American consumers have voiced only mild concern and food companies say they are under little pressure to change. However, advocacy groups are stepping up the pressure and a study by the International Food Information Council, showed 59 percent surveyed in May thought biotechnology would benefit them versus 78 percent in 1997. American consumers, who spent $1 trillion last year at supermarkets and restaurants, appear to be confident of government claims that GMO foods are safe, Reuters says.

TEXTILES

China exported 42 per cent more textiles and garments in the first half of this year than in the equivalent period in 1999. Monthly exports exceeded US$4 billion a month for three consecutive months. In this period, China's textile exports to Asian countries were worth US$15 billion and exports to Europe and the US and reached US$2.4 billion and US$2.6 billion respectively.

PARKS

In 1998-99, Canada's 39 national parks recorded 15, 042, 543 visitors. Banff National Park in Alberta was the most visited spot with 4.3 million visitors. There are 12,311 campsites and 139 hotels in the national parks. The most endangered site, according to the Canadian Nature Federation is the Prince Edward Island National Park which had 41,028 visitors per square kilometre in 1998-99

HAVENS

An OECD report has named 35 tax havens that are harmful to trade and investment, including the Channel Islands, the US Virgin Islands and Panama. After a year's grace, OECD member governments will consider action including economic sanctions. Six centres, including the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, were removed from the list after promising to co-operate in a crackdown on tax evasion.

SURFING

Prime time for Web surfing in Europe is earlier than in North America or Japan and not just because of time zone differences. The heaviest traffic by surfers riding the Internet from home occurs between 8pm and 9pm local time in Britain, France and Germany. In Japan, prime time is between 10pm and 11pm while for Canada and the U.S. it's 9pm to 10pm. Australians, however, flock to the Internet most heavily between 6pm and 7pm.

WHEAT

Canada is selling a lot of wheat to Mexico thanks in part to the NAFTA. Mexico is the world's sixth-largest buyer of wheat from Canada, the world's No. 2 exporter. A decade ago, Mexico was No. 28. Since the NAFTA, wheat shipments by the Canadian Wheat Board have soared more than ten-fold to 670,000 tonnes in the last crop year from 62,000 in 1990-91. Canada is free to ship as much grain as it can to Mexico since the NAFTA.

SPECTACLES

A recent find at a Viking settlement in Sweden suggests that these Norsemen wore the first form of spectacles. Archaeologists initially thought the clear discs they discovered on the island of Gotland were jewellery, but further inspection revealed them to be sophisticated lenses dated between 1000 and 1100 AD. Such elliptical "reading stones" were not seen before this period or for at least five centuries afterwards.

E-COMMERCE

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is considering forming a task force charged with speeding up the process of drawing up internationally acceptable rules on electronic commerce. The task force is expected to discuss ways to categorize types of online transactions into goods trading and services trading about which there is a considerable divergence of views among WTO members.

GOLD

As long as 4,500 years ago, the Egyptians used gold in dentistry. Remarkable examples of the artistry of these early orthodontists have been found, perfectly preserved, by archaeologists in recent times. Today, U.S. dentists use around 13 tons of gold each year for crowns, bridges, inlays and dentures. The reasons that gold is so popular are that it is non-toxic, can be shaped easily, it is tough and never wears, corrodes or tarnishes. In ancient Rome, gold was used for the treatment of skin ulcers.

SPLASHING

Researchers in France have found a way to stop liquids from splashing. When adding small amounts of a flexible polymer such as polyethylene glycol to water, it helps to ensure that droplets stay in one piece when they hit a surface, as the polymer chains resist stretching on impact.

AWARENESS

Coca-Cola is still the most valuable brand in the world, worth $72.5 billion, according to a survey by Interbrand. However, the worldwide symbol of American cultural supremacy could be overtaken by one representing the relentless march of American capital. Microsoft's Windows brand has caught up fast and is now judged to be worth $70.2 billion.

ROBOTS

Shell Oil has pulled the plug on the world's first consumer-operated robot, a Canadian-designed experimental gas pump. The "SmartPump" is an array of sensors equipped with a robotic arm designed to read credit cards or coded computer chips, identify car makes, locate and open fuel doors, insert a nozzle and fill the tank. It was expected to be a hit in cities where motorists were scared to get out of their cars. However, consumers were not thrilled to pay an extra $1.00 per tank to use the robot.

SUEZ

The Egyptian government has approved a plan to widen and deepen the Suez Canal to allow passage of supertankers. The total cost of the 10 year project is estimated to be $440 million U.S. dollars. The project will be entirely funded by government funds and canal revenues. The Suez Canal earned $1.67 billion in U.S. dollars in 1999-2000, up 5.8 per cent from the year before, due largely to a revival of business in southeast Asia.

TRIVIA

British prison staff faced disciplinary action after attaching an electronic tag to a prisoner's artificial leg. Reports say the prisoner was able to dodge his curfew by simply taking off his false leg and going to the pub.

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August 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

August 2000 Edition

 SINGAPORE

Canada and Singapore are exploring the possibility of negotiating a free trade agreement. In 1999, Canada exported $367 million in goods to Singapore and imported about $1.2 billion. The largest sector in Canada-Singapore trade is information technology and telecommunications equipment. Sectors emerging as opportunities for Canadian business in Singapore are the agri-food, aerospace, defence, life sciences and environmental industries. Canadians invested about $2.4 billion in Singapore in 1999.

RESERVATIONS

British Airways, along with Air France and nine other European carriers, announced plans to launch a joint Internet travel agency. The airlines hope to cut their high ticketing and distribution costs by moving online. This may be good news for travellers but bad news for traditional travel agents.

SECURITY

British Telecom has developed an electronic tagging system that makes domestic appliances "aware" of their locations and prevents stolen items from working if they are plugged in to a household electrical supply they do not recognize. The system consists of a home-control centre connected by a modem to a remote operations centre. New appliances will have a memory chip containing a unique serial number and a disabling switch that cannot be bypassed. When purchased and plugged in for the first time, the appliance sends a signal via the house wiring to a home-control centre. If plugged in elsewhere, the unit's memory is erased and it will not work.

ASSISTANCE

Ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum have said they will provide technical assistance to the developing economies in the region. They have also agreed to refrain from imposing customs duties on e-commerce transactions. APEC's 21 member countries, including Canada, are pushing for a new round of talks aimed at breaking down trade barriers and lifting economies worldwide.

WEALTH

Compared with Canada, the U.S has more rich families and more poor ones, but in the U.S., the rich pay lower taxes than their Canadian counterparts, and the poor pay more, according to Statscan. About 11 per cent of American families had an income in 1997 of less than $10,000 (Can) compared with just over seven per cent of Canadian families. Poor Americans paid 2.3 per cent of their income in taxes while Canadians paid one per cent. At the high end, 5.7 per cent of American families, but only 1.8 per cent of Canadian families, had an income over $150,000. The rich Americans paid 27.6 per cent of that sum in taxes while rich Canadians paid 32.8 per cent.

VISITORS

Statistics Canada reports that a record 1.1 million Americans made overnight visits to the Atlantic provinces in 1999, up 8.7 per cent over 1998. This strong growth made up for gains of only 2.4 per cent in Atlantic Canada in 1998, while the rest of Canada was enjoying double-digit increases. American visits to Quebec rose 5.6 per cent in 1999, the second highest regional increase. All provinces west of Ontario saw fewer American travellers except B.C. where the number of American visits rose 2.0 per cent. Texans took 13.2 per cent more overnight trips to Canada in 1999, the largest increase among the top 10 states of origin.

TEXTILES

A group of 24 developing nations has criticized the EU, USA and Canada for failing to open their markets to clothes and textiles. The 24, who comprise the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau, called textiles one of the most important exports for poorer nations, representing about 20 per cent of all the manufactured goods they sell overseas. In Canada, only 29 out of 295 categories where there had been quotas are now free of restrictions. In the EU, the figure is 14 out of 219 and in the USA, a mere 13 out of 750.

STOCKS

According to Equity magazine, the average stock price of 25 publicly traded U.S. companies run by women grew by 58 per cent in the past year.

CHICKENS

Researchers are embedding dime-sized radio transmitters under the breast bones of live chickens and linking them to artificial intelligence computers. The goal is to reduce heat stress and regulate the birds' diets. In time, these implanted transmitters may one day watch over the flocks in chicken houses, delivering food and adjusting comfort levels far more precisely than their human caretakers ever could. And researchers say the development could mean safer food for consumers by reducing the risk of disease outbreaks in chicken houses.

BILLING

A limited number of Canadian companies offer on-line billing; however, research shows that almost one-third of Canadian companies are planning to offer these services within a year. According to an Angus Reid Group survey, 64 per cent of consumers want this service. It is claimed that billing consumers on-line reduces billing costs by up to 75 per cent.

DRINKS

Canadians still preferred beer by far to any other alcoholic beverage in the fiscal year 1998/99. However, sales of spirit-based coolers soared during the year, and red wine became almost as popular as white. Liquor authorities, wineries and breweries sold 2.5 billion litres of alcoholic beverages in 1998/99, up 2.6% from the previous year. Beer accounted for the vast majority of sales, 83%, while wine accounted for 11% and spirits 6%. Wine lovers continued their trend of turning from white to red. Sales of red wine grew more than 10% for the sixth straight year. In 1998/99, red wine accounted for 47% of sales volume, and white 53%.

STEEL

Big Steel is launching a $115 million (U.S.) campaign to increase steel markets by 25 per cent in the U.S. and Canada. The five year marketing and development strategy is designed to keep steel at the forefront of new technologies and get it into new applications. Steel wants to maintain its edge in traditional segments, such as the auto industry, and build its share in such largely untapped areas as homes and household products.

GREAT LAKES

Three years ago, some of the highest water levels this century floated the giant cargo freighters transporting coal, grain and iron ore across the Great Lakes and ships could be filled to capacity. No longer. Water levels throughout the Great Lakes have dropped from one to three feet in just two years, forcing ships to lighten their loads, thus cutting profit margins. The shipping industry is already pinched by high fuel costs and the receding waters have made competing against rail and trucking that much tougher.

FORESTS

Canada contains more than 10% of the world's forests and, in fact, half of the nation is covered by forest. Out of a total land area of 921.5 million hectares, 417.6 million hectares are defined as forestland, and much of it remains in a natural state. The nation also accounts for almost 20% of the total value of the global forest products trade. One out of every 17 jobs depends on it. At least 337 communities are considered heavily dependent on the forest. In each of these communities, employment income derived from forest products industries accounts for more than 49% of the community's income.

ONE VOICE

Leaders of 18 Latin American and Caribbean nations, making up the so-called Rio Group, are preparing a strategy that would enable them all to "speak with a single voice" in the world's decision-making forums. They feel that they should commit to working together and to see that the region finds its positive slot in the global economy so as to ensure the fair distribution of the profits arising from the world's markets.

CAVIAR

Russian exports of black caviar will plunge by more than 80 per cent this year because of a rapidly dwindling population of adult sturgeon, who have been hurt by poaching and rising pollution. Russia will export between 50 and 60 tons this year compared with 170 tons last year. Western Europe, North America and the Far East have sought to fill the demand, but caviar from sturgeon caught in the Caspian Sea and Volga River is the most highly prized.

MEXICO

The president of the Mexican national manufacturing industry chamber, Canacintra, says that Mexican companies are not in a position to be able to compete on the Chinese market, while the entry of China into the World Trade Organization will result in the loss of 60 percent of small and medium companies in Mexico. These companies lack the financing and training to be able to compete with Chinese companies while current development banks are insufficient.

COFFEE

The government of Brazil, the world's leading coffee producer, is supplying 13 warehouses capable of holding 20 per cent of Brazil's coffee exports. This is to help carry out its part of an OPEC-like plan, agreed on by the world's largest coffee producing nations, to keep stocks off the market until prices rise to their satisfaction. Fed up with the decline in coffee prices, members of the Association of Coffee Producing Countries, approved a plan to reduce exports by 20 percent.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted the California Prune Board (CPB) permission to use "dried plums" as an alternative name to "prunes." The CPB requested the name change after research showed that the name "dried plum" offers a more positive connotation than "prune" and would encourage more people to try the fruit. The CPB hopes the name change will attract its target audience, women 35 to 50. This group of 44 million people makes up approximately 16 percent of the U.S. population and makes the majority of household purchase decisions.

LEISURE

Canadian and U.S. tourists spent $11.7 billion on nature related activities such as hiking, hunting and skiing in Canada in 1996. Overall in 1996, nature related expenditures contributed about $12 billion to Canada's gross domestic product, generated 5.4 billion in tax revenue and created 215,000 jobs. On average, Canadian outdoor enthusiasts spent $704, with those exceeding the average being from Alberta ($836), B.C. ($902) and Yukon ($1,298).

PASSWORDS

The U.S. army, whose computers suffer an average of nine hacker attacks a week, is about to begin using security systems that identify body parts, voice patterns and even body odours to replace the password-based systems that now control everything.

HOMES

The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that, unless coastal erosion is halted, every year roughly 1,500 buildings, mostly houses, will disappear at a cost of $530 million (U.S.). In 60 years, a quarter of the buildings within 500 feet of the country's shoreline could be destroyed.

OLYMPIC TRIVIA

Literary and archaeological evidence shows Olympic authorities tried to crack down on cheating in the fourth century BC. Athletes who cheated were forced to buy bronze statues and inscribe them with maxims expressing their regret. The statues were then placed along the route to the Olympic stadium to remind athletes of the penalties for breaking the rules.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

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July 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

July 2000 Edition

 ALBERTA

According to the Export Development Corporation, exports from Alberta are expected to increase by nine per cent this year following an 11 per cent jump in 1999. Nearly 55 per cent of Alberta's export sales are in the energy sector. 85 per cent of Alberta's exports head to the U.S. Exports of automotive products by the province were up 22 per cent in 1999 and the forestry sector saw export sales increase 17 per cent. Agri-food products and consumer goods exports were both down in 1999.

NUTRITION

Studies show that dandelions are among the most nutritionally potent plants nature has to offer. They rank ahead of broccoli and spinach in overall food value. They are a good source of iron, have more potassium than bananas, more beta carotene than carrots and more lecithin than soybeans.

CHECKOUT

Loblaws, Canada's biggest grocery chain, will shortly allow shoppers at two supermarkets to scan their own groceries at the checkout as the retailer prepares to test a cashier-less counter--a move that could considerably shave labour costs. Self-serves in Europe and the U.S. have not been entirely successful. The equipment is expensive and increases the risk of theft. U.S. research has found that grocery stores can save 0.25 to 0.5 per cent of annual sales by moving to the self-serve checkout.

LOYALTY

U.S. consumers are making fewer trips to the grocery store as the availability of similar goods in other retail outlets impacts their shopping patterns, according to an AC Nielsen study. Last year, the number of trips declined from 91 to 90: shoppers made 94 trips in 1997. Today, the same products can be found at a number of stores. The most successful chains will be those that give their customers more reasons to shop with them - whether it's linking their loyalty programs to those of other industries, such as airlines, or offering more personally tailored promotions.

MONEY

In 1995, only 10 per cent of Canadians used debit cards and 58 per cent used cash. The latest figures show that debit cards for the first time are running neck and neck with cash. A recent survey showed that in 1999, 38 per cent of respondents used debit cards while 39 per cent preferred to pay cash. 16 per cent used credits cards and only three per cent paid by cheque.

MEXICO

The NAFTA has brought an influx of U.S. companies to Mexico since it was signed in 1994. However, far from turning Mexico into an economic sycophant, the pact has given the country's leading companies the impetus to learn from the invaders--competitors and partners alike--turning themselves into export powerhouses and disciples of globalization. Last year, Mexico climbed to eighth place among the world's exporters from 26th in 1993. From managing 2,000 workers overseas in 1993, Mexican companies now employ about 70,000 in two dozen countries, generating about $2 billion in annual revenue.

AGREEMENTS

A Business Week poll found that most Americans believe that globalisation is generally good for U.S. consumers, for the US economy and for strengthening the economy of poor countries (68 percent, 64 percent and 72 percent respectively). Respondents were split as to the effect of globalisation on job creation in the US. 50 percent believe it has a good effect, while 42 percent say it is detrimental to US employment. 69 percent of Americans believe that trade agreements with low-wage countries drive down US wages.

GATS

The Vancouver, B.C. City Council has passed a motion urging the government of Canada to consult widely and in depth with the people of Canada, especially and including municipal councils, before taking any further action on the WTO General Agreement for Trade in Services (GATS). Councillors are concerned that proposed changes to the GATS structure could affect existing jurisdictions for local governments and may result in significant administrative burdens and costs.

VOTES

Safeway Inc. shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a move to ban genetically modified products from store shelves. Company officials said that a vote on a resolution put forward by a coalition of environmental, agricultural, consumer and religious groups showed more than 97% of shareholders against banning genetically modified foods. Officials also said that the resolution was unnecessary because all foods sold by the chain have been certified as safe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

INDONESIA

The value of Indonesia's exports is expected to reach US$44 billion this year. In the first quarter, total export value reached US$14 billion, a thirty-nine per cent increase over last year. The government is forming a consortium which will consist of seven overseas and local banks to provide working capital to selected export-oriented companies.

SOFT DRINKS

Japan is one of the most competitive soft drink markets in the world. Approximately 1,000 new soft drinks are launched in Japan every year, of which only a small number survive. There are more than 7,000 different soft drinks sold in the country.

COINS

Germany's central bank is planning to bury $6.6 billion worth of coins when it switches to the new euro currency in 2002, rather than melting them down. Germany fears flooding the world's nickel and copper markets. The coins will weigh about 100,000 tonnes. Annual copper consumption is about 15 million tonnes and nickel consumption is 1.1 million tonnes.

GLOBALISATION

The Economist reports that despite the best efforts of protesters, globalisation continues apace. Figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development showed that cross-border merger and acquisition activity was up by more than a third in 1999 to $720 billion.

PLANES

According to the International Air Transport Association, air passenger and freight traffic is expected to grow by around 5 per cent a year in the coming decade, significantly outpacing the rate of global economic growth. The IATA forecasts that the annual number of passenger journeys by air on scheduled flights will exceed 2.3 billion by 2010, compared with 1.6 billion last year. International air transport remained one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy in 1999, and around 40 per cent of the world's manufactured goods, by value was transported by air.

TAXES

The European Union has announced plans to force foreign companies to levy value-added tax on services delivered through the internet to customers in the EU. The draft law is aimed at services such as downloading CDs, software, videos or computer games supplied in digital form. If approved, the law will require foreign companies with sales of more than $95,000 (U.S.) inside the EU to register in at least one EU country and levy VAT at a rate of somewhere between 15 and 25 per cent.

SUBSIDIES

The OECD reports that governments in rich countries gave more money to their farmers last year than in any year since the mid-1980s, with support of $361 billion (U.S.) or $327 a farmer. The worst offenders offering subsidies were the countries of the European Union,, Norway and Switzerland, Japan and Korea. Canada and the U.S. were less generous but have both raised payments. Support for farmers in th EU amounted to 49 per cent of income. In Switzerland and South Korea it was 70 per cent. In the U.S. support was 24 per cent of income and in Canada, 20 per cent.

LOST

A system for the home has been developed that can locate lost objects or even people. Small radio-frequency tags attached to various objects like keys, wallets, and glasses emit a homing beacon. That beacon is then picked up 24 hours a day by a locating computer in the home. When you lose your keys, you need only walk up to the locating computer and ask where the keys are.

VEHICLES

A total of 21.5 million motor vehicles of all types were registered in Canada in 1999. Of this total, 16.5 million (77%) were passenger cars and light vehicles such as pickup trucks and minivans. The remainder consisted of 73,000 buses, 275,000 motorcycles and mopeds, 1.7 million farm and off-road construction vehicles, and 2.9 million (14%) trucks (weighing at least 4500kg) and truck tractors.

COMPLAINTS

Consumer complaints about advertising jumped 30 per cent in 1999. Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) the ad industry's self-regulatory body said it received 1,075 consumer complaints last year, up from 828 in 1998. ASC said complaints focused on four broad themes; depictions of violence; adult-themed ads in family oriented media; inappropriate teen language and behaviour, and safety issues.

PENSION FUNDS

According to InterSec, a research company, Americans now own three-fifths of the world's retirement assets. American pension assets were worth $7.8 trillion in 1999, 140 per cent more than in 1994. Japanese pension assets were the next biggest, worth $1.5 trillion. British pension assets were worth $1.4 trillion. Most other European countries have few pension assets. World pension assets totalled $13 trillion last year, 95 per cent more than in 1994.

GROWTH

Europe's 11-member common currency zone is enjoying its best growth in more than a decade and is set to start reducing its millions of unemployed. Euro zone growth is forecast to be 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2000 and 3.3 next year. This growth is expected to take 1.5 millions from the unemployed figures which will still be around 12 per cent in 2001.

BUILDINGS

According to a recent report, the next big environmental crisis will be dealing with sick buildings that are contaminated by mould, ozone, carbon monoxide and carcinogens of various kinds. The report claims that U.S. companies could save as much as $58 billion a year by preventing sick building illnesses, and reap another $200 billion in worker performance boosts by creating offices with better indoor air.

TRENDS

Superquinn is an Irish supermarket chain. Utilizing modern technology, it is using checkout receipts to show consumers the amount of Irish products they purchase and to relay the name of the farmer that is responsible for the beef they bought -- a move to boost confidence in the product.

AGE

New research shows that the farther west you live in Canada, the higher your life expectancy. British Columbia is tops at 79.3 years, and Newfoundland last at 77 years. While Canada has one of the highest average life expectancies in the world, the variations among provinces are increasing, causing concern for health professionals.

WORDS

The first use of the word "software" has been attributed to John Tukey, a Princeton University mathematician, who used it in an 1958 article published in the American Mathematical Monthly. Tukey had a fondness for coining new words and in 1946 coined the word "bit," short for binary digit.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

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June 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

June 2000 Edition

 JORDAN

Jordan has become the 136th Member of the WTO. Under terms of its accession package, Jordan will reduce customs duties from 35 to 20 percent over the next ten years and reduce price controls on a number of goods, including gasoline and medicine. In anticipation of WTO membership, Jordan undertook major reforms of its economy, laws (including intellectual property rights legislation) and institutions in order to promote greater trade and investment. Oman and Saudi Arabia remain the only two Arab states outside the WTO.

COFFEE

Starbucks, the international coffee chain, has announced that it will sell Fair Trade Certified coffee in more than 2,000 cafes across the US beginning later in 2000. The coffee contract represents the largest purchase of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the US. Fair Trade Certified indicates that the coffee was grown by farmers earning a living wage from their harvest. The announcement comes as human rights activists launched a campaign to get major coffee companies to offer socially responsible coffee.

TAIWAN

Taiwan has signed a bilateral WTO accession agreement with Brazil, the last remaining country with which Taiwan needed to negotiate an accession agreement. Taiwan is now technically eligible for WTO membership pending approval of its full accession package at the next meeting of the WTO working group on Taiwan. However, that meeting is not likely to occur until after China completes its accession. China has been adamant that it should be admitted to the WTO before Taiwan.

GMOs

New laws requiring labelling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) has come into force in England and Scotland. The labelling regime is administered under the newly formed UK Food Standards Administration (FSA). The regime, which will come into force in Wales and Northern Ireland at a later date, are designed to foster informed consumer choice. Also, Sri Lanka has announced an immediate ban on all imports of GMO foodstuffs. Sri Lanka, a significant importer of wheat and sugar does not produce any GMO crops.

TECHNOLOGY

Sony recently launched PlayStation2, a realistic games console. The PS2 has now had export controls slapped on it by the Japanese government on the grounds that it is so sophisticated that, when coupled with a video camera, it could make an ideal missile-guidance system. In 1998, the radar and global positioning system found on a captured North Korean submarine were found to be based on popular gadgets made by Japanese consumer-electronics firms.

GROWTH

The World Bank reports that many countries now experiencing recession in Latin America and the Caribbean should show an economic recovery in 2000-2001. Contributions to this growth will include: an acceleration of world trade, stabilization of commodity prices, a recovery in capital flows, greater exchange-rate flexibility in many countries, and less external debt amortization in 2000.

EUROPE

EU agriculture officials are close to reaching a deal with potential Eastern European states to further liberalise trade in farm goods. The deal will slowly bridge differences in prices, tariffs, and subsidy levels between western EU states and aspiring EU member-states in Eastern Europe. Poland-EU farm talks are expected to be the most difficult, as Polish farmers, fearful of losing their livelihood, rally against EU membership. Poland alone has 2 million farms employing 25 percent of the workforce, compared to 7 million farms EU-wide.

LAWS

Mexico's Congress has approved a bill that will recognize electronic business transactions and regard Internet purchase orders as binding contracts. Documents relating to online transactions will have to be kept for 10 years. The lack of this legal recognition has hampered the growth of Internet business.

COSMETICS

The EU has agreed to delay a marketing ban on cosmetics products tested on animals. The ban, originally scheduled for 1998, has been delayed for various reasons. The EU said it would delay a marketing ban at least until it introduced an EU-wide ban on animal tests for cosmetics, expected in two years. EU officials said banning animal-tested products would likely provoke a WTO dispute with trade partners and advised that a ban on animal testing would be WTO compatible as well as a more effective way to protect animal welfare.

INDIA

The Asian Development Bank, in its annual outlook, projected that India's economy would grow by 7% this year and next, outstripping China for the first time since 1990. The report also suggested that Asia's industrialised economies -- Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan -- would continue to grow by 6.5% in 2000 and 6% in 2001.

ETHICS

Employees are observing widespread illegal and unethical conduct in the workplace despite the presence of ethics programs at many companies, according to a US survey of more than 2,300 workers by KPMG LLP, the professional services firm. More than 75 per cent of those surveyed reported they had observed violations of the law or company standards in the previous 12 months. Nearly half said their company "would significantly lose public trust" if the infraction they had observed found its way into the news media.

IT

A study by the Information Technology Association of America predicts that employers will need an extra 1.6 million information technology (IT) workers by the end of this year. The ITAA also predicts that about 850,000 of those jobs--53 per cent--both within and outside the technology industry will not be filled. A similar picture of continued strong demand for IT workers is emerging in Canada.

GAMBLING

Casinos surpassed lotteries in 1998 as the largest generator of non-charity gambling revenue, according to Statscan data. Casinos accounted for 38% of all gambling revenue, compared with 35% for lotteries and 28% for video lottery terminals (VLTs). This is a drastic change from 1992, when casinos accounted for only 1% of revenue from gambling, while 90% came from lotteries and about 9% from VLTs. In 1999, $8.1 billion was wagered on some form of non-charity gambling activity, three times the $2.7 billion of seven years earlier. Between 1992 and 1999, the number of jobs in the gambling industry more than tripled, from 11,900 to 39,200.

ASIA

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Myanmar have agreed to enter into a free trade arrangement to boost imports and exports in the Bay of Bengal region. The five countries agreed to establish immediately a series of preferential trade arrangements and to launch a free trade area within six months. The group hopes to benefit from synergies in knowledge-based industries including information technology and telecommunications.

GREENHOUSES

Canada's greenhouse industry grew in both size and sales in the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1999, the total area under glass and plastic grew by 129% to 3,631 acres, or 158 million square feet. Total greenhouse sales increased to $1.45 billion in 1999 from $1.3 billion in 1998. Thirty percent of revenues, or $438 million, were derived from greenhouse vegetable production.

WORK

A U.S. study of 6,357 workers of all ages and from companies of all sizes showed that 73 per cent would rather work harder and receive performance bonuses than work with minimal deadlines and low stress. 70 per cent said they feel loyal to their employer though more than 50 per cent feel it is foolish to commit to one employer for an entire career.

TOUR

Planes, trains, and automobiles whisked Produce Man and his team on its third "5-A-Day Across the USA" whirlwind tour, crossing the U.S. during June, covering 6,100 miles. The tour, sponsored by the Produce for Better Health Foundation and supporting partners, is an effort to reach large numbers of consumers with the message of eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables a day to improve their health.

BORING

A study by the AAUW Educational Foundation in the U.S., indicates that girls and women are avoiding high-technology careers, not because they fear failing, but because they believe computer jobs are boring and lonely. While they use e-mail, the Internet and word processing, when it comes to computer fluency--finding innovative ways to use information technology or to adapt new technologies as they emerge--girls and women are not in the forefront.

MEAT

Canadians consumed, on average, more pork and beef in 1999 than in 1998. Record pork and beef supplies in 1999 supported both record levels of meat exports and increases in domestic per capita consumption. Pork consumption at 27.4 kg per person increased 1.5% from 1998, while beef consumption, at 31.0 kg, was 1.3% higher than in 1998 and slightly above the 1997 level.

MOVING

According to the annual Allied Van Lines relocation survey, fifty-eight per cent of all employees transferred are in their 30s. Workers older than 45 make up just 4 per cent of corporate transfers.

RATING

Exporters who need to evaluate whether to offer short term credit to a foreign buyer can speed up the process by using a new Internet-based service. Created by Coface, a credit insurer based in Paris, it has a database of 25 million companies in 140 companies. The service is aimed especially at evaluating transactions in the $1,000 to $100,000 range. The site is at: www.cofacerating.com.

PRODUCTIVITY

Labour productivity in the Canadian business sector grew in 1999 at almost three times the 1998 pace. Productivity advanced 1.4% in 1999, compared with 0.5% in 1998. It grows both when businesses become more efficient and when businesses increase the amount of machinery and equipment and advanced technologies used by each worker. Productivity is a measure of production efficiency that economists regard as the foundation of a country's standard of living. Also, it is a measure of the output per hour worked, and is closely related to the remuneration paid to employees.

OOOPS

Porters at a London auction house put a $232,000 painting by artist Lucian Freud into a crusher because they thought it was rubbish

EDUCATION

Coventry University in Britain plans to offer a degree course on the Mafia. Students will study gangster films. Critics wonder what this will prepare them for!

VACANCY

Seamus McSporran, who has held fourteen jobs simultaneously on the Scottish island of Gigha, has retired after 35 years. He will give up his jobs of special constable, shopkeeper, postman, insurance agent, rent collector, pier master, registrar, fire chief, ambulance driver, school bus driver, guest-house owner, gas pump attendant, taxi driver and undertaker. The seven-day weeks and 15-hour days were starting to get to him.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp

May 2000 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

May 2000 Edition

GROWTH

Strong growth in industrial countries, an "exceptional recovery" in world trade and higher commodity prices will help boost average growth rates for developing countries to 4.6 percent this year and slightly higher in 2001, according to a new Global Development Finance report from the World Bank. The developing countries that are expected to grow the fastest are those that rely more heavily on trade, have more diversified economies, are attracting foreign direct investment and have achieved recent gains in competitiveness.

TOBACCO

There is growing evidence that many pharmacy owners and operators are uncomfortable with selling tobacco, and a growing number of stores in the U.S. are dropping tobacco products. Nonetheless, officials at retail drugstore companies say cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products are still stocked because the public wants them. They cite data indicating that between 20 and 25% of Americans still smoke. They also cite cases in which a drugstore has dropped tobacco, only to find that its overall sales have declined. Tobacco, they contend, is a traffic builder.

LAWYERS

According to the 1996 census, there were 57,680 lawyers in Canada, 30 per cent of which are women.

BANANAS

A WTO dispute arbitrator has ruled that Ecuador - the world's largest Banana exporter - could request over US$200 million in retaliatory sanctions against the EU for the EU's failure to comply with a 1999 ruling against its banana import regime. Subsequent EU attempts at compliance have yet to satisfy Ecuador or the other parties in the dispute who argue that the EU proposals continue to discriminate against its exports.

JAPAN

Japan's reluctance to open its economy to foreigners diminished a bit in 1999, according to figures from Japan's central bank. Foreign direct investment in Japan was, at Yen 1.4 trillion (US$12.3 billion), almost three-and-a-half times higher than in 1998.

FAKE

Organizers of a Europe-wide campaign to label counterfeit goods as "uncool" are asking industry and consumer groups to support the venture that will target the youth market. The 'Don't fake it' campaign to be co-ordinated by AIM, the European Brands Association, together with the Paris-based, Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GAGC), seeks to curb demand for counterfeit goods by highlighting the unethical side of product piracy. The campaign organizers hope to launch the campaign in five European countries - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.

HEALTH CARE

Canadians spent $18.1 billion on health and personal care products in 1999, up 9.4% from 1998. Health and personal care products include cosmetics, drugs (prescription and over-the-counter), vitamins, eyewear, and other toiletries. Although drugstores capture the majority of the market for these products, in 1999, consumers bought $3.2 billion of health and personal care products at food stores, 23.7% more than they did in 1998. Another $2.8 billion was bought at general merchandise stores, 16.0% more than in 1998. As a result, the food store share of the health and personal care product market grew by 2.0 percentage points to 17.8%, and general merchandise stores reached 15.5%.

ICE CREAM

A Washington ice cream maker has been targeting Asian American tastes with flavours like green tea, ginger, sour plum, mango, sesame, lichee, taro and green bean. Durian is a favourite among a small clientele but the maker will only sell this foul smelling flavour by the quart.

FREE-TRADE

Japan has a long-held policy of shunning bilateral accords in favour of multilateral agreements, but is reportedly looking at bilateral accords as a way to build momentum for the stalled multilateral trade process. Free-trade talks with Singapore offer the most promising prospects, both in terms of being achievable and with regard to the benefits such an accord would deliver. Singapore, a member with Japan in the Asia Pacific Economic Co- operation (APEC) forum, is expected to sign a free trade agreement with New Zealand later this year, and is expected to launch talks with Chile and Mexico.

ASSISTANCE

According to its annual report, the Canadian government's Export Development Corp. served a record 5,182 customers in 1999, up 16 per cent from a year earlier. The EDC supported more than $40 billion in sales and foreign investments in 1999, up 15 per cent from 1998 and the agency earned a profit of $118 million.

TRADE

According to the latest WTO figures, the U.S. was the top exporter last year with foreign sales of $695 billion, 12.4 per cent of world exports. America exported more goods than any other single country, but the EU, with exports of $799 billion, took a bigger share (18.9 per cent) of world trade. World exports grew by 3 per cent in 1999 to $5,610 billion.

PROFITS

A London Internet consulting firm forecasts that U.K. supermarkets will lose more than $159 million U.S. this year on costly and inefficient online home delivery services. While consumer willingness to buy groceries online will grow this year, vendors' operating losses will too. Grocery products are currently moved around twice as many times as they should be to get them from warehouse to kitchen after an Internet order. Retailers may end up with little to show for heavy outlays now being made on poorly focused advertising of online services and on computer technology infrastructure.

NEW ZEALAND

After enthusiastically embracing free trade for a number of years, the new Government of New Zealand has announced that the proposed tariff reductions, to come into effect on 1st July, will be scrapped. The government is also moving to repeal a 1998 law, the Tariff (Zero Duty) Amendment Act, which would have phased out all tariffs by 2006.

ANTS

Fire ants were probably introduced into the U.S. 70-80 years ago and now cover the south-eastern U.S. from Texas to Virginia. In the west, inadvertent transport by humans has helped them reach California. Besides sending 30,000 people to hospital each year, fire ants are hurting the economy. They damage the nursery and sod-growing industry which in South Carolina is worth $200 million a year. They love electrical wiring and can put appliances out of action. They costs South Carolinians $80 per household per year and cost Texans even more

FAIR TRADE

Sales of products carrying the Max Havelaar fair trade label rose 29 percent between 1998 and 1999, increasing to about US$40 million from US$28 million. The label is carried on a range of products: coffee, tea, cocoa, honey, sugar, orange juice and bananas. Max Havelaar products are certified for fair trade standards by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), which encourages the development of a fair market through setting minimum prices that cover the costs of production of each good and cutting intermediaries from the trading scheme.

PARTNERS

Thirteen of the world's leading retailers have announced they will form a collaborative partnership to establish the WorldWide Retail Exchange. The exchange is a web-based marketplace, enabling transactions between retailers operating in the food, general merchandise and drugstore sectors. The new business-to-business exchange is expected to begin operating mid-2000. It is designed to facilitate and simplify trading between retailers and over 100,000 suppliers, partners and distributors. Together, the group operates over 30,000 stores and had 1999 combined sales of over US$345 billion.

WTO

At a recent meeting in Hawaii, representatives from 1,100 businesses in 20 Asian countries called on World Trade Organization Members to review their positions outstanding from the failed WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle and demonstrate flexibility necessary to bridge remaining gaps and move forward expeditiously on negotiations aimed at launching a new global round. The WTO Director General has also warned that a new round will not take place until WTO Members take more flexible positions in key negotiating areas.

CARGO

A new Internet portal has been launched in Singapore for the buying and selling of surplus cargo space. CargoExchange.net is a neutral business-to-business exchange for the on-line trading of surplus global container cargo space. The exchange allows buyers and sellers to post bids and, after the bids are closed, negotiate the price anonymously. Their identities are revealed once the brokerage payment has been made.

NAFTA

In the sixth anniversary year of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), each country welcomed the spectacular success of the Agreement and the benefits it has brought to the people and economies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Trade between the three countries has grown by 96% since the NAFTA came into force. From less than US$289 billion in 1993, trilateral trade has now surpassed US$567 billion. Investment among the three economies has also increased significantly, with more than US$189 billion invested in each other's economies in 1997.

ATMs

The first cash dispenser was opened in 1967 in the Enfield branch of Barclays Bank in England. The maximum single withdrawal was 10 pounds ($25.00).

FOOD

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians spent a higher proportion of their food dollars on meals outside the home during the 1990s than in the 1980s. Of every $100 spent on food in 1998, an average of $34.60 went to meals outside the home, mostly in restaurants, up from $32.70 in 1989. This increase may have been due to several factors: economic expansion and improved consumer confidence in the mid- to late 1990s; greater time constraints for consumers; more single-person households; and rapid growth in the number of food service establishments. Personal expenditures on meals purchased outside the home increased 42.2% from 1989 to 1998.

WINE

U.S. wine exports, about 95 percent from California, edged up two percent to $548 million in 1999, representing a 300 percent increase from a decade ago in 1990. By volume, wine exports posted a gain of five percent over the previous year to 75.4 million gallons.

In Canada, wine-makers are demanding that the government protest EU policies to the WTO. The EU has banned all Canadian ice wine on the grounds that its sugar content is too high. The EU also bans all but $500,000 worth of regular Canadian wine because Canadian wine-making processes are different from those in Europe.

PAPER

Moose droppings have been used by a Swedish manufacturer to make elegant grey paper. The company makes paper out of all sorts of things including old jeans, wasp nests, nettles and egg cartons.

NAMES

Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda was the creation of Charles Griggs from Missouri, who introduced the lemon-lime drink in 1929. Four years later he renamed it 7-Up. Sales increased significantly.

Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.

Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp