December 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

December 2003 Edition

ORGANIC

 
As consumers in the West grow increasingly hungry for organic food, Chinese farmers see a niche market worth cultivating. Sales of organic food in the U.S. alone reached US$11-billion in 2002, are projected at US$13-billion in 2003 and may reach US$20-billion by 2005. In rural China, the word is out that more and more people abroad are willing to pay extra for a healthier and more environmentally friendly diet. Foreign buyers are paying from 30 to 50 per cent more for organic foods. Organic farmers work without the aid of chemical agents to control insect and weeds or to fertilize fields.

MORE ORGANIC

Sales of organic food in the UK have topped US$2-billion for the first time. Demand for organic products is growing by more than 10 per cent a year, faster than any other food and drink sector. One of the biggest rises was in sales of organic baby food, up 20 per cent over the past year. The supermarket share of the organic market has fallen slightly for the first time in five years. Part of the reason is the growing popularity of farmers' markets, farm shops and direct delivery.

MICROBES

Steel and appliance makers are joining the battle against bacteria with antimicrobial doorknobs and coffee makers. There is even a gleaming 11,000-square-foot, bug-free house in Los Angeles filled with stainless steel and appliances covered with an antimicrobial compound called Agnol. The compound contains ions of silver that interact with humidity in the air to continually suppress the growth of bacteria, mould, mildew, fungi and other microbes. Agnol can be combined with other materials for use on clothing, air and water filters or paints.

CITIES

By 2005, there will be 16 mega-cities on the planet. The largest of them will be Tokyo with 27 million people. Urban dwellers, it is predicted, will outnumber the world's rural population for the first time by 2007.

VODKA

This famous Russian drink is celebrating 500 years since it was first distilled by monks. The clear liquid, these days drunk by people around the world, is thought to have been invented in 1503 by Kremlin monks who used it as an antiseptic before they started drinking it. Studies show Russians drink more hard liquor than any other nation in the world.

GRANTS

A witch has received a US$9,000 grant from the Norwegian Industrial and Regional Development Fund to make and sell potions door to door. Her specialty elixirs include night creams for vivid dreams, a day cream to combat indecisiveness and a foot cream to change a user's bad habits. A government official said her business plan was "pretty reasonable and well thought out".

TRADE

The leaders of Canada and China have agreed to continue boosting trade between the two countries. Canada did C$20-billion in trade with China last year. Canada-China trade tripled over 10 years and is expected to double again by 2010. China exported a staggering C$16-billion of the overall sum exchanged between the countries last year. The remaining C$4-billion flowed into the coffers of the 400 companies doing business in China.

TRENDS

Some of Britain's biggest companies are using postal codes to single out customers who telephone call centres on the basis of their wealth. Sophisticated technology recognizes consumers when they call and divert their inquiry to specially trained workers authorized to give better deals to wealthier clients. Poorer customers are made to wait and may have their calls answered by automated computer systems.

FISH

More than 600 new species of fish have been discovered by a major ocean census and thousands more may be lurking undetected. Some 300 scientists from 53 countries are creating a record of all known maritime life. The 10-year Census of Marine Life project will form an open database of raw material available to everyone. So far, 15,304 species of fish have been logged. Between 2,000 and 3,000 are expected to join the list before 2010 and many will be previously unknown species.

WINE

Last year, the United States sold 74 million gallons of wine around the world. Almost all of it was varietal, or identified by the grape it is made from: cabernet, chardonnay, zinfandel or syrah. Australia, Chile and South Africa, all aggressive wine exporters, also identify most of their wines by the grapes from which they are made. Europe, France in particular, has responded by slowly moving to varietal names as well. Europe has traditionally named wines after the region in which they are produced.

ACCIDENTS

11,449 people were killed in the first nine months of this year in China's mines and factories, a jump of nearly nine per cent over the same period last year. This was despite a nationwide safety crackdown. Fatalities were down slightly in accident-plagued Chinese coal mines but the number of deaths in non-mining industries rose by 19 per cent to 5,203. Some experts blame the rise on China's shift to a market-style economy with private employers pushing workers harder and skimping on safety measures.

RICE

Scientists have found the oldest known domesticated rice. The handful of 15,000-year-old burnt grains was found by archaeologists in Korea. Their age challenges the accepted view that rice cultivation originated about 12,000 years ago in China. The rice is genetically different from modern crops which will allow researchers to trace its evolution. Today's rice is the primary food for over half the world's population, with 576,280,000 tonnes produced in 2002. In Asia, rice is responsible for almost a third of all calorific intake.

MUSIC

Research has discovered that music played in restaurants has a direct impact on the amount spent by diners. Classical music will make customers pay more, bland music is likely to have the opposite effect. Classical music increases spending owing to its "connotations of affluence, sophistication and wealth." When people feel more "cultured and sophisticated" they are more likely to spend money on items they think cultured and sophisticated people would order.

CHICKENS

Never before have chickens been so big, in fact, they are about 20 per cent heavier than 50 years ago. To keep pace with demand, the poultry industry has changed its breeding and raising techniques. The average chicken now has a thicker breast, fatter wings and chubbier drumsticks.

FURNITURE

A group of U.S. furniture manufacturers has asked the U.S. government to impose trade duties on Chinese-made bedroom furniture. The petition states that Chinese bedroom furniture is priced so low that the imports should carry duties that could be more than twice the wholesale price of the furniture.

TRUFFLES

A century ago, France produced 1,500 tonnes a year of this delicacy, but the business is in radical decline. Now, even in a good year, only 35 tonnes are produced. Despite advances in the science of truffle production, the cultivation of the fungus is extremely precarious and labour intensive. Truffle farmers are now warning that the summer heatwave has destroyed half their crop. It is likely that by Christmas, the price is likely to reach double its normal level, reaching the record-breaking sum of US$2,000 a kilogram.

SAND

Saudi Arabia has reportedly imposed strict border checks to enforce a ban on the export of sand. There are fears that the growing demand of the construction industry could lead to a shortage in the desert kingdom. Neighbouring Bahrain needs to import large quantities of sand for reclaiming land from the sea. Though sand remains plentiful in Saudi Arabia, the high costs of bagging and transporting make exploiting it difficult.

MISSISSIPPI

This politically conservative state is cultivating a small but burgeoning trade relationship with Cuba's communist-run government. Ships laden with a growing list of U.S. food and agricultural products such as beef, chicken, rice, and cheese sail regularly from Gulfport to Havana. The exports are legal under an exemption to the U.S.' four-decade trade embargo of Cuba and have spurred hopes that Mississippi will get a healthy share of U.S.-Cuban trade if relations are normalized as expected.

ECUADOR

This country is the most biodiverse in relation to its area. Its forests are home to bears, jaguars, a profusion of birds and many rare plants. Yet Ecuador is losing its trees faster than anywhere else in South America. According to official figures, 370,000 acres of primary forest are felled each year; unofficial sources put the figures twice as high. This means that half of the forests have been lost in the past three decades, much of them to illegal logging.

GRAFFITI

Even the Romans had to put up with slogans scratched on the walls of their fine new buildings by ungrateful locals. Now, researchers in Mexico have invented a new type of anti-graffiti paint. Called Deletum 5000, the product will be released in the new year. Its special ingredient are particles of silica. These particles have had both oil-repellant and water-repellant molecules attached to their surfaces. Deletum 5000 can be painted on to concrete, brick, metal, plastic and wood. and will last for ten years.

INFORMATION

Growing net, computer and phone use is driving a huge rise in the amount of information people use and generate. Researchers estimate that every year 800 megabytes of information is produced for every person on the planet. The study found that information stored on paper, film, magnetic and optical disks has doubled since 1999.

CANDY

This year, confectioners in the U.S. are expected to have generated Halloween sales of US$2-billion. Last year, the country's total confectionary sales were US$24-billion, the highest anywhere. Worldwide sales of confectionary and chewing gum are estimated to reach US$112-billion. Chewing gum sales rose by about 18 per cent in Britain last year and gum and mints have shown blistering growth in emerging markets such as China.

GRASS

Cogon grass, a fast-growing Asian weed that initially hitch-hiked to the U.S. as a packing material, is becoming a worse plant scourge than the infamous kudzu vine in many parts of the U.S. South. Cogon, considered one of the world's 10 worst weeds, kills pine seedlings and is a hot-burning fire hazard that squeezes out native plants and ruins habitats for threatened species such as the gopher, tortoise and the indigo snake. It has invaded every continent except Antarctica.

WEDDINGS

Singapore has begun its latest behaviour modification campaign, a "wedding punctuality" drive to encourage guests to turn up on time for a couples big day. The government is providing 400,000 cards for couples to insert into their invitations. Previous programs have included efforts to encourage citizens to smile more, wave at fellow motorists and switch off mobile phones in cinemas.

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 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

November  2003 Edition

TEQUILA

 
To deserve the name of tequila, it must be distilled only from the sap of the Mexican blue agave plant. Tequila has become a favourite spirit in the US which now accounts for half of the world's tequila consumption. Last year US consumption was 7.2 million nine-litre cases worth US$2.8 billion in retail sales. Until now, 83 per cent of tequila sold in the US was imported in bulk and bottled locally. Now, the Mexican government wants to ban bulk shipments requiring that it be bottled in Mexico which will move bottling jobs south of the border.

PRICES

Commodity prices are strengthening. Copper, often seen a harbinger of economic trends, is trading in the futures market at 30-month highs. The formally boring nickel market is at a three-year high. The price of platinum is at a 2-year peak and gold is fetching more than it has for seven years.

SOYABEANS

In soyabean production, Brazil is a superpower. Within five years it could become the world's biggest producer according to the US Department of Agriculture. Soya products already account for five percent of Brazil's total exports despite a ban on genetically modified (GM) crops. In the US, 80 per cent of the soya products are GM. Under a new decree, Brazil has now announced that it will allow the planting and sale this year of a herbicide-resistant variety of soyabeans.

SANDWICHES

The right thickness of cheese to put in a sandwich has been discovered with the help of a technique to analyze aromas released as food is chewed. The study, sponsored by the British Cheese Board, shows the optimum thickness varies according to the cheese: 7mm for wensleydale; 5mm, cheshire; 4.5mm, caerphilly; 3mm, blue stilton; 2.8mm cheddar and 2.5mm for double gloucester.

SINGAPORE

Talks are continuing with a view to having a free trade agreement between Canada and Singapore within a year. Substantial progress has been made on areas such as market access in goods, financial services and government procurement. Singapore, a resource-poor island economy, has made free trade agreements a cornerstone of its economic policy--inking bilateral deals with the U.S., Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

CONSTRUCTION

A campaign has been launched to combat the British construction industry's skills shortage by encouraging more women to join the trades. The project hopes to recruit 1,400 women to help fill the 8,000 new hires a year that the industry will need until 2006.

SHOPLIFTING

More than US$4.7 billion was lost to shoplifting and employee theft in just 25 U.S. retail companies in 2002, with only 2.43 per cent of those losses resulting in a recovery. A survey shows over half a million apprehensions taking place in 25 large retail companies, representing 10,243 stores with combined 2002 annual sales exceeding US$396 billion. One in 30 employees was apprehended for theft.

SINKING

Shanghai authorities are to limit the rate at which some of the world's tallest buildings are being built after the sheer weight of the skyscrapers was found to be causing the city to sink into the sea. Geologists have found that the city subsided more than an inch last year. Two of the world's tallest buildings are in Shanghai.

MIGRATION

Statistics Canada has now published data on the number of individuals who moved from July, 2001 to June, 2002. There were 1.65 million individuals who moved in this period, up from 1.51 million in 2000\01, a 9 per cent increase. Of these, more than 290,000 changed provinces or territories, up 8 per cent from 2000\01. Nearly 991,000 moved from one census division to another within their province or territory, up 12 per cent.

DIRTY

At a party to launch Zambia's revolutionary new banknotes, guests were quick to notice the unsightly red and black stains on their fingers--the serial numbers on the new bills were rubbing off. The notes, which are made of a thin plastic polymer, are supposed to last longer, stay cleaner and be more secure than traditional paper currency. Zambian bank officials expected the plastic bank notes to save them C$5-million over the next five years. The manufacturer told the bank the ink on the bills had not been given enough time to dry.

COMMUTING

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation, the average daily one-way commute to work in the U.S. takes just over 28 minutes. The average commuting time reported has not varied significantly in the past three years. Only six per cent of workers spend more than one hour commuting. The longest reported commute was three hours and the shortest was one minute.

SUNSCREEN

A new British study has found that sunscreen lotions may not protect against skin cancer. They have found that some of the leading brands fail to stop the sun's damaging rays from penetrating the skin.

WEALTH

In the second quarter of this year, Canadian net wealth, the country's worth in homes, cars, business inventories and fixed capital, less what is owed to foreigners, hit C$3.9 trillion or C$129,000 per capita However, Canadians owed the equivalent of one year's pay each in consumer and mortgage debt. Canada's total non-financial assets were worth C$4.1 trillion before foreign liabilities were subtracted.

SIZE

Giant avocados, large enough to make three gallons of avocado soup or two ponds of guacamole are about to go on sale in Britain. Fourteen inches in circumference and as large as a water melon, the naturally grown pears are eight times the size of normal avocado and will feed a family of six. The monster fruit are all descended from a single ancient tree in South Africa's Northern Province.

TREES

U.S. cities have lost more than 20 per cent of their trees in the past ten years, due primarily to urban sprawl and highway construction. According to a study by American Forests, the vast tree loss contributes to environmental and health problems that have cost an estimated US$234-billion. The four-year study examined 448 urban areas using satellite imaging to compare with a similar study 10 years ago and found 21 per cent less tree canopy.

SPEED

South Korea holds a large lead over the rest of the world in the percentage of inhabitants who have high-speed Internet connections. Between 60 and 70 per cent of all households have a broadband connection. At the start of 2003 there were around 63 million broadband subscribers in the world compared with 1.13-billion fixed-line users and 1.16-billion mobile phone users. Hong Kong was second with Canada in third place. However, Japan, currently 10th, is moving up fast because it is offering the world's fastest speeds and lowest prices. The U.S. is in 11th place.

DUST

Disposable cleaning cloths and dusters tout their ability to attract dust but the same properties may be found in washable microfibre cloths in which the fibres are split to create an electrostatic charge. Lambswool dusters have a similar dust-attracting property, and genuine ostrich feathers are famous for their ability to hold dust rather than scattering it.

CALIFORNIA

Rice growing in California has become a US$500-million industry that is second only to Thailand in exports of premium rice. The roughly 500,000 semi-arid acres, or 202,000 hectares, in the Sacramento Valley make up a microclimate, one of three in the world, where japonica rice flourishes; the others are in Japan and Australia. California rice production now outpaces the long-established long-grain rice industry in Mississippi, Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana.

ACRYLICS

Over 120 big aquariums across the world from New York and Barcelona to Shanghai and Riyadh have something in common. They all use acrylic glass made by Nippura, a Japanese firm with 60 employees which has won around three-quarters of the global market for these panels. Nippura made the world's biggest panel for the Okinawa Aquarium which opened last November. The panel is 27 feet tall and 75 feet wide and provides a view into a 1.7-million tank.

PACKAGING

Sales of private label consumer packaged goods (CPG) in the U.S. are growing much faster than branded products. According to an ACNielsen study, since 1997, private label products have grown from having a presence in 69 per cent of categories tracked to 75 per cent, entering 88 new categories in that time. In 2002, private labels had the dollar volume share lead in 25 per cent of categories in which it competed, up from 21 per cent in 1997.

INSURANCE

The likelihood that genetically-modified (GM) crops will be farmed in the UK was greatly reduced after it emerged that farmers may not be able to obtain insurance cover for the potential risks of GM farming. None of the five main British insurance underwriters are willing to offer cover to farmers considering growing GM crops, or to non-GM farmers wanting protection from GM crop contamination.

NEWSPAPERS

More Canadians read community newspapers than the daily papers in the same market according to a new nationwide survey. The study, which was conducted among more than 24,000 English-speaking Canadians in 400 newspaper markets over the past few months, suggests that local papers are surprisingly well read. Of those surveyed, 69 per cent said they had read the last issue of community paper while only 47 per cent read a daily paper from the previous day. Only in Quebec and Ontario were there more readers of daily newspapers.

WOMEN

The Business Development Bank of Canada has created a new $25-million fund targeted to women entrepreneurs. Today, firms led by women are not only increasing at twice the national average in number, they are also moving into manufacturing, construction and new economy industries. Close to 150 companies in Canada headed by women entrepreneurs are producing revenue of $2-million or more and will show significant growth in the years to come.

SATELLITES

The world's over-farmed soil is sick and getting sicker. Heavy modern farm equipment is killing the soil through repeated compaction and tilling which in turn worsens salinity that kills crops. However, a new world of automatically steered tractors, guided by satellites, will allow them to run on pre-determined tracks and lessen impact on the soil.

LAZY

Austrian scientists have provided a flock of lazy rare birds with a car and driver because they are incapable of migrating on their own. Ornithologists spent more than two years breeding the Northern Bald Isis but had to drive the birds to their winter quarters in northern Italy after discovering the birds were unable to make the 500-mile trip by themselves.

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 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2003 Edition

VIETNAM

The World Bank is lending Vietnam US$100-million over the next three years to support reforms to reduce poverty, develop a market economy to replace the existing centrally managed one and devise a modern legal system. Three other donors, the U.K., the Netherlands and Sweden have also agreed to provide Vietnam with US$33.7-million in grants during the same period. In a separate grant, the World Bank is also funding a 12-year, US$5.5-million project to promote the efficient use of electricity in Vietnam.

THEFT

According to Interpol, art theft is now the No.3 criminal enterprise in the world after drug trafficking and weapons trafficking. About US$7-billion in fine art is stolen each year.

BEDS

In a market where best-selling beds cost US$599 and any bed costing more than US$1,500 is considered "luxury," a tiny but growing number of consumers are spending US$5,000, US$15,000 and even as much as US$20,000 for a mattress made of such luxury materials as cashmere and Belgian silk.

GERBILS

An explosion of gerbils is decimating vast areas of grassland in China's north-western Xinjiang region with some of the prairies completely destroyed by hundreds of rodent burrows. Officials say that gerbils have damaged more than 11 million acres of grassland, about the size of Switzerland. The Great Gerbil, found in many parts of Central Asia, can grow to be 16 inches from head to tail.

HONG KONG

The government of Hong Kong has confirmed it is studying the introduction of a sales tax as it reported that unemployment has reached more than eight per cent. This underscores how Hong Kong's economic problems might drag on, even with an improving global economy. Hong Kong's traditionally low tax rate and simple tax regime have long been big draws for investors. For companies, the primary tax is a flat-rate profit tax.

GROUNDS

Farmers in England have found a new way to make their crops grow better--compost made from instant coffee. A Kraft plant near Banbury produces 125 million jars of coffee a year. Previously, coffee waste from the process was burnt for heat, but now some 10,000 tons of residue is being transported to some farmers who mix it with straw to turn it into compost. The resulting fertilizer is rich in nitrates, making it ideal for wheat, barley and maize. Some maize treated with the composted coffee has grown a foot taller than the untreated crop.

88888888

An airline in southwestern China has paid nearly US$300,000 in an auction for the phone number "88888888," saying it hopes to make its customers happy. Many Chinese consider the number "eight" to be lucky because it rhymes with the Chinese word for getting rich. Nearly 100 other numbers were sold at the auction with the money going to charity.

REGULATIONS

Any lipstick in Canada that contains sunscreen is automatically classified as a drug by Health Canada and is subject to fees and regulations that cost cosmetic companies millions a year. And it's not just sunscreen lipstick, dandruff shampoos, fluoride toothpaste, antiperspirants, antiseptic skin toners, pimple cream, even orange juice fortified with calcium--are "drugs" according to Canada's federal regulations.

MORE REGULATIONS

Trapeze artists with one of the world's most famous circuses have been told to wear hard hats to comply with new EU safety regulations. Jugglers, tightrope walkers and other acrobats with the Moscow State Circus, currently touring Britain, have also been told to don safety head wear. Insurers have threatened to pull coverage if performers are injured without head protection. Performers have decided to use head gear during rehearsals but not during performances.

DUBAI

This country already plans to build the tallest tower, artificial islands shaped like palm trees and a map of the world. Now the Emirate is to host the world's first underwater hotel. Called Hydropolis, the hotel will resemble a giant submarine anchored in the Gulf and accessed only by a tunnel via a waterside reception area. Work on the US$600-million 220 suite facility begins this year and will be completed in 2006. The Emirate plans on becoming a holiday mecca relying on tourist dollars rather than oil

BANKING

China is taking its first tentative steps to allow privately owned banks, a move that highlights huge growth opportunities in the sector. As the world's largest untapped banking market, China represents opportunities not just for full-service banks, but for investment banks and insurance companies. China has been described as the last great frontier in finance.

FIRE

The recent devastating fires in British Columbia have had a significant economic impact on the province. Preliminary estimates by the Council of Forest Industries indicate that the fires have affected 14 billion board feet of timber valued at $5.6-billion, the equivalent of 75 per cent of Canada's softwood shipments to the US each year.

COUPONS

A surge in the use of counterfeit Internet coupons has prompted some stores to refuse accepting the money saving offers. The country's largest food chains are warning cashiers to be on the look-out for coupons offering free or heavily discounted items without barcodes and expiry dates. In the US, there are close to 100 bogus coupon offers in circulation and this fraud is estimated to cost the sector up to US$800-million annually.

BIG APPLE

Under a five-year US$166 million deal, Snapple, the beverage company and New York City are uniting to promote each other. Snapple is now the official beverage of the city and this will give Snapple exclusive rights to place vending machines in 1,200 public schools as well as other public buildings. In return Snapple will pay the schools at least US$8-million a year for five years and about US$13-million to the city. Snapple will also spend around US$12-million a year to promote New York.

COWS

India is the world's third-largest producer of leather. So plans to ban the slaughter of its 211 million cattle, while popular with many Indians, could wipe out US$700-million in exports. Hindus, who make up 82 per cent of India's 1 billion people, consider cows to be sacred. Indian exporters may lose out to China which meets a fifth of global demand. About 2.5 million Indians are employed making shoes, jackets and other leather products.

CAVITIES

Canadians' growing penchant for bottled water may help explain what some scientists are calling a steep jump in the rate of cavities among children. As families increasingly opt for spring water, most of which contains only trace amounts of naturally occurring fluoride, they are avoiding tap water that in many cities is supplemented with the decay-fighting chemical. However, other experts suggest the reasons have more to do with lifestyle and diet.

GARLIC

After years lobbying politicians for tariffs and trade regulations to ward off Chinese exports, some Californian companies have started to import garlic. China produces 66 per cent of the world's supply of garlic while the US produces three percent. Garlic was ripe for Chinese domination because the 5000-year-old plant, classified as both an herb and vegetable, has a shelf life of up to nine months. The average Chinese labourer picking garlic gets about US$1.00 per day compared to US$8.50 an hour in California.

AMERICAS

Venezuela and Brazil have called for the creation of a powerful South America trade bloc this year before continuing talks on a US-backed hemispheric free-trade zone. Brazil has warned it won't continue with FTAA negotiations unless Washington relaxes trade barriers on Latin American exports such as oranges and sugar. The US prefers that agricultural matters be negotiated at the WTO and not in FTAA talks.

POWER

The world's biggest battery has been plugged in to provide emergency power to Fairbanks, the second largest city in Alaska, in the event of a blackout. The rechargeable battery, which at 2,000 square metres is bigger than a football field, weighs 1,300 tonnes. It is stored in a warehouse near the city, where temperatures plunge to -51 degrees Centigrade. The battery will provide 40 megawatts of power, enough for 12,000 people, for up to seven minutes. This is enough time to start up diesel generators to restore power.

WALL

China is closing off vast sections of the Great Wall to tourists in an effort to protect the ancient monument from the ravishes of time and walking. Those who stray off the beaten track could face fines. Most of the Great Wall of China is not as it appears on TV or postcards. Far from it, most of the wall is in a terrible state of repair. In many parts it is overgrown, worn down by the elements and assaulted by locals who steal the stones.

HOURS

Over the years, the hours worked by Americans and Canadian have been fairly close. In 1979 Canadians worked 1,260 hours a year and Americans 1,279. In the 80s, Canadians averaged 1,354 hours and Americans 1,380 hours. But by 2000, while Canadians were working an average of 1,332 hours a year, Americans were putting in 1,455 hours on the job. Statistics Canada suggests that the gap was associated with weaker labour demand rather than a decision by Canadians to pursue more leisure.

PRODUCTS

Japan's cash registers are being kept busy with the sales of the latest wonder product--a spray on silk stocking that could mean women have no more worries about runs in their stockings. The product is called Air-Stocking, a fine silk aerosol spray that is available in terracotta, natural or bronze colours and costs $12 a can which can supply about 20 pairs of stockings in one can. The air-stockings can also be waterproofed.

WINE

Organic vineyards have begun to spring up in Chile as winemakers in the fertile central valleys, famous for high quality wines that rival those of France and California, turn an eye to growing export markets for environmentally friendly products. With an eye to boosting exports through free-trade agreements with the European Union and the U.S., organic wineries in Chile are experimenting with using natural predators to combat pests and hand weeding.

SWITZERLAND

A nation traditionally associated with watches, chocolates, well-stocked bank vaults and the Alps, Switzerland has rediscovered its strategic location in the European commercial theatre. Its economic development resurgence has as a result drawn an estimated 20 new major Canadian and U.S. operations over the past few years. Many of these companies have established shared service centres and regional and international headquarters operations.

FOXES

Motorists in Worcester, Surrey, England, have been spraying under their cars with aftershave. They are trying to deter suburban foxes that chew through brake cables during the night.

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 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

September 2003 Edition

WINE

As a result of the heatwave that gripped Europe this summer, French wine growers began their earliest harvests ever betting that this year's vintage will be one of the most flavourful in years. The hot sun means everything will be concentrated, the flavour, the sugar and the taste. The alcohol content will also be higher. Wines that are normally at 12 per cent will be at 12.5 or even 13 per cent.

STUDENTS

Canadian students who worked moderate hours at a paid job during their last year of high school were least likely to drop out of school, according to a new report. This report used data covering youth aged 18 to 20 from the 2000 Youth in Transition Survey. However, those who worked 30 or more hours a week during their last year of high school were the most likely to end up leaving. The report confirmed previous research showing that there is a strong relationship between the number of hours students worked and dropping out of high school.

PETS

Japan's largest home and office security company is about to offer a service for pets. Owners can place a sensor, weighing about 48 grams, in a small pouch around the neck or on the back of a dog. Using satellite-based global positioning system (GPS) and mobile phone networks, the owner can locate their missing pet to within 50 metres. The service will require a $48.00 registration fee and a monthly fee of $7.00. The company hopes to register 10,000 canines by the end of the first year.

CHEMICALS

High natural gas prices are causing turmoil among U.S. chemical manufacturers, stripping the industry of long-held global advantages and speeding the move of chemicals, plastics and fertilizer production overseas. U.S. chemical companies are closing plants, laying off workers and looking to expand their own production abroad. Meanwhile, foreign producers are grabbing bigger chunks of the U.S. market for chemical-based products such as plastic shopping bags.

FRAUD

Canada and other major countries are teaming up to fight an explosion of cross-border fraud schemes, many of them Internet- based. Canada is the leading source of international business fraud schemes targeting Americans, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. It is estimated that they cost Americans US$11-billion last year. U.S consumers filed 13,992 complaints about Canadian-based companies, accounting for more than half of the 24,213 international cross-border complaints it received.

CATFISH

Vietnamese catfish farmers say that the U.S. will destroy thousands of jobs by imposing sanctions on frozen filets shipped to America and will hamper future trade relations between the two former enemies. The U.S. has ruled that Vietnamese exporters dumped catfish on the American market at unfairly low prices. Tariffs will now range from 36.84 to 63.88 percent. Vietnam's catfish industry employs up to 400,000 people in the southern Mekong Delta and ships about a third of its exports to the U.S.

TIDES

Energy pioneers have launched the world's first offshore tidal energy turbine about a mile offshore in Lynmouth, England. The C$6-million dollar, single 11-metre long rotor blade, will be capable of producing 300 kilowatts of electricity and will be a testbed for further tidal turbines. It is hoped to convert the system to twin rotors by the end of next year.

TELEMATICS

The Canadian government is so worried about drivers being distracted by vehicle information systems that it is preparing to regulate the devices, perhaps even forcing automakers to ensure they wont operate when cars are in gear. The growing use of so-called telematics --which started with cellphones, but are now extending to computer screens offering navigation help and alarms that warn drivers when they are straying out of their lanes, threatens road safety. A British study showed drivers talking on cellphones had far slower reaction times than even drunk drivers.

WATER

Alaskan glaciers add 13.2 trillion gallons of melted water to the seas each year. Their rate of water runoff has doubled over just a few decades. Scientists believe that Alaska's melting glaciers are the number one reason the world's oceans are rising.

PHARMACIES

Growing demand from Americans has caused rapid growth in web-based Canadian pharmacies. More than 50 of these pharmacies are operating in Canada, employing roughly 2,000 Canadians and generating sales of as much as C$1-billion annually. Internet stores have also sprung up in Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, all mainly supplying the U.S. market.

REWARDS

Parents in the wealthy southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have been rewarding their children with cosmetic surgery when they pass their high school exams. Girls are being given nose jobs and work around their eyes while boys have operations to cut out excess fat as a treat for winning places to university. Guangzhou, formerly Canton, is one of the richest cities in China.

POSTCARDS

The tourism sector in Singapore has been battered badly due to the SARS epidemic and its airline pushed into the red for the first time ever. Now the government is fighting back delivering three postcards with pre-paid international postage to every household in Singapore. The aim is to encourage Singaporeans to get friends and relations to pay them a visit and in the process help revitalize the island's flagging economy.

SUN

The Sun, at 4.55 billion years old has already burned up 50 per cent of the hydrogen fuel in its core. As it slowly converts the core from hydrogen to helium it grows bigger and brighter. By the time it is nine billion years old, it will be about 40 per cent brighter than today.

MIRRORS

Some fashion shops in Beijing are using "magic mirrors" to fool fat women customers into thinking they look slimmer in their clothes. The shops are buying specially-made mirrors with a curved surface to make people look more slender when they try on items in the fitting rooms.

MEXICO

After a decade of lavish Spanish investment in Mexico, a broad range of Mexican companies are returning the favour. In the past two years, Mexican companies have invested about US$300-million in Spanish projects and acquisitions. This is small compared to the billions Spanish companies have invested in Latin America, but it does send an important message to Europe that Mexican companies are gearing up to compete well beyond the Americas.

OBESITY

Two out of three households surveyed by ACNielsen said the parent or guardian was to blame for obesity in children 17 and under, with fast-food manufacturers blamed by only 10 per cent and food manufacturers named by only one per cent. Three quarter of those surveyed said that schools should adopt new policies to address child obesity.

BAGS

Picnickers in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh could soon have a shock if they carry their lunch in a polythene bag. Under a new law, anyone found using a polythene bag could face seven years in jail or a fine. The law bans the production, storage, use, sale and distribution of plastic bags. In May, the South African government banned the use of thin plastic bags, threatening a ten-year jail sentence for offenders. In Ireland, a tax on plastic shopping bags has significantly reduced their use.

CALLS

More than 30 million Americans have so far signed up for the government's do-not-call list, a free registry for blocking unsolicited telephone sales pitches. 3.4 million have signed up in California, 2.2. million in Florida and 2 million in Texas. Eight out of every ten people who joined did so on-line rather than by telephone. Telemarketers have challenged the list in court, saying the registry will cost them US$50-billion in business and cause the loss of two million jobs.

PIGS

The little country of Denmark, with 5.4 million humans, raises 24 million pigs each year making it the world's biggest exporter of pork. While the number of farms is decreasing, their size is increasing. Twenty years ago, 60,000 Danish farms produced 13 million pigs. Now some 13,000 farmers produce twice as many. Environmentalists are concerned because pig waste would fill the equivalent of 90,000 average-size swimming pools annually. The tourist industry is worried because of the smell.

TRENDS

Firefighters in Fife, Scotland, have been given photo messaging mobile phones to enable them to send images of injuries to doctors before patients reach hospital. Doctors can also make a decision on whether to go to assist at an accident scene. The trial will run for six months and then be reviewed.

AIR

General Motors and DaimlerChrysler are dropping lawsuits against California over a landmark clean-air regulation that requires the production of low-emission cars and trucks over the next decade and a half. The move creates a temporary but monumental environmental truce between the auto industry and California which wields enormous influence over the global industry.

VANILLA

For many consumers, a tiny bottle of vanilla extract is as common to their kitchen as bread and butter. In 2000, a 4-ounce bottle of pure vanilla extract cost consumers about US$5.00. They now pay US$15.00. On the commodities market, vanilla beans cost importers about US$33.00 per kilogram in 2000: that costs is now about US$156.00. Madagascar, an island off Africa, produces 70 per cent of the world's vanilla crop. Political and environmental issues caused the spike in prices. Between 2000 and 2003, consumers began to buy much more imitation vanilla and many food companies are taking vanilla out of their recipes alltogether.

COSTS

According to an Economist survey of 134 cities, Tokyo is still the world's most expensive city. The cost of living there is 37 per cent more than in New York. However, as a result of a stronger euro, Paris has now overtaken London, which itself is nine per cent costlier than New York. At the other extreme, one can live in Buenos Aires, Sao Paulo or Manila for half the cost of New York. Toronto is eighteenth on the list.

DROPPINGS

There is a 120 -year-old statue in Japan on which birds never perch and plaster with droppings. After several experiments, a scientist has determined that the gallium content of the bronze is repelling the birds. The researcher is now developing a gallium-rich spray for statues and public buildings.

SUCCESS

Britain's Royal Mail celebrated a landmark recently that many companies would have kept quiet by revealing that it is losing around 280,000 letters each week. The chief executive said that the Royal Mail's ability to mislay the equivalent of 14.5 million letters each year was "a major step in the right direction" as it had been losing 500,000 letters a week last year.

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

August 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

August 2003 Edition

BISON

It is estimated that when conservation began, there were as few as 800 bison, or buffalo, in North America, now there are close to half a million. About 200,000 of those animals exist on farms and ranches in Canada. About 1,000 ranchers in Alberta are raising bison on some or all of their land. Collectively they own 95,000 animals and last year processed 15,544 head with a wholesale value of C$20-million. Bison contains under two per cent fat, compared with pork (around 5 per cent) and beef (nearly 11 per cent fat).

TECHNOLOGY

According to a new study, food processing plants that adopted high technology by the end of the 1990s generally enjoyed a far superior growth in productivity than the companies that did not. The study also found a strong link between growth in productivity and market share. Plants that adopted high technology enjoyed higher productivity and, as a result, recorded gains in market share throughout the decade. Food processing is Canada's third largest manufacturing industry, consisting of more than 3,000 establishments. In 1998, the industry employed nearly 230,000 people and boasted output of C$15-billion.

RESEARCH

Canadian industry spent $712 million on research and development in biotechnology in 2000, up 8.0 per cent from 1999, according to the Survey on Research and Development in Canadian Industry.

BUSES

According to Statistics Canada, the urban bus industry earned revenues of $4.3 billion in 2001. The 1.5 billion passenger trips made on urban transit buses in 2001 accounted for just under half of the industry's total annual revenues. Bus companies generated about $70 million by providing services to people with disabilities and seniors. This is the first time data has been available for para transit services. In 2001, the industry employed about 90,000 people. The average salary for all employees regardless of the type of bus company was $36,000.

SALAMI

The Foods Standards Agency of Great Britain is launching an investigation into salami, chorizo, pastrami and other exotic sausages after it was found that one in eight salamis tested contained undeclared horse or donkey meat. Two were from Belgium and one from Italy. The investigation will look at sausages bought in supermarkets, delicatessens and through catering suppliers.

CORKS

A group of wine experts recently announced that screw-cap bottles are superior to their cork-stoppered counterparts. In a blind taste test, they concluded that screw-tops are better because they are more accessible, can easily be resealed and eliminate any possibility of cork taint which imparts musty, mouldy characteristics to the wine.

SICK-TIME

Canadians lost more than 92 million work days last year due to illness, injury and personal reasons with each full-time employee missing an average of nine days in 2002, up a full day from eight days in 2001. Full-time public servants booked off an average of 11.7 days in 2002, compared with an average of 8.2 days in the private sector. Employees in the professional, scientific and technical fields recorded the lowest time-lost averages--six days in 2002--and that managers only booked off an average of 5.7 days last year.

ENERGY

Russia's largest oil producer has signed two landmark long-term agreements to supply China with US$150-billion of oil over many years, a move that promises to accelerate Russia's incursion into China's energy market. The deal will require the company to begin shipping 20 million tons of oil a year, or 400,000 barrels a day by pipeline in 2005, In 2010, volumes jump to 600,000 barrels daily until 2030. Another six million tons of crude will be transported by rail.

GREEN

Ten of the world's leading banks acceded to the demands of protesters and agreed to abide by the World Bank's voluntary code of environmental standards when making loans for infrastructure projects, particularly in poor countries. The banks will follow strict rules for lending on dams, oil pipelines and the like, that threaten nature or locals. Inevitably, some green groups complained that the rules are too soft.

NAFTA

In a recent Canadian poll, 70 per cent of respondents said they support NAFTA, though a bare majority, 51 per cent, believe the deal has benefited Canada. Regionally, British Columbians, who have been the hardest hit by U.S. trade action against softwood lumber, are the least supportive of the NAFTA. Fifty-six per cent of B.C. residents support the deal, while thirty-seven per cent oppose it.

GAMES

According to Jupiter Research, American households earning less than $35,000 a year spend 50 per cent more time playing video games than those with incomes above $74.000.

SHOPPING

A full-time professional mystery shopper can earn up to US$40,000 a year. Professional mystery shopping, which tests a company's operations from the consumer's point of view, is a growth industry. There are 750 mystery shopping/market research firms in the U.S.

DRUGS

The state of Florida has moved to clamp down on the growth of small shops selling cheaper prescription drugs from Canada by declaring them illegal pharmacies. The move by the Florida Department of Health marks the latest attempt by U.S. regulators to stop the flow of Canadian drugs into the U.S. where popular prescription drugs can cost as much as 50 per cent more than north of the border.

JOBS

A powerful U.S. union is quietly pushing for tough new legislation that could have a devastating effect on Canada's growing call centre industry. The Communications Workers Union is calling on all 50 states to pass a bill aimed at halting the flow of jobs to countries outside the U.S. Under the proposed bill, workers in outside call centres would have to identify what country they are located in and then offer to redirect them to a U.S. call centre. It is possible that this could violate NAFTA and WTO agreements.

HOURS

German consumers have at last been granted the privilege of shopping after four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, after trading laws introduced in the 1950s to protect small retailers were relaxed. Until 1996, shops were forced to shut at 2pm. Predictably, trade unions and churches complained. Main shopping districts reported that sales were up by 40 per cent on the first day after the law changed.

TEA

Used to be that a cup of tea was a potent symbol of Britishness. Now, herbal alternatives such as echinacea and raspberry are usurping the traditional brew. Five years ago Britons bought 127-million kilos of traditional tea bags a year, this has now dropped to 114-million kilos, allowing Turkey to overtake Britain as the most enthusiastic consumers. Herbal teas are largely responsible for the downfall of the normal cup of tea with sales of fruit infusions up 50 per cent over the last five years.

HEALTH

Obesity is costing not only American lives, but dollars too. A study tallies that US$93-billion per year goes to treat health problems of people who are overweight. Overall, spending attributed to excessive weight made up nine per cent of all medical spending in 1998.

LANGUAGE

Linguists estimate that there are 6,809 "living" languages in the world today, but 90 per cent of them are spoken by fewer than 100,000 people, and some languages are even rarer. 46 are known to have just one native speaker, and there are 357 languages with under 50 speakers. Over the past 500 years, about 4.5 per cent of the total languages have disappeared. Colonisation has had the strongest influence. Of the 176 languages spoken by the tribes of North America 52 have become extinct since 1600. Of the 235 languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians, 31 have disappeared.

CHINA

To help its suffering tourism industry, China will open its doors early to foreign travel agents. China's tourism industry has been devastated by the outbreak of SARS. The government will lift its longstanding ban on foreign-owned or controlled travel agencies setting up business in China. The opening up of China's tourism industry was originally expected to come into effect at the beginning of 2007 as part of its entry into the WTO.

FLOWERS

American flower retailers are increasingly turning to supermarkets as they seek to grow their business. Between 1995 and 2000 there was a 25 per cent increase in flower sales and the numbers have sprouted an increase in flower production. With increased production and new technologies, there is an abundance in supply. As a result, large retailers and supermarkets have been expanding their floral sections and moving them to more visible parts of the stores. About 80 per cent of new supermarket construction includes extensive floral departments.

ANTARCTIC

Growing numbers of tourists arriving to practise adventure sports, look at wildlife and follow in the footsteps of Scott, Shackleton and other explorers, are posing an ecological threat to the Antarctic. With the number of tourists doubling every three to four years--17,000 arrived last summer, members of the Antarctic Treaty system want their number legally curbed to avoid an ecological disaster. 5,000 tourists visited annually in the early 1990s.

CROPS

A Canadian farm survey indicates that farmers intend to put slightly less acreage into fruit production this year, however, the survey also shows that planting intentions for vegetables have increased, particularly for two major crops, sweet corn and carrots. Growers intend to cultivate 244,000 acres in fruit, down slightly from 2002. Vegetable growers expect to plant 291,000 acres in various crops, a five per cent increase

INTERNET

Forrester Research forecasts that US$6.8-trillion will be spent on global e-commerce by 2004 and that global Internet commerce sales will hit an estimated $3.2-trillion in 2003, equal to five per cent of all global sales. 4-million U.S households use the Internet to shop online, generating revenues of $108-billion. Over 36.1-million domains are registered worldwide.

PACKAGING

Wild Oats Markets Inc. has become the first grocery store in the U.S. to roll out a new type of "green" packaging that looks like plastic but turns into compost after disposal. the clear packaging is made from corn rather than petroleum. Although the product costs 40 to 50 per cent more than plastic packaging, Wild Oats is not passing the extra cost onto the customer. It expects the price will come down as the product becomes more widespread.

DENTISTS

Some of the amenities offered by "dental spas," the upscale dental treatment centres in the U.S., include: massages, fresh-baked cookies, warmed neck-pillows, video games and scented nitrous oxide.

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

July 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

July 2003 Edition

BEER

Heineken, the first foreign beer drunk by Americans after the end of Prohibition, is trying to regain its cachet as America's favourite international brew. The Dutch brewer, which grew to become the No. 1 U.S. import after the first crate arrived in New York Harbour in 1894, has slipped to second place behind Corona of Mexico. Heineken has been trying to catch up spending on average US$51-million annually on marketing. Corona spends about US$35-million annually to promote Corona in the U.S. and has 29 per cent of the market compared to 19 per cent for Heineken.

OLYMPICS

Moscow has officially entered the battle to host the 2012 Olympics, joining Paris, London, New York, Madrid, Havana and Leipzig. Brazil is considering nominating Rio de Janeiro or San Paulo. It is estimated that these games will cost US$7-billion to stage. The 2004 games are in Athens and Beijing will host the event in 2008.

DIAMONDS

Canada's burgeoning diamond industry is suffering from a lack of labour. Diamond mines across the country are scrambling to find everything from skilled mine operators to trained diamond cutters and polishers. Without tradespeople to turn the diamonds into jewellery, the industry stands to lose a lot of money. Immigrants from Armenia, the Ukraine and Mauritius are bailing the industry out for now. But with the certification program for sorting, cutting and polishing in Yellowknife taking three years to complete, the shortage is going to linger on.

RAIN

President Putin ordered fine weather for the St Petersburg summit and its 300th anniversary festivities recently. Ten aircraft took to the skies, equipped with cloud-seeding agents in an attempt to induce rain away from the city allowing tourists and visiting heads of state to enjoy dry weather below.

GM

The United States (with Argentina, Canada and Egypt) is to challenge the European Union's moratorium on genetically modified food at the World Trade Organisation. It contends that blocking imports of American crops has no scientific basis. The move came soon after the EU said that it would impose trade sanctions over America's tax treatment of exporting firms.

NOISE

Restaurants have become a new battlefield in the noise wars. In San Francisco, restaurant critics carrying meters that measure decibels and noise ratings are getting a very positive feedback. Would-be diners are avoiding places where you have to raise your voice to talk.

BEAUTY

It is estimated that the global beauty industry, encompassing make-up, skin and hair care, fragrances, cosmetic surgery and diet pills, is worth US$160-billion annually. Analysts estimate that skin care is worth US$24 billion annually; make-up, $18-billion; $38 billion of hair care products; and $15-billion of perfumes and that the market is growing at 7 per cent a year. This growth is being driven by richer, aging baby-boomers, increased discretionary income in the West and by the growing middle-classes in developing countries.

WATER

India's ruling party has launched a campaign to gather public support for one of India's most ambitious projects, the linking of rivers across the country. The project aims to connect nearly 30 rivers in the country and it is estimated that it will cost over US$100-billion. It envisages diverting water from surplus river basins to water deficient areas.

CALL CENTRES

North American businesses have long outsourced some operations to cut costs. Recently, the technology industry has increasingly outsourced tasks, call-centres included. Low-wage workers are the key draw. An entry-level programmer in China cost 30 to 50 per cent less than one in Tokyo, London or Chicago. Experts estimate that the number of computer jobs moving overseas will grow from just over 27,000 in 2000 to a cumulative total of 473,000 by 2015.

CANADIAN FARMS

Net cash income, the difference between a farmer's cash receipts and operating expenses, tumbled 10.6 per cent to C$7.7-billion in 2002 after setting a record high in 2001. Cash receipts fell for the first time since 1998 in the wake of back to back droughts, while higher feed grain costs drove up operating expenses. Western farmers experienced one of the poorest growing seasons in the past quarter century in 2002. The situation for some growers in Alberta and Saskatchewan was worse than in the depression of the 1930s.

TRIVIA

According to a U.S. menswear industry observer, the average man changes his suit size every three years.

TEXTILES

China Daily reports China's exports of textiles are being "torn to shreds" as foreign buyers concerned about the SARS epidemic shift their orders to Pakistan, India, and Turkey. Face to face contact is required to finalize most orders, but visits from American and European buyers have dropped significantly. Recent travel warnings issued by the US State Department have resulted in a decrease in travel to Southeast Asia, especially to Mainland China and Hong Kong.

DRONES

Pilotless planes, more commonly known as drones, which the U.S. used in Iraq, will be tested in Ohio to see whether they can battle a more down-to-earth hazard: traffic jams. Transportation officials believe that they hold promise as a way of keeping an eye on traffic, route trucks and fix stoplights so traffic flows better. Data on traffic flow now comes from detectors embedded in the pavement or the black pneumatic tubes stretched across roads. Another possibility includes the use of cameras in tethered balloons.

LONGEVITY

The Kongo family knows a thing or two about running a business. The family's construction company in western Japan has been going strong for more than 14 centuries, spanning 40 generations. The company has survived everything from feudal wars to the more recent collapse of the nations's economic bubble. The company began building temples for the Japanese emperor in 578.

INFLUENCE

Children in the U.S. hold massive consumer power in the food and beverage industry. According to the U.S. Market for Kids Foods and Beverages study, children between the ages of 5 and 14 will directly control $10-billion in food and beverage spending this year and will influence the vast majority of purchases made in this category.

LUXURY

The new Rolls-Royce Phantom includes two custom-made umbrellas that stow inside the rear doors. When the car owner (or chauffeur) pushes a silver button, the unbrellas' handles slide out. When one of the full-sized umbrellas is returned to its door compartment, a channel drains the moisture away.

SELF-DESTRUCT

In August, the Disney company will introduce a DVD for rental which will self-destruct in 48 hours. After two days the disc will become unplayable and does not have to be returned. The discs stop working when a process similar to rusting makes them unreadable after exposure to oxygen.

DIRECTIONS

It used to be that only high-priced luxury cars came with satellite navigation systems to help drivers in unfamiliar places. Now, more car makers, including Honda, Nissan and Toyota, are offering optional in-dash navigation systems for around $2,000. The systems are available in more than 60 car models today, up from just seven in 1998. It is estimated that 300,000 cars were sold in the U.S. last year with navigation systems.

FORGERY

Cheap inkjet printers, often given away with personal computers, are being used to forge banknotes that pass for the real thing in pubs and night clubs. Banks and governments have been briefed by De La Rue, a world leader in security printing. Fierce competition in the inkjet market has made digital colour printers so cheap and the print quality so high that a $200 printer can produce fake banknotes that are easily mistaken for genuine currency in dim light.

PEOPLE

The Russian Government has announced plans to resettle up to 600,000 people from the country's remote far north. Inhabitants from such regions as Kamchatka, Yakutia, Chukoyka and Evenkia will be moved to south or central Russia. Many town and villages in the remote regions are based on failing single industries and there is no point in developing infrastructure in the areas. The World Bank is contributing a US$50-million loan to the project.

CLOTHES

For years, department stores' bread and butter was clothes. But now, many retailers are finding that foot traffic is driven by other goods---groceries, furnishings and automotive products are increasing their presence, shoving aside apparel. Apparel sales, including footwear and accessories, fell by two per cent in 2002 to US$220-billion, the second consecutive year of decline. Meanwhile, food sales jumped 8 per cent and electronics rose two per cent. Many stores rely on apparel for nearly 80 per cent of their sales.

IRRADIATION

Banks, insurance companies and other institutional lenders are starting to weigh the cost-benefits of irradiating ground beef, poultry and other foods as part of their due diligence on loans to restaurant chains, food service providers, food processors and food retailers. In 2002, there were 66 recalls in the U.S. for listeria or E.coli-contaminated beef, pork and poultry. The largest recall involved 22 million pounds of product and cost US$81-million, not including litigation costs. It is estimated that irradiation costs 7 cents a pound for ground beef.

MARRIAGE

The number of couples who got married in Canada hit the highest level in five years in 2000. In Quebec, where the trend to common law unions has traditionally been strongest, the number of marriages increased for the first time in 12 years. A total of 24,912 couples went to the altar in Quebec in 2000, up 8.7 per cent from 1999, the strongest gain among the provinces. Nationally, a total of 157,395 couples tied the knot in 2000, up 1.1 per cent from 155,742 in 1999. This was still well below the most recent high of 160,251 in 1995.

AUDITS

Canada's Auditor General is to face an audit by a team of global experts. Canada's spending watchdog employs 575 people and has a budget of C$66-million a year. A Global Working Group, an organization composed of public auditors from 15 countries, met and agreed a plan under which teams made up of their own members would audit each other's operations. Canada will be audited by British, Dutch and Norwegian auditors. The results will be published in 2004. The General Accounting Office of the U.S. will be audited next year.

SENSITIVITY

More than 2,000 employees of a British company were recently fired, not by the usual pink-slip method, but by text messages sent to their cell phones. The messages sent were, "Don't contact the office. Salaries will not be paid," and "If you have not been spoken to, you are therefore being made redundant, with immediate effect."

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

June 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

June 2003 Edition

PEARLS

 
The SARS epidemic has had a profound impact on the pearl industry. Foreign buyers have been frightened away from Hong Kong and China's Guangdong province, which supply around 38 per cent of the world's pearls. Also, Chinese vendors have been barred from several major exhibitions, resulting in a 40 per cent drop in the world's pearl distribution and sales. Hong Kong has become the most important pearl manufacturing base because of its quality products and low labour costs, which are less than one 10th of that in the U.S.

SUV's

42,850 people died in U.S. traffic-related accidents in 2002, the highest number since 1990. Rollovers of SUVs and pickups accounted for more than half of the increase from 2001 to 2002. Rollovers now account for 32 per cent of automobile fatalities, more than 10,000 annually. Rollover deaths are increasing along with sales of light trucks--SUV's, pickups and minivans. Since 1980, light trucks have grown from a fifth of the nation's sales to more than half.

FISH

Several U.S. retailers are to begin adding the words "color added" to the labels of all farm-raised fish from the Salmonid family, including salmon and trout. Many suppliers add supplements to the food given to their farm-raised salmon and trout. These additives enhance the pigmentation of the farm-raised fish but do not affect the taste or nutritional value of the fish.

GROWTH

The Conference Board of Canada predicts that the Alberta cities of Calgary and Edmonton will lead growth among Canadian metropolitan areas in 2003. Ontario cities are also pegged for strong performance over the next four years due largely to strong domestic growth and a recovery in the U.S. Victoria, B.C. is predicted to have the lowest growth. However, Export Development Canada expects B.C.'s export sales to increase seven percent this year.

PROGRESS

Some dishwashers have advanced sensors to determine how dirty the dishes are by analyzing the water that is being circulated. The sensor will then decide how many fill-and-drain cycles the dishwasher will execute.

ICELAND

When the Vikings settled Iceland more than 1,000 years ago, the selection of the country's name was a bit of a misnomer. The island in the middle of the North Atlantic wasn't really an island of ice and snow. It boasted extensive forests composed entirely of stands of birch trees which covered 30 per cent of the area. Glaciers, by contrast, covered less than 10 per cent. Within three centuries of their arrival in 874, the Vikings had obliterated the forests. Scientists estimate that Iceland's deforestation and soil erosion have released six billion tonnes of carbon since settlement.

DRINK

The French drank 101 bottles of wine each in 2001, according to a wine-trade survey. Russians drink some 15 litres of pure alcohol per year, one of the highest rates in the world. By some estimates, one in seven Russians are alcoholics.

BLACK

Britain's National Physical Laboratory has formulated a super-black coating that is up to 25 times blacker than traditional paint. The material absorbs nearly 99.7 per cent of light making it the darkest and least reflective surface ever formulated.

LAKES

One out of every three Canadians and one out of seven Americans rely on the Great Lakes for their fresh water. Scientists report that we have now constructed one of the world's largest zoos in the Great Lakes containing some 145 alien species, largely as a result of inadequate regulations to control the discharge of ballast water from other continents.

SINGAPORE

The U.S. has signed an historic trade agreement with Singapore which will wipe out tariffs on around US$33-billion of trade between the two countries annually. It will also give US banks and companies more access to one of Asia's main financial centres. If approved by Congress, Singapore will be the first Asian country to have such an agreement with the U.S. Singapore is America's 11th largest trading partner.

FRANCE

According to the EU, France is at the head of their rule breakers, facing 220 legal actions for failing to comply with the single market. Italy, with 200 infringement cases pending is second. Between them, the two countries account for more than 25 per cent of the 1,598 actions launched by the commission against the 15 member states. The UK is cited in 121 alleged breaches of the single market rules, which oblige EU governments to comply with around 1,500 pieces of legislation on the free movement of people, goods and services.

SURGERY

6.6 million Americans had a nip, tuck and lift with cosmetic plastic surgery in 2002. Surgical cosmetic procedures remain stable with a one per cent increase in 2002. The top five surgical procedures in 2002 for women were nose reshaping, liposuction, breast augmentation, eyelid surgery and facelift. For men they were nose reshaping, liposuction, eyelid surgery. hair transplantation and ear surgery.

MOTHERS

Canada tied with the Netherlands as the sixth-best country in the world for mothers. A humanitarian aid group compared the social and physical health of mothers and their children in 117 countries. Sweden topped the list, followed by Denmark, Norway, Switzerland, Finland, Canada and the Netherlands. Rounding out the top ten were Australia, Austria and Britain with the U.S. ranked 11th.

MEXICO

Last month we reported on the growth of call centres in Mexico. This growth is due to reality television shows which have recently become popular in Mexico. The call centres are required to handle the huge volume of calls from viewers who call in to place electronic votes on who should be thrown off shows.

HEAT

Forget those bulky cardboard shades propped in the windshield to keep a parked car from heating up like an oven. 3M has come up with the Solar Reflecting Film, an invisible ultra thin sheet of clear plastic built into the windshield. It deflects the sun's heat and ultimately increases fuel efficiency. It doesn't just keep the car cooler in the sun, but also works while the car is moving. reducing the burden on air-conditioners.

EUROPE

The EU has announced a proposal for an enhanced trade agreement with Canada that will focus on removing regulatory barriers to boost commerce between the two countries. As a bloc, the 15-member EU states rank as Canada's second-biggest trading partner after the U.S. In 2002, Canadian exports to the EU were C$21.2-billion and imports from the EU into Canada were C$36.1-billion. In a recent government poll, 76 per cent of Canadians polled believe there should be free trade between the EU and Canada.

SHOES

Thousands of pairs of Nike basketball shoes are washing up on beaches from Washington State to Alaska after spilling from a container ship in Northern California. The ship lost cargo during a storm, including three 40-foot containers each carrying an estimated 5,500 pairs of shoes. All 33,000 are wearable. Unfortunately, Nike didn't tie the laces together so the chances of finding a matching pair are remote.

OUTLETS

U.S. factory outlet malls sold US$3.5- billion worth of apparel in 2002, down 2.2 per cent from the previous year. Apparel sales overall fell 6.8 per cent to US$163-billion in 2002. When all products are counted, outlet sales hit about US$16.5 billion last year. The number of centres nationwide is down 20 per cent to about 260 since the heydays of the mid-1990s.

CCC

China has created regulations for new compulsory product certification mark called the China Compulsory Certification (CCC). The new regulations are to be fully implemented in August 2003 and cover a total of 132 products. The new mark replaces the old CCEE mark (quality assurance symbol for China-made products) and the CCIB mark (quality assurance symbol for imported products). The CCC scheme will standardize technical regulations, certification marks and fee schedules for both domestic and imported products. These changes result from China's commitment to conform to the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade.

SCHOOL

The number of students from the United States attending school in Canada, whether high school or university, doubled to slightly more than 12,000 in 2001 from 6,500 in 1990. The low Canadian dollar and cheaper tuition fees were the main reason. Canada has experienced unprecedented growth in the number of foreign students in recent year. At the end of 2001, there were more than 130,000 foreign students in Canada, more than double the nearly 57,000 in 1990.

WIPES

Each specialty formulated disposable wipe is part of a US$-2-billion industry projected to reach US$-4.5-billion by 2010. About 57 per cent of U.S.households have bought a product designed to help tidy up. Research shows women today spend 22 per cent less time cleaning than their mothers did in 1965. The industry introduced 110 different kinds of wipes in 2001 and 130 last year.

GRAIN

Thanks to Chinese beer drinkers, malt barley is expected to be the biggest growth story over the next decade in the world grain trade. China is overtaking the U.S. as the world's largest beer producer. The latest forecast suggests that beer production in China is expected to reach 300-million hectolitres by 2011, up from the current 235-million hectolitres, which is about what the U.S. produces annually. A hectolitre is 100 litres.

OIL

Nicaragua has said it plans to award bids to foreign companies for oil exploration near the San Andres archipelago in the southwestern Caribbean. Colombia has said that it is prepared to intervene militarily if Nicaragua explores for oil in the island chain which is claimed by both nations.

FILMS

The Governor of Illinois has launched a tax incentive scheme to lure film shoots to his state and away from Canada. Since 2001, 18 movies that were set in Chicago were actually filmed in Canada. He hopes to restore what was a US$124-million industry in the late 1990's, but sank to US$17.6-million in 2002.

TECHNOLOGY

Two Irish schools are testing a new scheme using mobile-phone technology to take the temptation out of playing truant. Under the scheme, a database records the names of absent students each day and automatically sends out a text message to parents notifying then if their child missed roll-call. If the absenteeism is legitimate, parents can ignore the message. If not, they can contact the school.

INSURANCE

Families will not be able to watch locomotives steam around the 1.5 acres of a Miniature Railway Village in England. The opening has been delayed because insurers would not provide coverage "because of a heightened threat from terrorism".

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 2003 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

May 2003 Edition

 JUNK

U.S. exports to China are booming in an unlikely area: junk. Every year, tons of metal from discarded cars and household appliances, paper from empty cardboard boxes and crumpled newspapers and plastic from dumped soda bottles are processed, piled on to ships and sent across the ocean. They become the raw material for paper mills, steel mills and other factories, feeding China's fast-growing, export-oriented industrial economy. Last year the U.S. exported $1.2-billion of waste and scrap to China, up from $194-million five years earlier. Scrap is now the U.S.'s third-largest export to China.

APPLIANCES

In 1964, 37 Canadian companies manufactured washing machines, stoves and refrigerators. Today there are four and next year there will be three. Workers in the industry used to total 10,000. Now there are 2,500. Cheap Chinese imports are not the only problem. Competition is so intense in this low-margin business that North American, European and Asian manufacturers are abandoning their regional plants in favour of global operations that serve an entire continent.

CALL CENTRES

One of the brightest spots in Mexico's slowing telecommunications industry are call centres. There are 350 call centres in Mexico with growth projected at 25 per cent this year. This is small compared with 80,000 call centres in the U.S., the biggest player in a US$38-billion world industry. Mexican wages for operators in call centres are 70 to 80 per cent less than in the U.S. Income from Mexican call centres for 2001 was US$163-million and it is forecast to grow to US$236-million by 2005.

MUSIC

A new marketing campaign has been launched in Canada to get young people to start buying CDs and stop downloading music from the Internet. The campaign is aimed at people aged 9 to 17 and includes a website at www.keepmusiccoming.com. Music executives say CD sales have dropped 20 per cent in three years, representing a loss of C$250-million.

CLEAN

A coalition of Canada's largest coal-fired power producers has received almost half a million dollars from energy research agencies to help develop a $1-billion, 10-year clean-coal research project.

POLITICS

The tension between Russia and the U.S. over Iraq stems in part from the fact that the previous Iraqi regime owes Russia over US$-8-billion. Lukoil, Russia's largest oil company, had a US$3.5-billion deal to develop Iraq's massive Western Kurna oilfield. Both the debt and the oil contracts are now in doubt. Also, Russia's fragile economy needs the price of oil to remain high (it is estimated that a $1 per barrel decline in the price of oil costs Russia's budget a billion dollars). Meanwhile, the U.S needs the price of oil to decline to avert a recession.

CONSOLIDATION

The Chinese government plans to merge the parent companies of its largest retailers to meet growing competition from foreign retail giants that are rapidly expanding in China. Assets of the four major merged companies will be reorganized into hypermarket, supermarket, convenience store and department store units, preventing the local players from competing against each other and helping them deal with competition from Wal-Mart, Carrefour and other international retailers.

EYES

Eye diseases such as glaucoma could one day be treated by pharmaceuticals delivered through contact lenses. Chemical engineers have been able to make soft contact lenses containing tiny embedded particles that slowly release drugs directly where they are needed. One of the biggest problems with using eye drops to deliver medication to the eyes is that about 95 per cent of the medication goes where it is not needed.

RETAIL

According to Statistics Canada, retail sales of all major commodity groups were up in 2002 over 2001. Consumers spent a total of $307.5 billion in retail stores in 2002, up 6.0 per cent over 2001. The increase in sales of health and personal care products outstripped all other categories. This includes everything from prescription drugs, over the counter drugs and vitamins to eyewear, cosmetics and other toiletries. Sales increased 9.2 per cent to $23.1 billion in 2002. About 45 per cent of this was on prescription drugs, which registered growth of 12.2 per cent. Sales of non prescription drugs and vitamins rose 8.3 per cent to $3.9 billion.

LEAVE

About 10 per cent or 30,000 of Canada's 300,000 new fathers in 2001 took parental leave. This is up sharply from the three per cent or 9,000 new fathers that took leave a year earlier. Canada now ranks fourth in terms of the participation level of fathers who take parental leave. The top country is Norway, where almost 80 per cent of fathers elect to take time off to spend time with children.

TICKETS

In a growing number of Canadian cities, parking tickets can now be paid on-line. As web-payments gain acceptance, some communities are seeing 20 per cent of tickets paid on-line. Speed and ease of service are the factors cited in the acceptance of the process.

SIZE

The size of a average new house in Britain has shrunk by about a third in the past 80 years. The traditional high ceilings and spacious rooms are making room for compact homes crammed on to tiny plots of land. The average five bedroomed home built in 1920 would have four reception rooms and occupy 3,440sq ft. A newly-built house today has three reception rooms and just 2,409sq ft. Ceiling height has dropped from 11 feet to 8ft 9in.

LOANS

For the first time in its 59- year history, The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has exceeded the $2-billion mark in net authorizations in one year. These results were achieved by granting some 6,300 loans through its network of 82 branches across the country. This represents a 17 per cent growth over the previous fiscal year. It took 54 years -from 1944 to 1998 - for the Bank to reach $1-billion in authorizations.

TIRES

Michelin has announced that it will use electronic tags on tires to help drivers monitor tire pressure. The tire maker plans to use embedded technology that will wirelessly link the tire to the car it 1s mounted on. The system consists of an antenna and a circuit the size of a match head. The circuit, or tag, will store, send and receive data through radio signals to track the condition of the tire.

SURPLUS

OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, which budgeted a US$10.4-billion shortfall for 2003, is now set to post a huge surplus of more than US$13-billion on soaring oil prices and high output. Saudi oil production stood at around 7.6-million barrels a day when the budget was announced late last year but the kingdom is currently believed to be producing more than 9.5-million barrels since the war began. Government wages consume more than half of the Saudi budget.

POLICY

Canada's trade policy objectives for 2003 include the following: resolution of the Canada\U.S. softwood lumber dispute; smooth flow of goods to the U.S.; progress at the WTO and Free Trade of the Americas negotiations and concluding free trade agreements with Central America and Singapore.

LOCATION

A survey by Ericsson Canada shows that Canadians want emergency-location services and safety alerts on their mobile phones far more than they desire wireless Internet and camera phones. When a caller uses the traditional fixed telephone to call 911, their precise location is known immediately. With mobile phones, a 911 call on a cell phone can only be narrowed to about a 100-metre radius in urban areas.

TRENDS

Honda in England is attempting to raise the retirement age for workers at its British plant from 60 to 62 in an effort to stave off a financial crisis in its stricken pension fund which has a deficit of $100-million.

FOUND

Long-lost blueprints for an invention that could have revolutionized the auto industry have been found in an old tool box. The so-called Pogue carburetor, invented in Winnipeg, caused an uproar in the 1930s when its inventor reportedly drove 200 miles in his Ford V8 on one gallon of fuel. A lawnmower engine purred for seven days on a single quart of gas. At the time, it rattled oil companies and panicked the Toronto Stock Exchange. The documents have been authenticated by a chartered patent lawyer and are genuine.

TECHNOLOGY

The U.S. technology sector which has been battered by a downturn in corporate spending, lost about 560,000 jobs in 2001 and 2002. The sector's work force fell by 10 per cent last year to 5.15 million. The majority of the decline was in manufacturing which lost 412,000 jobs, a 20 percent decrease.

JUICE

Scientists have found that freshly-squeezed orange juice is no healthier than the long-life pasteurised variety. Although fresh orange juice sold in chilled cabinets may taste better than the cheaper carton juice, it has the same antioxidant and nutritional content. Antioxidants are substances like vitamin C or beta carotene that mop up free radicals in the body and prevent cells from being damages.

SARS

According to the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, Retail sales in Hong Kong have dropped 50 per cent since the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) the deadly pneumonia-like virus. The group states it will take months for consumer confidence to recover and has asked landlords and utilities to cut rents and fees for three months to help merchants stay afloat during the outbreak which has also kept tourists away and residents out of shops, restaurants and other crowded places.

SYRUP

Canada accounts for 80 per cent of the world's production of maple syrup, and 90 per cent of Canada's production takes place in Quebec.

BOTTLES

Investors are turning to old handmade bottles, some of which are now worth their weight in gold. A rare bottle made in San Francisco in 1858 recently sold for US$69,000 At a recent auction which ended in March, 249 bottles sold for US$150,000. Some old whisky flasks are selling at around US$40,000 each while ink bottles dating from the American Revolution can go for as much as US$20,000.

WATER

A new United Nations body to help avoid possible water wars in the future has been announced. The Water Co-operation Facility will be based in Paris at the headquarters of the cultural organization Unesco. It will mediate in disputes between countries which share a single river basin. It follows publication of a report identifying 17 basins which have the potential for conflict.

TRIVIA

A Dutchman who has eaten pigeon food three times a day for the last 11 years claims it could be the answer to world famine. He says his meals are nutritious, filling and cost next to nothing. He soaks the seeds overnight to soften them and cooks them the next day.

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