December 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

December 2009 Edition

SAFETY

A recently released report states that an 80-year-old vehicular bridge that handles a fourth of U.S.-Canada trade, needs major repairs, including steps to shore up its main cables and deck. The Ambassador Bridge, running between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, is the busiest border crossing in North America, carrying 11 million trucks and cars annually. It is a critical link between major automakers and component suppliers in the U.S. and Canada.

PLOTS

In Japan there is a chronic shortage of burial plots which, in Tokyo, can now cost more than US$100,000. There is now a cheaper high-tech solution, multi story graveyards. From the outside they look like a block of apartments, a grey building five or six storeys high but with few windows which cost about a third of a normal graveyard. The vast majority of Japanese are cremated with the ashes placed in a ceramic urn which are then buried under a family tombstone. In a highrise graveyard, the urns are stored on shelves. Family members can retrieve them by swiping a card in a reader attached to a computer to activate a robotic arm which will pick up the urn and deliver it to a mourning room.

BRANDING

Kellogg's has developed a high-tech method to help stamp out imitation cereals by branding Corn Flakes with the company logo to guarantee the cereal's origin and protect against imitation products. If the system is successful, it could be used on other popular Kellogg brands including Frosties, Special K, Crunchy Nut and Bran Flakes. A staggering 128-billion bowls of Kellogg's Corn Flakes are eaten worldwide annually in countries as far a field as Guatemala, Japan and India. 2.8-million bowls are served in the U.K. each year.

PENSIONS

In a recent survey involving 11 countries conducted on behalf of the government of Victoria in Australia, Canada ranks fourth for its retirement-income system. The Netherlands was ranked No.1. The countries were ranked on their pension systems' adequacy, sustainability and integrity. Rounding out the top six countries, Australia was second, Sweden third, the U.K. fifth and the United States sixth. In the category of adequacy, the amount of income going to retirees, Canada was second after the Netherlands.

FAITH

A new survey by Pew Research estimates the total number of Muslims in the world to be 1.57-billion, or about 23 per cent of a global population of 6.8-billion. Almost two-thirds live in Asia, with Indonesia providing the biggest contingent (203 million) followed by Pakistan (174m) and India (160m).The highest Muslim population in Europe is Russia where 12.5-million adherents make up nearly 12 per cent of the total population.

PARTNERS

In 2007, Chinese-Russian trade reached US$48-billion, up from $5.7-billion in 1999, making China Russia's second biggest trading partner after the European Union. Current Russian-EU trade exceeds $250-billion, the lion's share being between Russia and Germany. Chinese-U.S. trade exceeds $400-billion. In 2006, two million Russian tourists visited China and a million Chinese visited Russia.

WHISKY

The American whisky market is seeing domestic sales flatten but overseas business is booming and driving overall growth. Jack Daniel's and Jim Beam have enjoyed six per cent growth in markets such as Western Europe and Australia for the past 10 years. Both compete head on with Scotch, Irish and Canadian whiskies. The U.S. whisky market was worth 28.3-million cases in 2008, more than twice the size of the French cognac market at 12.4-million but well below the scotch industry at around 100-million cases.

AIRSHIP

Engineers for Boeing Co. say they have advanced their design of a massive airship that could cut costs for energy companies in the Arctic. Though its 130-metre-long craft has yet to fly, Boeing estimates that an airship could float drilling rigs across Canada's remote Mackenzie Delta for a third of the cost of current methods, which involve trucks and ice roads. This could allow energy companies to drill three to six times more targets each year.

SAHARA

A dozen companies have agree to draw up blueprints for a project to harness power from the Sahara Desert sun to bring extra electricity to European homes. The plan, including technical and financial requirements to pipe power from the Sahara under the Mediterranean Sea to Europe will need three years to be developed. The project could supply 15 per cent of Europe's electrical needs by mid-century. It may create two million jobs.

SWEETENERS

The natural sweetener stevia looks set to become the next big thing according to research firm Mintel. Since December 2008, when the FDA approved the use of rebaudioside, an active ingredient in stevia, the stevia market has undergone tremendous growth. By mid-July 2009, sales topped US$95-million, in contrast to the $21-million for the whole of 2008.

CHRISTMAS

A British retailer is selling half Christmas trees this year. The artificial tree appears bushy and full from the front, but it is an illusion. It has been sliced down the middle so it has no back allowing owners to push the tree against a wall, saving valuable space.

URUGUAY

This South American country has become the first one to provide a laptop for every child attending a state primary school. This programme has cost the state US$260 per child, including maintenance cost, equipment repairs, training for teachers and internet connections. Over the past two years, 362,000 pupils and 18,000 teachers have been involved in the scheme. The total figure represents less than five per cent of the country's education budget.

GOLF

In 1998, golf replaced hockey as the most popular sport in Canada based on participation. In 2006, Canada's golf participation rate was 21.5 per cent, or 5.95-million, the highest in the world. The golf market is estimated to be worth C$13-billion, including fees, equipment, apparel and travel. There are 16,000 regular golfers in Russia playing on 3 18-hole golf courses although 40 new courses are under construction.

POWER

Researchers have discovered a magnetic equivalent to electricity: simple magnetic charges that can behave and interact like electrical ones. The work is the first to make use of the magnetic monopoles that exist in special crystals known as spin ice. Monopoles gather to form a magnetic current like electricity that could be used in magnetic storage or in computing. Magnetic monopoles were first predicted over a hundred years ago.

CRIME

An estimated 15 per cent of the world's economy is the proceeds of crime according to a recent Interpol conference. The FBI estimates that global organised crime generates profits of around US$1-trillion a year, equivalent to the entire gross domestic product of Australia. The scale and breadth of organised crime has shown a marked increase in the last two decades and due to globalisation and technological advances.

INDIA

McDonald's Corp is staking its future in India on burgers made from mashed potatoes, peas and spices. The company is expanding in India as a middle class is predicted to grow tenfold by 2025 and develop a taste for Western-style fast food. Sales were up 30 per cent in the first nine months of the year. There are 170 outlets in India but will add 120 more over the next three years. The chain, famous for its hamburgers, has to tailor its menus to local taste which means no beef because the majority of its 1.22-million people are Hindu and revere cows. It also does not serve pork in deference to Muslims.

TRADE

The European Union and South Korea have initialled a free-trade deal despite protests from EU car makers which fear Asian competition. The trade pact, which scraps nearly all import tariffs is potentially worth US$154-billion to both economies. The EU Association of Automakers says it gives South Korean car makers an unfair advantage because it allows them to reclaim tariffs on imported materials from cheap countries.

CONTAINERS

The new port facility in Montevideo which has now opened, will expand handling to over 1.1-million containers annually, making it the most advanced terminal in South America. The new facilities also include an additional 15.7-hectares of land for container storage reclaimed from the sea and a quay 350-metres long by 35-metres wide which can handle 14-metre draught vessels. A total of nine straddle cranes, four of which can operate with 11,000 TEU vessels (double the current capacity) have been incorporated.

MAURITIUS

This Indian Ocean island is hoping to boost its struggling real estate sector by allowing foreigners to buy rooms and suites in new hotel developments. Under the project buyers will get 45 days use a year of their room or suite plus a share of the income from tourist occupancy at other times. Tourism is the key driver of the nation's US$9-billion economy and a leading source of foreign exchange. Mauritius hopes to more than double the number of visitors on its beaches to two million a year by 2015.

TIMBITS

Building on its ambitious expansion in the U.S., the Canadian coffee giant Tim Hortons has opened a restaurant in Fort Knox, home to 147.3-million ounces of gold and where once was stored The Magna Carta, The United States Constitution and three volumes of the Gutenberg Bible. The Fort Knox coffee shop is the first for Tim Hortons on a U.S. military base which now has 500 stores in the United States.

MAGAZINES

So far this year, 383 magazine titles have disappeared in North America, or will soon. Another 64 magazines have gone from print to online only publications this year. These total put 2009 on track to challenge 2008 when 613 titles folded. The industry's true catastrophe was 2007 when 643 magazines closed down.

STUDENTS

In 2008, there were 42,000 students from mainland China studying in Canada. It costs up to C$18,000 in tuition fees for an international student in Canada for a bachelor's programme. However, there are 130,000 Chinese students studying in Australia, a country with 10-million fewer people than Canada.

SURGERY

A race is on in the U.S. to develop the potentially big thing in heart surgery: a replacement valve that can be implanted through thin tubes known as catheters rather than by traditional open-heart surgery. Analysts estimate a market for the product that could exceed US$1.5-billion within six years. The devices are currently being tested in older, critically ill patients in clinical trials. Many medical experts believe the process could revolutionize valve replacement operations.

FRUIT

Chile's fresh fruit exports for the 2008/2009 season totalled US$3.14-billion or $188-million less than the previous season. Chile needs to become less dependent on the U.S. and EU and develop markets in Asia and the Middle East.

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

NEXUS and FAST membership cards now accepted as proof of identity

NEXUS and FAST membership cards now accepted as proof of identity

NEXUS and FAST membership cards will now be accepted as proof of identity and as documents that denote citizenship when entering Canada at all land and marine ports of entry. This means that citizens of Canada and the United States who are NEXUS or FAST members, and are carrying with them valid membership cards, are no longer required to carry other supplementary documents such as passports or birth certificates with them when entering Canada by boat or by land, when using non-NEXUS or non-FAST lanes.

NEXUS and FAST members who are permanent residents of Canada or the United States are still required to travel with a passport and proof of permanent residence, and may be requested to present these documents to a border services officer upon arrival at the border.

It should be noted that program members who choose to use their card in non-NEXUS or non-FAST lanes will be processed as regular travellers and will not receive the benefit of expedited entry.

Please note that the new policy concerning the use of the NEXUS card as proof of identity and documents that denote citizenship does not pertain to the air mode of transportation. Members of the NEXUS program will still be required to carry the appropriate documentation when travelling by air.

http://cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/prog/nexus/proofid-preuveid-eng.html

November 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

November 2009 Edition

BUDGETS

 
A majority of American employees are finding themselves hard-pressed to live up to their household budgets. A survey of more than 4,4000 full-time U.S. staffers found that 61 per cent of respondents reported that they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. This is an increase from 47 per cent in 2008. One in five workers (21 per cent) polled said they are taking money from their long-term savings to satisfy financial burdens and have decreased their personal savings.

TARIFFS

The Canadian government plans to permanently eliminate all remaining tariffs on imports of machinery and equipment used by manufacturers, offering some relief to businesses pained by a sharp rise in the currency. It is claimed that these new measures could generate C$250-million to $300-million in savings. Exporters have been particularly hurt by the Canadian dollar's rise of more than 20 per cent against the U.S. dollar.

ADVERTISING

For the past few years, New York and London have been engaged in a transatlantic catfight over which is the superior city. Now the two are banding together to boost tourism to each other. Each will hand over about US$380,000 worth of their advertising space to their rival which works out to about 71 New York bus shelters and 250 posters for the London Underground.

AUDIO

A device that allows blind people to attach and read audio labels on everyday objects has been developed. The PenFriend uses minute barcodes which, when scanned by a digital pen, trigger MP3 files recorded on the unit. It costs about C$120 and can be used to label foods and medication as well as clothing, personal documentation and music collections. It uses optical identification technology (OID) to print microdots on to adhesive labels which are then read by the scanner in the tip of the PenFriend which can hold up to 70 hours of audio recordings.

FREIGHT

France is to invest C$12.3-billion to develop freight transport by rail and reduce road traffic. At a crossroads between northern and southern Europe, France plans to nearly double freight transport by 2022, in particular through a system of "rail highways" for truck carrying trains.

INVESTMENT

The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APFC) suggests that Canada should be ready for a growing influx of Chinese investment over the next few years. A survey of 1,100 Chinese companies found that Canada is near the top, just after the U.S., of the list of overseas investment targets for Chinese companies. The third target country is Australia. China is most interested in Canada's energy and natural resources, agrifood and biotech sectors.

DRIVING

Canadians drove less in the first quarter of this year. Compared to the same quarter last year, there were fewer vehicles on the road at the start of 2009 and they were not driven as far, meaning the average for vehicle driving was down 4 per cent. Canadians were also driving more small cars and fewer gas guzzlers like SUVs. This follows two quarters in a row when driving had increased.

DIAMONDS

After virtually abandoning diamonds last year amid the global economic crisis, consumers are once again buying the shiny stones, albeit cautiously. Industry executives say diamond buyers are sticking to modest stones measuring between 3/4 carats and three carats in size, the type most commonly used for engagement rings. There has also been stronger than expected sales to China, India and Japan.

CAMELS

Some experts feel that the camel is an incredible resource for the planet and are ideally placed to become the "new livestock animal" as countries such as Australia become hotter and drier with global warming. Drought-adapted camels are highly resistant to disease and produce lean meat and milk loaded with vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting compounds. Meanwhile, camel racing in the United Arab Emirates and Quatar alone is now worth US$1-billion a year.

BANKS

Canada retained its position as home to the world's soundest banks according to the World Economic Forum which supports the country's efforts to trumpet its industry as a model for the world's largest economies. Canada was No. 1 for the second consecutive year, followed by New Zealand and Australia. The U.S. was 108th out of 133 countries, one below Tanzania. None of Canada's banks have sought government funding since the credit problems of last year.

SOLAR

A U.S. company has received approval from the Chinese government to build what may become the largest solar field in the world. First Solar, which makes more solar cells than any other company, has struck a 10-year deal to build in China's vast desert north of the Great Wall. The project will eventually cover 65 square kilometres of Inner Mongolia, slightly larger than the size of Manhattan, with a sea of black, light-absorbing glass. The solar field will dwarf anything in operation in the U.S. or Europe. The plant will pump enough energy into China's grid to light up three million homes.

COUPONS

The Neilson Company reports that coupon enthusiasts in the U.S. are the driving force behind exploding redemption rates. Eighty-one percent of units purchased using manufacturers coupons came from just 19 per cent of U.S. households during the first half of this year. The most avid users, called "coupon enthusiasts" are households that purchased 104 or more items using coupons.The 10 per cent of shoppers that fall into this category account for 62 per cent of manufacturers' coupon units. They also accounted for 16 per cent of total unit sales, making them an attractive and important consumer target.

SCRAP

Maritime experts report that the number of container vessels sold for demolition so far this year has reached record highs. A total of 148 ships have been scrapped this year which exceeds 275,000 twenty-equivalent units (TEU), with increasing numbers of larger ships among them. The number of idle ships continues to climb which has now reached over 10 per cent of the global fleet.

VACANCIES

Hotels in most big cities around the world are emptier than they were last year. London has weathered the global downturn better than most cities. Almost 79 per cent of its hotel rooms were taken by paying customers in the seven months to July, the highest occupancy rate of the 87 cities in a survey. Fewer business visitors and the trend for taking holidays closer to home have hurt the hotel trade in the capitals of Argentina, Mexico and Spain. In Mexico City more then half the hotel rooms are empty.

THEFT

Retailers in the U.S. lost US$6-billion to theft by shoplifters and dishonest employees in 2008. Apprehension of thieves rose 7.26 per cent last year while recoveries were up 21.64 per cent versus last year. This is the third consecutive year to see a rise in both these factors. The data for this survey came from 22 major department stores, mass merchants and big-box retailers, representing 19,151 store locations and nearly $572-billion in annual retail sales for 2008.

POLLUTION

Western governments pushing China to use clean-coal technology may need to lower their expectations for the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases. It will cost as much as US$400-billion over 30 years to install systems to capture carbon dioxide from power plant smokestacks in China and bury it underground. China has little incentive to invest because the technology will raise power prices and it's unclear if wealthier nations will pick up the bill.

GARMENTS

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs say the garment sector, a mainstay of the country's exports, is feeling the pinch of the global economic crisis with about 30 factories shutting in the past three months. Prices for Bangladeshi garments have fallen nearly 25 per cent in the global market. Bangladesh annually earns US$12-billion, or almost 75 per cent of the country's export earnings from garment making.

BIKES

Harley-Davidson Inc. is to start selling motorcycles in India next year, the world's second-largest motorcycle market, hoping that the iconic heavyweight bikes will find a niche among the country's rising middle class. In 2008, motorcycle shipments within the United States fell 15 per cent to 206,000 units, while international shipments climbed 9 per cent to 97,000. Harley shipped 32 per cent of its motorcycles overseas in 2008, up from 27 per cent in 2007.

TRENDS

The Swiss postal service is offering a new service to customers wanting to receive their physical letters over the Internet. For C$25.00 a month, letters are redirected to a secret location in Zurich where the envelopes are scanned and an image e-mailed out to customers. They can then decide whether the letter should be opened and scanned for the client by personnel sworn to secrecy or simply shredded.

GREEN

A washing machine using thousands of nylon beads and just a cup of water has been developed to provide a greener way to do laundry. The system, developed by Xeros, a spin-off from the University of Leeds, uses thousands of tiny nylon beads each measuring a few millimetres across. They are placed inside the smaller of two concentric drums along with dirty laundry, a cup of water and a squirt of detergent. As the drums rotate, the water wets the clothes and the detergent loosens the dirt. Then the nylon beads mop it up.

TRADE

In 2001, there were just 49 bilateral and regional free-trade agreements (FTAs) in place. After a deal signed in August between India and South Korea, there are now a total of 167 FTAs. South Korean firms are keen to make more use of India as a manufacturing base from which to export to the rest of the world. In return, Indian programmers will more easily be able to set up shop in South Korea.

EATING

A U.S.survey of nearly 2,200 shoppers has found that 68 per cent of adults have changed their cooking and eating behaviours due to the economy. Over half of the respondents eat at home more often, while 37 per cent are more careful about budgeting their food shopping trips. 45 per cent say they are now more likely to buy private labels and half of the consumers are more likely to comparison shop.

VANILLA

Some vanilla growers In Madagascar, the world's biggest producer of the flavourant, are demanding a minimum price for their crop that would see a return to a marketing system abandoned two decades ago. The producers want a floor price to be set around US$27.00 a kilogram. This could force up the price of exports to the U.S. by as much as a quarter. Vanilla comes from the only edible fruit produced by the orchid family of plants and accounts for a quarter of Madagascar's export income.

CONGESTION

There has been traffic chaos recently in two Paris suburbs after their feuding mayors declared the same street one-way, but in opposite directions.

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

2009-2010 CBSA National Verification Priorities

This is the list of products that customs is focusing on for audits this year 2009-2010

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BwEN0WTvY7xgZTE2ZDE0NjAtNzYyYS00MTJlLWE1ZGQtZDA5MjcxNDc0ZDI1&hl=en

For 2009-2010,
14 national priorities for verification so far:

Valuation verification
1. Plastic household goods

Tariff Classification verification
2.Magnesium sulphates
3.Cotton yarn
4.Copper and articles thereof
5.Stone vs. articles of stone
6.Reclaimed rubber
7.Furniture parts
8.Gloves
9.Soap

Origin verification
10. Vegetable fats and oils
11. Articles of bedding and similar furnishings
12. Perfume and toilet water industry
13. Mattress upholstery
14. Electric generators

October 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

October 2009 Edition

 LAND

Canadian farmland is still cheap by global standards but unlikely to stay that way for long. Large global funds are increasingly drawn to Canada and Australia as they seek agricultural investments. An hectare of arable land on the Canadian Prairies is worth about US$1,725. Comparable land in the UK goes for $17,100 and for $3,450 in Australia. In Ireland it would be worth $58,500, in France it would be $12,500 and in New Zealand $9,643. A hectare in Ohio is worth $11,000. While land can be purchased for less in developing countries, there are often complications that make ownership difficult.

WATER

Scientists have warned Asian countries that they face chronic food shortages and likely social unrest if they do not improve water management. They must spend billions of dollars to improve antiquated crop irrigation to cope with rapid population increases. Asia's population is forecast to increase by 1.5-billion people over the next 40 years with Asia's food and feed demand expected to double by 2050. The best bet for Asia lies in revitalizing its vast irrigation system, which accounts for 70 per cent of the world's total irrigated land.

COMFORT

A survey of 3,700 people about their comfort food preferences confirms that consumers are passionate about their comfort foods, many of which stem from childhood favourites. The overall food category preferred by all ages was candy but individual responses revealed a more generational and diverse portrait of comfort food preferences. For younger people, these now include: chicken soup, Vietnamese beef noodle soup, sushi, and Indian and Thai curries.

GAS

China's gas consumption is set to nearly triple over the next ten years, potentially rising to around 18-billion cubic feet per day by 2020 and making the country the world's No. 3 gas market after Russia and the United States. Australia and China recently signed the biggest trade deal ever worth US$41-billion under which China will purchase 2.25-million tonnes per annum of gas from a field off the coast of Western Australia, that contains resources of about 40-trillion cubic feet of gas. This deal will boost the government's gross domestic product by US$53-billion and add around 6,000 jobs.

SAVINGS

According to the National Funeral Directors Association in the U.S., Americans have cut their spending on funerals considerably compared to the previous year. The majority of undertakers surveyed said increasing numbers of people are choosing a cheaper coffin, or opting for cremation instead of a traditional burial. People have also been cutting back on the hiring of chapels, the amount of flowers and the use of limousines. There is also a new trend of some people buying coffins from the discount chain Costco.

VACANCIES

The global recession has led to an increase in empty office space in most big cities across the world. Beijing's office glut was already the worst of any large city but has since worsened and the vacancy rate is now 23 per cent. Vacant office space in Moscow has doubled in the past year. Occupancy has fallen even in crowded Tokyo but its vacancy rate of 5 per cent is still the lowest of any big city. Mumbai's vacancy rate has more than quadrupled from 2.9 per cent to 12.7 per cent.

COLLATERAL

One regional bank in Italy stores more than 15,000 tonnes of parmesan cheese which it keeps as collateral for loans. The bank holds about 440,000 wheels of parmesan worth US$204-million in two climate controlled warehouses. Each wheel holds the equivalent of 550 litres of milk, worth about 300 Euros. Each one is branded with a serial number so it can be traced if stolen. Thieves tunnelled under one warehouse earlier this year and made off with 570 wheels. Cheese producers use the loans to buy milk. There are 429 parmesan producers in Italy and the industry is worth $2.4-billion.

SUGAR

The price of raw sugar has increased to the highest level since 1981 as supply concerns grow. This is due to growing demand in Brazil for sugar to be turned into ethanol, coupled with a sharp fall in Indian production which dropped by 45 per cent last year because India had less rain in the monsoon season and it was also uneven, damaging a number of agricultural crops.

RENTAL

For the first time, U.S. auto rental companies are buying more foreign vehicles than domestic brands. Through the first six months of this year, only 48.8 per cent of the new vehicles going into rental fleets came from General Motors, Ford or Chrysler. Just three years ago, more than 8 in 10 vehicles sold to rental fleets came from the Big Three. Now, the lots are being filled with models from Hyundai, Kia, Toyota and Nissan. The Nissan Altima has edged out the Chevrolet Impala as the top-selling car in the rental market.

SUBSIDIES

The OECD estimates that its member countries spent US$265-billion on farm subsidies in 2008, more than a fifth of their farmers' total earnings. Handouts made up more than three-fifths of farmers' gross income in Norway and South Korea. In contrast, subsidies were less than one per cent of farm incomes in New Zealand and under ten per cent in both Australia and the U.S. The European Union was by far the biggest subsidiser, forking out $150.4-billion.

STOCKMARKETS

Just over 49,000 domestic companies were listed on the world's stockmarkets in 2008. Of these, 54 per cent were listed in rich countries. The number of companies in China and Taiwan more than doubled to 2,860 in the ten years to 2008. Corporate listings bear little relation to economic size. In 2008, India had 4,921 listed companies, second only to the United States. Swiss markets listed only 253 firms but their total value was more than that of India. Hong Kong had the most listed companies per head.

EXPORTS

Germany is set to lose its unofficial title of world's top exporter this year to China as the recession hits demand for its cars, machinery and chemicals. German exports are projected to slump by 17 per cent this year to US$1.16-trillion before recovering to register growth of four per cent in 2010.

TRAFFIC

In 2007, for the first time in 16 years, congestion in America's 439 recognized urban areas actually declined. Even though congestion dropped, it still forced urban Americans to travel for 4.2-billion extra hours and buy an extra 2.8-billion gallons of fuel. The cost of all these delays as estimated by the Texas Transportation Institute was US$87.2-billion, an increase of more than 50 per cent over 1997. The problem affects metropolitan areas of all sizes, but big ones--the country's economic engines--are in the worst shape.

VACATIONS

Europe's tourism industry is hurting. In the first five months of this year, the number of overnight stays by foreign visitors in French hotels fell by 15 per cent. The figure for Spain was 11.4 and in Italy, overnight stays were down 11 per cent, Many jobs are at risk. In 2007, France boasted nearly 200,000 hotels, pensions, campsites, restaurants, cafes and travel agencies which employed almost 900,000 people and took in some US$96-billion. Spain had about 293,000 firms with 1.4-million employees. Rome's hoteliers' association expects to shed 10,000 jobs this year.

CHANGE

As consumers abandon the dining table and eat meals on their laps in front of the television, knives could soon go the way of the napkin ring. According to one British retailer, sales of knives are on the decline. Four years ago it sold equal numbers of knives and forks but recently it has sold two forks for every knife. Experts fear that the trend could result in knives becoming an implement used only on special occasions.

COMMERCIALISM

Up to now, Vatican Radio has been wholly funded by the Roman Catholic Church at a cost of about US$30-million a year but the Holy See's finances are suffering. Now it is to start airing commercials for the first time in its 80-year history. The first company to run its commercials will be an Italian gas and electricity company.

AGE

Britain's oldest working television has been tracked down in a house in London. The 1936 Marconiphone has a 12 inch (30 cm) screen and is mounted in a wooden cabinet. The image from the cathode ray tube, mounted vertically inside the cabinet, is reflected onto a mirror. The few controls include volume and vertical hold but there is no channel changer as there was only one channel when it was made.

INSURANCE

The world's biggest insurance markets collected US$4.3-trillion in premiums in 2008. After adjusting for inflation, total premiums in life and non-life insurance markets fell by two per cent last year, the largest decline since 1980. Life insurance still provides about 60 per cent of total premiums. Britons bought the most insurance per person in 2008.

FAKE

Seizure of counterfeit goods being smuggled into the European Union more than doubled last year. Customs authorities seized 178-million fake items in 2008, up 125 per cent from 79-million in 2007. Pirate DVD and CDs were the most prevalent fake goods with 79-million disks detained. These were followed by cigarettes and clothing. Seizures of counterfeit medicines rose 118 per cent.

TRENDS

British supermarkets are offering pre-cooked eggs to shoppers who lack the skills to boil their own. The free-range eggs come cooked `to perfection,' shelled and packaged. One TV chef helpfully included tips on boiling an egg in one of her best selling recipe books after learning that many people lacked the knowledge. The eggs are available in packs of two or four. A four pack costs US$2.80.

CHOCOLATE

Dubai's Al Nassma, the world's first brand of chocolate made with camels' milk, plans to expand into new Arab markets, Europe, Japan and the U.S. The company aims to produce 100 tonnes of premium camels' milk chocolate a year. With 3,000 camels on its Dubai farm, the company sells chocolates through its farm-attached store as well as in luxury hotels and private airlines. The chocolates are produced without preservatives or chemical additives. Camel milk contains five times more vitamin C than cow milk, less fat, less lactose and more insulin, making it a good option for diabetics.

GIVING

The global recession has failed to dampen philanthropic spirit with many rich people increasing their charitable giving. Among 500 British and American individuals surveyed with at least US$1-million of investable assets, only education was considered a more important expense than charitable commitments. 31 per cent of entrepreneurs surveyed say they have increased their giving compared to 17 per cent who have reduced it.

SERVICE

PetSmart Inc., the largest U.S. pet-store chain with 1,137 stores, is considering expansion into in-home services including dog walking, backyard clean-up and aquarium set-up to distinguish itself from retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Wal-Mart is targeting the US$45.4-billion market for pet goods putting pressure on PetSmart as shoppers consolidate buying trips.

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

Shipping to Canada - the easy way!

View our video on the easy way to ship to Canada -

September 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

September 2009 Edition

SAHARA

 
Nigeria, Niger and Algeria have signed an agreement to build a multi-billion dollar pipeline to take Nigerian gas across the Sahara desert to the Mediterranean. The giant project will be 4,128km long, will cost an estimated US$13-billion, and aims to deliver up to 30-billion cubic metres of gas per year for the European market. Experts say this will be one of the great feats of engineering in the world and dwarf several existing pipelines, such as the one beneath the North Sea.

INSURANCE

Piracy risk and insurance costs associated with it are expected to rise in the coming years. Rates and charges will escalate if the number of successful piracy attacks increases. The cost of keeping global trade routes open could result in a growing "piracy tax" that will be felt by a wide range of businesses and consumers. For example, 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal each year and most cross the pirate-infested waters off the coast of Somalia.

RAINDROPS

For the first time since territorial days, rain will be free for catching in Colorado. Precipitation, every last drop or flake, was assigned ownership from the moment it fell in many Western U.S. states making criminals out of people who scooped rainfall from their own gutters. In some instances, the rights to that water were assigned over a century ago. Now, new laws in Colorado will allow people to collect rainwater legally.

BANKS

2008 was not a good year for many of the world's big commercial banks. The 12 largest losses were made by American and European banks, four of them German. The Royal Bank of Scotland, Citigroup and Wells Fargo suffered a combined loss of more than US$160-billion, a sum larger than the GDP of Egypt. Three of the biggest losses were made by banks from Switzerland and Belgium, two fairly small countries. Banks from France and Japan were conspicuous by their absence from the list of losses.

ENVIRONMENT

There are 530,000 environmental workers in Canada, three per cent of the workforce. One in ten Canadian organizations have at least one environmental employee. 42 per cent of the environment jobs are in Ontario and 15 per cent are in British Columbia.

SEWAGE

A sewage treatment facility in Nagano prefecture, north-west of Tokyo, has reported a yield of gold extracted from sludge to rival production levels at some of the best mines in the world. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold has been found at the Suwa treatment facility with more than 1,890 grammes of gold per tonne of ash from incinerated sludge. The unexpected presence of soaring levels of gold in sewage has been attributed to the high concentration of precision equipment manufacturers using the precious metal in the Nagano region.

OIL

China's dependence on foreign oil has surpassed that of the United States, as consumers race to the pumps to fill their new cars and the country stockpiles supplies. The country's increasing appetite has driven it to spend billions to acquire foreign oil producers and construct vast storage facilities to safeguard future needs. This year, China will import about 57 per cent of its petroleum needs, compared with 40 per cent in 2003. China sold more cars than the U.S. last year and the figure is expected to increase by over 10 per cent this year.

ACQUISITIONS

The value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) fell by 35 per cent in the first half of 2009 to US$1,140-billion. Finance remains the richest industry for M&A, accounting for almost a fifth of deals by value, followed by health care and mining. Australia, the most important location for M&A, after the U.S. and Britain, saw a big increase in activity in the first half, as did the Netherlands and South Africa.

ANTS

Scientists have discovered that a single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world. Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the U.S. and Japan belong to the same interrelated colony, and will refuse to fight one another. The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species and could rival humans in the scale of its world domination. The Argentinean ants are renowned for forming large colonies, and for becoming a significant pest, attacking native animals and crops. One European colony stretches 6,000km along the Mediterranean coast while another stretches 900km along the Californian coast.

GENOME

Britain's biotechnology research council has opened a research centre to decode the DNA of plants and animals used in agriculture. Among its aims is to help farmers boost food production. Research will focus on economically and socially important plants such as wheat and ryegrass. It's also hoped that the work will lead to breeding of livestock better able to resist emerging diseases. It will also assist in developing crops with an increased tolerance to drought and new antibodies to fight "superbugs".

PARKING

The price of parking in Canadian cities has gone up almost 10 per cent over the last year with Calgary trailing only New York City when it comes to monthly rates in North America. The median monthly parking cost in Canadian cities is now C$222.75 and the median daily cost of parking is $17.78. Calgary is the most expensive Canadian city where the median monthly rate is $460.00. Toronto is the most expensive city when it comes to median daily parking rates at $22.50 per day versus $22.00 in Calgary. The most expensive North American city in which to park is midtown New York where the rate is $630 monthly. In London the rate is $1171, Hong Kong, $861 and Amsterdam, $925.

TRENDS

TiVo Inc, the digital video recording company is teaming up with Domino's Pizza Inc. to allow subscribers to order pizza for delivery or pickup from their TV sets using their remotes. They can specify crust type, sauces and delivery address. In about 30 minutes, the pizza is delivered to the door.

BUY AMERICAN

Executives from the US$165-billion global rail industry have been flocking to the Middle East lured by the prospect of an investment boom. Every country in the region has drawn up plans for ambitious rail projects. Qatar and Kuwait are spending about $10-billion each and the United Arab Emirates is shelling out twice that. Their shopping lists include: monorails, bullet-trains and local metros. Saudi Arabia plans to spend $15-billion to increase the size of its rail network to include 360kph trains for pilgrims to Mecca.

GROWTH

Canada's income per person grew twice as fast as that in the U.S. over the past few years according to a CIBC report. Canada's real disposable income, what you spend once you subtract price increases, rose C$2,660 since 2005, double the $1,300 gain in the U.S. This is almost enough to wipe out the disparity between U.S. and Canadian earnings levels that had built up over the past 15 years.

COUNTERFEIT

Just as Chinese companies are trying to move up the value chain of manufacturing from producing toys and garments to making computers and electric cars, so to are counterfeiters. Technological advances have allowed hundreds of small Chinese companies, some with as few as 10 employees, to churn out what are known as shanzhai, or blackmarket brand-name cellphones, often for as little as US$20.00 each. Shanzhai phones already account for more than 20 per cent of sales in China. They are being exported illegally to Russia, India, the Middle East, Europe and even the U.S.

ASYLUM

The number of people claiming political asylum rose by 12 per cent in 2008. Much of the increase was because of rising numbers fleeing conflict in Afghanistan and Somalia. The U.S. was the biggest recipient of asylum pleas for the third consecutive year. Just five countries (America, Canada, France, Italy and Britain) accounted for more than half of all claims.

WAISTLINES

Sixty-three per cent of American employees responding to a survey said that they struggle to maintain a healthy diet at work. Almost half of respondents (47 per cent) attributed the dieting challenge to the abundance of less-than-wholesome snack options available at the office. Companies should offer a variety of choices like fresh and dried fruit, yoghurt, whole grain crackers, nuts, raw veggies with low fat dip, hummus and baked pita chips and oatmeal raisin cookies. Only 36 per cent of respondents said their companies offer produce, though staff rated this as their top snack choice.

OFFICES

The most commonly stolen office supplies are: Pens/pencils, 77 per cent and "Sticky" notes and paper clips, 44 per cent.

GAS

The corner gas station is in decline. Once, they populated urban street corners all across Canada. A recent study counted 1,400 gas stations in British Columbia at the end of 2008, down from about 1,510 at the end of 2006. Across Canada, it is calculated that 37 per cent of the estimated 20,000 gas stations that pumped fuel in 1989 have since closed.

AID

Saudi Arabia is spending about US$100-million on agricultural investment to grow wheat, barley and rice for domestic consumption in Ethiopia on land leased to them by the government. Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Program is spending almost the same amount, $116-million providing 230,000 tonnes of food aid between 2007 and 2011 to the 4.6-million Ethiopians it thinks are threatened by hunger and malnutrition.

LOYALTY

Retailers in the U.S. are finding a silver lining to the recession's dark cloud: loyalty program participation is growing. Participation in rewards and loyalty programmes has risen by 19 per cent across the board since 2007. Consumers clearly see value in program participation and continue to leverage their activity as an antidote to hard times, seeking added value and using rewards to stretch dollars.

TAX HAVENS

The OECD has published its blacklist of non-cooperative tax havens. Costa Rica, Malaysia and the Philippines are listed as countries that have not agreed to tax standards. There is also a list of 38 places that have agreed to improve standards but have not yet done so, such as Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, Andorra and San Marino.

TOURISM

Spanish taxidrivers, hotel receptionists and shopkeepers are being asked to attend "friendliness" sessions and to smile more in a bid to boost tourism.

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

We're 30!

On August 22, 1979, Graham and Candy Robins launched A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. It all started in a humble trailer they fixed up and parked on 176th Street in Surrey, BC – just down from the Pacific Highway border crossing - where our head office remains today.

Over the years we have grown ... from that modest little office to multiple branches across Canada and in the US. We found our winning formula – providing extraordinary service – and stuck to it. For three decades we never lost sight of one fact: when our clients are successful, we are successful.

The past year has been a tough one, but we have faced the worst and come out a winner. This has only been possible because of the people of A & A – you are what makes this business tick.

To formally mark our thirtieth anniversary, we are creating a book with Echo Memoirs. It will be an impressive, full-colour chronicle of A & A, its people and our industry. This photo collage is just a teaser of what is to come.

All the best,

Graham Robins Jr.
President
A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd.

"Providing our customers with first class trade facilitation through our passion for service."

August 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

August 2009 Edition

VEGGIES

A pair of giant agricultural companies are trying to make spinach and some other vegetables taste better. They have launched a five-year project to produce new varieties of spinach, broccoli, cauliflower and lettuce. The objective is to improve the nutrition, flavour, colour, texture and aroma of these vegetables. While farmers and food companies have been breeding plants for decades, even producing different colours of cauliflowers, this project seeks to go further by breeding for taste and smell.

WHALES

According to a new report by the International Whaling Commission, whale watching now generates far more money than whale hunting. Worldwide, the industry now generates about US$12.1-billion per year. In 2008, about 13-million people went to sea to watch cetaceans in 119 countries. Whale watching is clearly more environmentally sustainable and economically beneficial than hunting and whales are worth far more alive than dead.

WORK

The world economy's deepest post-war slump has resulted in higher rates of unemployment in many countries. Spain's jobless rate has increased by more than 8 percentage points in the past 12 months and is now over 18 per cent, the highest in the rich world. The situation is also dire in Russia where the unemployment rate is now over 10 per cent.

CELLPHONES

Since 2002, the African market for cellphones has shown the fastest growth rate in the world having grown by 49 per cent, where the French market has only seen 7.5 per cent growth compared with 28 per cent in Brazil and 27 per cent in Asia. Cellphones have penetrated 37 per cent of the potential market and this figure could rise to 61 per cent by 2018.

CHARITY

Charitable giving in the U.S. fell last year by the largest percentage in five decades. Individuals and institutions made gifts and pledges of US$306.65-billion, a decrease of 5.7 per cent on an inflation-adjusted basis over the $414-billion given in 2007. Some experts are surprised the drop was not even bigger given that endowments fell by as much as 40 per cent, the stock market declined by similar margins, corporations posted unheard-of losses and unemployment rose steadily.

WEIGHT

Airlines are reducing the size of spoons and dropping in-flight magazines to make planes lighter and save fuel during the recession. Northwest Airlines has excluded spoons from its cutlery pack if the in-flight meal does not require one. Another carrier, JAL of Japan, took everything it loaded from a 747 and put it on the floor of a school gym to see what it really needed. As a result,it shaved a fraction of a centimetre off all its cutlery to save weight. The next generation of aircraft seats are likely to be up to 30 per cent lighter than the current generation with composite replacing aluminum.

FOOTBALL

England's leading football clubs pull in far more money than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. Revenues of the UK's Premier League clubs amounted to US$3.8-billion in the 2007-08 season. The rapid growth of revenues has been fuelled largely by television fees. But crowds are biggest not in England but in the German league with an average of 42,000 per game last season, about 7,000 more than in England.

BARCODES

This year, the ubiquitous Universal Product Code barcode, with its 59 machine-readable black and white lines and 12 digits turned 35 years old. The UPC bar code ranks high on the list of technological innovations that changed not only the economy since the 1970s but our day-to-day lives. The first live use of a UPS bar code was in Troy, Ohio when a cashier scanned a pack of Wrigley's gum. Now, more than 10 billion UPC bar codes are scanned in the U.S. each day and it is estimated that bar codes save the grocery industry alone more than US$17-billion each year.

FREE TRADE

Canada and the European Union have now formally launched free trade talks. The EU is Canada's second-largest export market, after the United States. In 2008, two-way trade in goods and services between Canada and the EU totalled C$114.6-billion, up 6.2 per cent from 2007. Canada-EU free trade in aerospace, chemicals, wood products, automotive vehicles and parts, agricultural products, transportation and other sectors is forecast to increase trade by about 20 per cent.

STANDARDS

The U.S. and Canada have agreed to accept each other's standards for organic food, expanding opportunities for organic food trade. Canadians buy an estimated C$2.1-billion to $2.6-billion worth of organic food, about 80 per cent of which is imported. About 75 per cent of those imports come from the U.S. The US organic market is worth about US$24.6-billion in 2008, up from $3.6-billion in 2007

SUGAR

Sugar mills in Brazil are making the sweetener at full capacity and can't increase output further to meet rising demand and will maintain its current forecast for output of 31.2-million tonnes in the current year. Output in India, Thailand, Mexico and Pakistan is declining creating a global deficit.

STEALING

According to the most recent National Retail Security Survey, retail shrinkage averaged 1.52 per cent in 2008, an increase from 1.44 per cent in 2007, and total retail losses grew to US$36.5-billion. The survey said that employee theft accounted for $15.9-billion (44 per cent) of the losses and that 14 per cent of those cases involved collusion. Shoplifting claimed $12.7-billion (35 per cent) of retail shrinkage. Administrative error ($5.4-billion and 15 per cent shrinkage) and vendor fraud ($1.4-billion and four per cent shrinkage.

WEALTH

The ranks of the world's millionaires shrank at the fastest rate in 2008 with North America suffering the biggest wealth loss worldwide. The global slump in property and equity markets last year cut the number of millionaires by 15 per cent to 8.6-million, wiping out two years of increases. The value of the world's millionaires' assets slid 20 per cent to US$32.8-trillion. The U.S. is home to the most millionaires with 2.5-million followed by Germany, Japan and China.

DEATH

The funeral industry, once considered the safest of investment havens in recession, is having a tough time across North America, but not because people are spending less to bury their loved ones. Strangely, fewer people are dying, a phenomena that is puzzling executives in the business. The number of funerals conducted by one company that owns 1,300 funeral homes and 370 cemeteries in the U.S. and 200 in Canada fell by 11 per cent in the first quarter of the year over the year earlier.

FILMING

Canada's two busiest centres for film and TV production, Vancouver and Toronto, have seen a significant jump in the number of pilots shot this year. A recent study shows that networks are shunning Los Angeles which has seen its share of total U.S. pilot production drop 42 per cent in the past five years. Canada is now more popular for pilot production than LA's closest rival New York.

TRUCKING

Mexican trucking companies are suing the U.S. government for US$6-billion over Washington's refusal to allow Mexican carriers onto U.S. roads under the North American Free Trade Agreement. About 4,500 trucking companies are involved in the lawsuit. Under NAFTA, companies can sue the governments of the three NAFTA signatories, Mexico, Canada and the U.S., if they think they have been unfairly treated by public policies.

FUEL

Earlier this year, in an experimental flight, a Continental jet flew with one of its engines burning fuel derived from microscopic algae to push the 45-ton aircraft into the air, and keep it aloft. Last year, Virgin Atlantic flew the first commercial jet on biofuels on a 40 minute flight between London and Amsterdam in which one engine burned a mix of conventional jet fuel and 20 per cent biofuel derived from coconuts and babassu nuts. Japan Airlines has flown an aircraft using a biofuel from camelina, a weedy flower.

DIGITAL

Over one-fifth of the music industry's worldwide revenues in 2008 came from sales of digital music. The move away from formats like CD's is well advanced in the U.S., the world's largest music market, where more than a third of the industry's revenue now comes from digital sales. The share of digital sales in other big markets such as Britain, Germany and Canada is less than half that in the U.S.

DEBT

Canadians owe far more money than they bring in over the course of a year. In total, individual Canadians owed about C$1.3-trillion at the end of 2008 which works out to almost $40,000. In 2000, the figure was $24,000.

ARCTIC

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that the Arctic contains 13 per cent of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and as much as 30 per cent of its natural gas. These updated estimates come as Canada and its polar neighbours aggressively pursue their competing claims to vast areas of continental shelf under the Arctic Ocean. The estimate of major oil reserves off North America's northern coast will also increase pressure to open the region to more oil and gas development.

DIET

According to Statistics Canada, in 2008, the Canadian diet included more tea, yogurts, breakfast cereals, berries, processed fruits, asparagus, poultry meat and wine, but less oils, red meat and soft drinks. The total daily intake of calories per person fell to 2,382, down from the peak recorded in 2001.

MILK

A collapse in milk prices has wiped away the profits of U.S. dairy farmers, driving many out of business while forcing others to slaughter their herds or dump milk. But nine months after prices began tumbling on the farm, consumers have yet to see the full benefits of the crash at the checkout counter.

TRADE

Canada is the biggest trading partner for 38 of the 50 American states. Trade between the two countries reached US$597-billion, an average of $1.6-billion each day in 2008. That figure does not include tourism. Canadian exports to the U.S. reached $ 336-billion while imports hit $261-billion.

REVENUES

Online advertising revenue in the U.S. market sank to US$5.5-billion in the first quarter of 2009, down 10 per cent from $6.1-billion in the fourth quarter of last year. This is the first major slump since the burst of the dot-com bubble in 2002. This news could be especially troubling for magazines and newspapers which have increasingly turned to the web to make up for the loss of print advertising dollars.

BULBS

Frosted light bulbs are to be phased out in Europe under EU plans to force people to use more energy-efficient bulbs. From September, retailers will not be able to buy new stock of any type of opaque incandescent bulb.

COMMUNICATIONS

Guards at a prison in Brazil have intercepted two carrier pigeons carrying mobile phones and chargers to inmates.

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

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July 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

July 2009 Edition

WELLNESS

 
Grocery stores in the U.S. have become hunting grounds for healthy, functional foods and beverages that offer distinct wellness advantages beyond basic nutrition. This has boosted sales of such products by 6 per cent to almost US$31-billion in 2008. During the five year period from 2003 to 2008, many functionally oriented food and drink categories performed well including yogurt, energy drinks, nutritional snacks and trail mixes, milk substitutes, soymilk and blended fruit drinks. It is estimated that sales of these items will reach $43-billion by 2013.

TRADE

Brazilian exports to China grew 64.7 per cent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year. During March and April, for the first time, China became Brazil's biggest trading partner, displacing the U.S. Sales of soya and grain to China increased 70 per cent while iron went up 51 per cent in the first four months. Brazil's newly discovered oil fields also offer significant potential to satisfy the enormous Chinese appetite for resources.

STORAGE

A new optical recording method has been developed that could pave the way for data discs with 300 times the storage capacity of standard DVDs. This would see a whopping 1.6-terabytes of information fit on a DVD-sized disc. The technique employs nanometre-scale particles of gold as a recording medium.

MANUFACTURING

China's total manufacturing costs are now only 6 per cent below those of American factories. Shifts that pushed China costs up in recent months have put Mexico and India on top for cheap manufacturing. It is predicted that China's costs will improve later in the year as more moderate oil prices and the economic slowdown reduce sea shipping costs but it is unlikely that China will catch up with Mexico and India.

WIND

A Loblaws Ltd. store in Nova Scotia has installed a wind turbine which, once fully operational, will provide about a quarter of the superstore's power. This is part of a pilot project to reduce emissions associated with electricity consumption. Loblaw tested the wind patterns in the area for a year to confirm the winds would support a turbine.

WINE

Almost half of Australia's wine industry is facing disaster as a drought caused by climate change and the over-use of Australia's biggest river system threatens to turn vines to dust. Inflows to the Murray Darling River system are at their lowest in 117 years and the residents of Adelaide have been told their supply from the river, which the city relies on for 90 per cent of its water, can no longer be guaranteed. The chronic lack of water has already forced several winemakers, who could not afford to buy extra water, to sell up and a lot of crops have been left to die.

PHILIPPINES

The Philippines stands to earn US$3.5-billion more in exports in the next eight years if there is a free trade pact between Southeast and South Asian regions, together with Japan, China and South Korea. Consolidation of free trade agreements (FTAs) across both regions would translate to greater economic benefits compared to the existing web of bilateral trade deals. Trade between the nations of South and East Asia surged by over $114-billion in the seven years to 2007, but the benefits have spread unevenly.

FARMING

Britain's only chilli farm operates from huge greenhouses on a site which supplies 400,000 chillies a year to British supermarkets. Now, customers will be given a wheelbarrow to browse the three acre site packed with 10,000 chilli plants and pick as many spicy peppers as they wish for 35 cents each, including the world's hottest varieties the Dorset Naga and Bhut Jolokia which are more than 30 times hotter than Tabasco sauce and need to be eaten with goggles and gloves for safety.

LIGHT

Researchers have demonstrated white, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) sources with the same efficiency as fluorescent light bulbs. The result brings closer the prospect that OLEDs will be the flat-screen light sources of choice in the future. There has been significant work in OLEDs in recent years, so that small displays and even televisions based on the technology are beginning to come to the market.

AFRICA

A recent report finds that poor infrastructure conditions in the land transport, maritime transport and electricity sectors are significantly undermining the export competitiveness of many sub-Saharan African industries. Coffee, shay butter, pineapples, bananas, natural rubber and related downstream products, textiles and apparel, leather and tourism are all affected by these conditions. Poor infrastructure conditions in the region increase costs and export times can compromise product quality, rendering merchandise less competitive than global competitors.

ORGANS

Since the early 1980s, the Quebec company Casavant Freres, has been making organs. These hand crafted instruments used to be built mainly for North American churches but now they are about to be exported to China. At about C$2-million each, one will soon be housed in the National Theatre of Ordos in Mongolia. The company has 90 employees and has built about 4,000 organs in its history. Casavant makes just nine organs a year with prices ranging between one and five million dollars. Until now, the only Casavant organ in China has been in a museum.

ORGANIC

U.S. sales of organic products, both food and nonfood, reached US$24.6-billion in 2008 growing an impressive 17 per cent over 2007 sales. Organic food sales now account for approximately 3.5 per cent of all food product sales in the U.S. Nonfood categories which include items like organic fibres, personal care products and pet foods grew by an astonishing 39.4 per cent in 2008 to reach $1.65-billion.

COAL

China's construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. China now uses more coal than the U.S., Europe and Japan combined making it the world's largest emitter of gases. But, China has emerged in the past two years as the world's leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the technology, and driving down the costs. While the U.S. is still debating whether to build a more efficient kind of coal-fired power plant that uses extremely hot steam, China has begun building such plants at the rate of one a month.

RELATIONSHIPS

The U.S.-China relationship is the most important bilateral economic relationship in the world. Together, the U.S. and China accounted for more than 30 per cent of the worlds' GDP in 2007. In 2008, bilateral trade stood at US$409-billion, dwarfing the $206-billion worth of trade between the U.S. and Japan. Chinese exports to the U.S. amounted to approximately 7.7 per cent of China's GDP and at the end of 2008, Beijing was the largest holder of U.S. Treasuries, with over $700-billion in reserve.

ECONOMY

According to a recent survey in 18 countries around the world, consumers are more wary of trying new consumer products when they sense the economy is slowing down. In fact, more than half of global consumers shy away from new grocery, personal and household products during an economic turndown. Not surprisingly, new beauty products are especially vulnerable with 70 per cent of consumers saying they would not try a new beauty product.

POTASH

Brazil may hold the world's third-largest potash reserves, following discoveries in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The resources may help the country become self-sufficient in fertilizer within 10 years.

LABELLING

Food packaging in the UK is more likely to carry nutritional labelling than in almost every other European nation. More than 95 per cent of products in the UK and Ireland had nutritional information compared to an average of 85 per cent for the rest of Europe. A recent study compared more than 35,000 products in 50 retail outlets across five food and drink categories in the 27 EU member states and Turkey.

MEALS

An OECD study found that Canadians spend an average of 70 minutes eating and drinking every day. This is about half the time that the French devote to eating and drinking each day. The report investigated leisure time among 18 countries. Overall, Norwegians were the most leisurely people spending 26.5 per cent of their time engaged in activities defined as hobbies, games, TV viewing, computer use, recreational gardening, sports, socializing with friends and attending events. Mexico came in last with only 15 .8 per cent of every day spent on leisure.

CARS

Tata Motors the Indian truck maker that owns Jaguar and Land Rover has received 203,000 orders for its Nano, the world's cheapest car, more than double the initial expectation. The bookings total almost US$596-million and deliveries will start this month. Tata will choose the first 100,000 customers for the $2,500 Nano by lottery.

SPEED

Scientists have demonstrated the fastest imaging system ever devised. The camera's "shutter speed" is just half a billionth of a second and it can capture over six million images in a second continuously. Its "flashbulb" is a fast laser pulse dispersed in space and then stretched in time and detected electronically. It will be instrumental in imaging fast-moving or random events, such as communications between neurons.

TOLLS

In a concession to financially pressed shipping lines, the Panama Canal Authority has cut back some tolls and fees while giving carriers greater flexibility in reserving movements through the canal. The new fee schedule will reduce tolls on largely empty container ships and charges for transit reservations. Fees for late arrivals are also being reduced.

CAPACITY

Some experts predict that consumer demand for the Internet, already growing at 60 per cent a year, will start to exceed supply from as early as next year and will result in regular "brownouts" that will freeze computers as capacity runs out in cyberspace. The increase in demand is a result of people working from home and the soaring popularity of bandwidth-hungry websites such as YouTube.

BAUXITE

Vietnam is blessed with the world's third-largest reserves of bauxite, the raw material for aluminum and the government is keen to reap the benefits. It is seeking to attract US$15-billion or more of investments to develop bauxite mining and aluminum refining projects by 2025. Critics say the arrival of large -scale mining in a region that currently grows coffee and other crops could cause irreparable damage to the environment and displace ethnic-minority groups.

COOL

A beach near the Palazzo Versace hotel in Dubai is to have the first refrigerated beach so that hotel guests can comfortably walk across the sand on scorching hot days. The beach will have a network of pipes beneath the sand containing a coolant that will absorb heat.

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

We may be close to crossing that new bridge

We may be close to crossing that new bridge

The following article, by Jeffrey Simpson, is extracted from the 20 June 2009 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Could it be that after so many delays, false starts, political wrangling, engineering studies, competing proposals and plain old-fashioned inertia, a new bridge might soon be under construction between Windsor and Detroit, the busiest border crossing in North America?

Yes, there actually could be a new bridge, believe it or not.

With this project - an estimated $2-billion for the bridge, and more for the access roads on both sides of the border - nothing is ever guaranteed until the final rivet is in place. But on the Canadian side, all the political ducks are finally in line; and on the U.S. side, almost all of them are.

Except that in the U.S., a nation of lawyers, nothing is ever finally settled until the last lawsuit has expired….

The bridge is owned by one of the wealthiest men in the United States, billionaire Manuel (Matty) Moroun of Grosse Pointe. He owns a trucking conglomerate, dispenses political contributions (to 21 candidates in 2008, according to Campaignmoney.com), and keeps lawyers busy by filing lawsuits whenever matters are not going his way.

Which they are not. Mr. Moroun opposes the new bridge proposed by the U.S. and Canadian governments. He insists it will unfairly compete with his Ambassador Bridge, and the new bridge he will build, operate and own adjacent to the existing Ambassador that will eventually be phased out….

Alas for Mr. Moroun, the Department of Homeland Security does not favour his project, fearing terrorists could knock out one bridge, thereby crippling commerce among other losses. Nor does the U.S. Coast Guard favour Mr. Moroun's efforts. It recently ordered preliminary work stopped on his new bridge. Nor does the Democratic delegation in Congress from Michigan, with one exception.

Nor does the mayor of Detroit. Nor does the state government….

Mr. Moroun has just launched a lawsuit, claiming the U.S. government agencies had not followed their own rules in turning him down.

Unless this Hail Mary lawsuit succeeds - and very few people give it a hope - work will start later this year on the Windsor side preparing ground for the access from the 401 highway to the new six-lane bridge….

Many Windsorites wanted a tunnel from the 401 to the bridge, but the cost would have been astronomical. Now, it appears Mayor Francis and Queen's Park have reached an agreement whereby some of the access road will be sunken, although not tunnelled. With that compromise, the last hurdle fell on the Canadian side for a new bridge so long discussed, so long delayed.

The federal, provincial and municipal governments in Canada, and the federal, state and local governments on the U.S. side would appear all in agreement, finally, that a new bridge is needed and that it should be the publicly financed one. The Canadian section will likely be built through a public-private partnership….

It almost seems too good to be true: a new bridge by 2015. Hold your breath.

June 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

June 2009 Edition

EARNINGS

 
The relative contributions of wives and husbands to paid work hours and earnings have become closer in Canada over the past 12 years. But in 2008, most dual earner wives still contributed less than 45 per cent of total family earnings. Between 1997 and 2008, the proportion of wives earning at least 45 per cent of the family total increased from 37 to 42 per cent. In 1997, husbands worked over nine hours a week more than their wives but by 2008 this had dropped to just over seven hours. Over the same period, women's average weekly earnings increased at a faster pace than men's.

ENDORSEMENTS

In 2008, during an injury-abbreviated season, Tiger Woods took home US$7.7-million in tournament winnings, and almost $110-million in endorsements. By 2010, his lifetime earnings are expected to top $1-billion.

PETS

Honda is trying to boost sales of its light truck with a version tailored to U.S. dog owners, including an integrated pet bed, restraints and a spill-resistant water bowl. Other features include a rear ventilation fan and rubber floor mats. The pet-accessory and care market is a US$42-billion-a-year business. Honda's plan highlights auto makers' efforts to find niches to overcome the weakest U.S. market since the early 1980s. Last year, Toyota began offering pet-friendly features on one of their vehicles, including a ramp for loading animals, a leash tether, pet booster seat and waterproof and removable hammock-style seat covers.

COWS

A breed of cattle that was recreated by German geneticists after becoming extinct can be seen in Britain for the first time in 2,000 years, Aurochs, which can grow as large as half a ton, were last seen in Britain in Roman times but they became extinct in mainland Europe in 1627.

INVESTMENT

Canada recorded its first ever surplus in bilateral investment with the United States last year, overtaking an economy 10 times its size. Direct Canadian investment in the U.S. was $17.1-billion greater last year, rising by $80-billion to total $311-billion. In 2007, the balance of such investments favoured the U.S. by $62-billion. U.S. investment in Canada rose by $900-million in 2008 to $294-billion. The U.S. share of investment in Canada fell to 58 per cent of the total last year, the lowest in records dating back to 1926.

WASTE

For the second year in a row, the amount of waste generated in the U.S. has gone down. The decline in 2007, from 513-million tons to 508-million, was the first in more than 20 years. In 2008, the amount fell to 505-million tons. This is not due to setting aside newspapers and aluminum cans, the figures are the total before recycling.

TONER

Every page on a laser printer uses toner made from petroleum-based products. Now there is a greener choice that shows promise, a toner product derived from soybean oil. While some customers may be wary, potential benefits are clear. It's easier to recycle paper printed with soy, and soy toners can cost less than the standard alternative. Newspaper, magazine and book publishers have shifted to soy-based ink in recent years.

ICELAND

With Iceland's economic meltdown sending its currency down by 44 per cent in 2008, tourists who saw this remote North Atlantic island as expensive, are now flocking to its dramatic volcanic scenery. More than 10,500 Canadians visited the country last year, a rise of 68 per cent from 2007, contributing to an overall total of 502,000 tourists in a nation of just 320,000. Iceland is known for its breathtaking scenery,including the Blue Lagoon hot springs, spouting geysers, plunging waterfalls and glaciers and volcanoes as well as a UNESCO world heritage national park.

WATER

U.S researchers say that water levels in some of the world's most important rivers have declined significantly over the past 50 years. They say the flows are linked to climate change and will have a major impact as the human populations grows. The only area with a significant increase in water flows was the Arctic due to a greater amount of snow and ice melting. The researchers analyzed water flows in more than 900 rivers over a 50-year period to 2004. Besides climate, other significant factors have been the building of dams and diverting water for agriculture.

POST

The EU has given permission for the Danish and Swedish postal services to merge, however, the Danish parcel delivery service must be sold off to avoid antitrust concerns. The new company will be headquartered in Stockholm and have an annual turnover of US$6.5-billion and employ 50,000 people.

RECALLS

A new survey of Americans shows that only about 60 per cent ever looked for recalled food in their homes and only 10 per cent had ever found a recalled product. Approximately 12 per cent reported eating a food they thought had been recalled. More than 25 per cent reported that they had simply discarded food products after hearing about a recall, potentially wasting safe, nutritious food.

CLOTHES

A suit made from the world's most expensive wool has been sold to a mystery buyer for $140,000. It took more than 80 hours to make the one-off suit from Arctic wool, qiviuk, and rare South American wool, vicuna. The suit has 18-carat gold and diamond buttons. The qiviuk and vicuna wools were blended with pashmina to create a cloth known as Vanquish 11.

FISHING

A new EU report states that Europe has far too many fishing boats and major cuts are needed to make fishing sustainable. The reality for EU fish and fishermen consists of overfishing, fleet overcapacity, heavy subsidies, low economic resilience and decline in the volume of fish caught. Eighty-eight per cent of EU stocks are fished beyond their maximum sustainable yield.

FUEL

Jet fuel consumption and the prices airlines are paying for it fell significantly in the first two months of this year. Low demand for air cargo or passenger traffic depressed already declining fuel prices. U.S passenger and cargo airlines burned 1,397-billion gallons of fuel in January, down 12.8 per cent from a year earlier and 1.273-billion gallons in February, down 15.9 per cent.

TRUCKS

Ontario, Canada will begin a pilot program this summer to assess the benefits of pulling two 53-ft. trailers behind one cab. The one-year program will include up to 100 vehicles. Longer combination vehicles, known as LCVs, are already allowed in Western Canada, Quebec and 20 states in the U.S. Government studies show that LCVs were involved in 60 per cent fewer collisions than single trailer trucks.

WOOL

Wool prices in New Zealand have fallen to the lowest in 30 years as the slump in global construction sapped flooring demand for new buildings and home renovations. The price of coarse crossbred wool, a heavy grade accounting for about 80 per cent of New Zealand's output, dropped nearly four per cent.

PLASTIC

Most credit cards are made out of polyvinyl chloride. PCV, like all conventional plastic, is an oily substance. It takes about 4.25 grams of petroleum to make one five-gram credit card. Multiply that by 1.6-billion, the number of debit and credit cards produced annually in the U.S. and we are looking at roughly 45,000 barrels of oil. However, these figures do not include the billions of gift cards, loyalty cards and store charge cards.

MERGING

Two retail industry groups with a major voice in U.S. transportation policy are merging to give retailers a more powerful, united association in Washington. The National Retail Federation, the retail industry's largest association, and the Retail Industry Leaders Association will merge this summer. The merger comes as retailers struggle with a host of legislative initiatives and regulatory issues in Washington, as well as the recession, changes in consumer in-store and online spending and the need to invest in new technology.

RAIL

Jordan plans to begin work on a US$6-billion railway next year to bolster trade with its neighbours and create jobs. The project is vital as it will make freight movement faster, cut transportation costs and boost trade. The railway would link the Red Sea port of Aqaba with the Syrian border, through Amman and then the industrial city of Zarqa, the two largest cities in the largely desert country. Extending some 1,600 kilometres, the rail would also provide a link to the Saudi and Iraqi borders.

TEA

The U.N. reports that, in 2008, the demand for tea exceeded supply, driving up the cost. Tea consumption reached 3.85-million tonnes last year, up 4.8 per cent from 2007, but production was only 3.78-million tonnes. Tea was in surplus in 2007. Tea prices have soared as drought has hit Kenya and Sri Lanka hard in the past year, as well as India, which is the world's biggest producer of tea.

ANNIVERSARIES

The toaster is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year a century after it was first patented by technician Frank Shailor who worked for General Electric. The toasting machine was created 20 years before sliced bread was invented. It became an instant hit selling a million in the U.S before being introduced in Britain. Originally, the toaster was constructed of a wire fence with no covering and users had to place the bread inside and turn it by hand.

CLOTHING

More than 90 per cent of clothing sold in the U.S. is made offshore. Nearly a third of U.S. apparel imports came from China followed by Vietnam, Indonesia and Mexico. Clothes manufacturing began in New England and New York in the 1800s, shifted to Pennsylvania, then headed south after the turn of the century to states where labour was cheap and unions weak. Then it jumped the border to even cheaper labour pools in Mexico and the Caribbean. The rush to China began in the 1970s.

FLOWERS

Kenya was the largest foreign supplier to flower auctions held by FloraHolland a cooperative which sells 90 per cent of the plants and flowers auctioned in the Netherlands. The country is the world's largest exporter of flowers and plants with around 60 per cent of the global market. Germany was the single biggest foreign destination for FloraHollands plants and flowers, buying 28 per cent of what Holland exported.

PLANES

Airlines have announced plans over the past year to take 1,700 planes out of service as fewer people fly. The number of planes in storage has jumped 29 per cent in the past year to 2,302. Eventually some will be sold, some scrapped and some sit in desert facilities.

DROPPINGS

Wombat droppings are helping an industrial city in Australia fight the effects of the global financial crisis. One local industry in Tasmania is thriving by producing handmade paper out of a material no-one else wants, wombat poo. The novelty paper is a hit with tourists keen to buy a distinctly Australian souvenir from the area. Once sterilized and rinsed properly there is no scent left.

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

As of June 30th, 2009 all imported bovinae and non-bovinae pet foods from the United States into Canada require import permits

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/heasan/import/permit_covere.shtml

May 2009 Economic Digest - Importing and Exporting

May 2009 Edition

POLLUTION

Ships carry about 90 per cent of global trade, and until recently, such has been the demand for coal, cars and electronics, that there has been little concerted effort to rein in the growth of polluting emissions from ships. But pressure is now mounting in the United Nations to make ships more efficient. Now, a Singapore firm says it has invented and tested a patented method that removes planet-warming carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide, which causes acid rain and soot. The process uses very alkaline seawater sprayed into the exhaust funnel to scrub out the gases and soot.

CHARITY

The findings on a new study examining the experience of 24 nonprofit groups suggest that people who go online to donate to charity for the first time often do not return to the Internet to make later gifts. While the Internet can be a valuable fund-raising tool for charities, it is not a replacement for direct mail or other forms of fund-raising. The 24 non-profit organizations studied had 9.5-million donors and total revenues of US$747-million.

LUGGAGE

The European Union is ready to set up a new body to order airlines to pay travellers compensation when their baggage fails to appear, meaning that passengers would no longer have to sue airlines who refuse to pay out. The new compensation is based on the value of the missing baggage, with a maximum payment of US$2,100. In 2004, a scheme was scrapped whereby compensation was based on how much luggage weighed.

ENROLMENT

For the first time in six years, enrolment in computer science programmes in the U.S. increased last year. The revival is significant according to scientists and industry executives who in the past have been pointing to declining numbers of science and engineering students as an indicator warning about the nations' weakening ability to compete in the global economy.

SPORTS

The operating revenues for Canada's spectator sports, event promoters, artists and related industries reached C$5.5-billion in 2007, up 9.6 per cent from the previous year. The increase was largely the result of a 15.2 per cent rise in revenues among promoters of performing arts whose revenues amounted to $1.9-billion. Spectator sports generated $2.4-billion in revenues representing over 40 per cent of total industry operating revenues.

WATERING

A sensor developed by Israeli scientists sends text messages to farmers when crops need water, or to homeowners when a plant is thirsty. The product is currently being prepared for the international commercial market. The original idea behind the sensor is to cut irrigation costs by up to 50 per cent.

AIRBUS

The Airbus A380 double-decker jumbo jet will be making its Canadian debut in June in Toronto when Emirates Airline adds the world's largest 'plane to the Toronto-Dubai route. On the upper level of the A380 will be 14 suites in first class and 76 lie-flat seats in business class. There will also be 399 economy class seats on the lower deck. Fares are subject to change, but for now, the carrier expects to charge round-trip prices starting at C$1,130 for economy, $6,550 for business class and $10,000 for first class which includes a lounge and two shower spas.

DIAMONDS

The Government of Botswana and De Beers have closed two diamond mines for the rest of the year as demand falls. Diamond giant De Beers, the world's largest diamond producer by value, produced 48-million carats in 2008. The global financial and economic crisis has forced even the wealthy to cut their spending on luxury goods, including jewellery. Luxury-jewellery retailer Tiffany reported that its same-store sales for the last Christmas season fell by 24 per cent.

BRIDGING

The Italian government has revived plans to build a controversial bridge linking the island of Sicily to the mainland. The Messina bridge, whose centre span of 3.3-km (two miles) would make it the longest in the world. It is part of a massive US$32-billion public works program to create new jobs and boost the economy. In the past, the proposal has been criticised on two points: one, on the grounds of safety as the bridge will span a busy shipping lane and will have to withstand high winds. Second, many fear that huge amounts of taxpayers' money would be siphoned off by the Sicilian and Calabrian mafias.

BATTERIES

A new manufacturing method for lithium-ion batteries could lead to smaller, lighter batteries that can be charged in seconds. Batteries that discharge just as quickly would be useful for electric and hybrid cars, where a quick jolt of charge is needed for acceleration. The approach only requires simple changes to the production of a well-known material. Because of the electric punch that they pack, gram for gram, lithium-ion batteries are the most common rechargeable batteries found in consumer electronics, such as laptops.

JUSTICE

The number of workers in the Canadian justice related occupations reached 362,665 in 2006, a 20 per cent increase since 1991. All justice sectors recorded increases in their personnel between 1991 and 2006, ranging from 12 per cent among police officers to 24 per cent among court personnel.

BURNING

Researchers have developed an indicator that turns an appropriate shade of pink to alert wearers of sunburn. The thin film device could be worn as a wrist band to warn wearers they risk receiving a potentially harmful dose of ultraviolet rays. UV rays drive a chemical reaction in the indicator, releasing an acid into a dye, and causing it to change colour.

AGE

Japan now has so many people over 100 that it is cutting costs by reducing the size of silver cups it presents to those who reach that age. last year, 19,769 people reached triple figures in the world's most rapidly aging country, compared with only 153 in 1963, the year when the cups were first presented.

INNOVATION

Canada ranks 14th in a field of 110 countries when it comes to innovation in manufacturing. A study, compiled by an international consulting firm, judged countries partly based on government support for innovation, through tax and education policies, and the quality of infrastructure. But it also looked at the performance of innovative companies, measured by factors such as high-tech exports, the amount of intellectual property generated and employment growth. The top countries were Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland and the US was eighth. Canada came ahead of countries such as Britain, Israel, Australia and Germany.

PLACEMENT

Britain will not allow broadcasters to use product placements in their programming despite the collapse of traditional advertising revenues. The major commercial TV network in the UK has seen revenues slump by almost 20 per cent in the first quarter of this year, leading it to cut 600 jobs and sell assets.

FLYING

Britain's airports were hit by the recession and high fuel prices last year, with 4.6-million fewer people taking to the air, the first passenger decline in 17 years. The escalating cost of jet fuel in the first half of 2008 pushed up ticket prices while the recession delivered a further blow to the air travel market in the second half. London's airports were hit particularly badly with Stansted showing a drop of 1.4-million passengers and Gatwick showing a 2.8 per cent drop in passengers.

TUNGSTEN

This industry is forecasting a healthy future as tungsten will increase in use as an environmentally friendly alternative to lead. Tungsten can now be used as a non-toxic substitute for lead in fishing lures, wheel weights and protective X-ray vests The industry is also hoping that hunters may be prepared to pay a little more for bullets and shotgun shot. The extremely dense metal has traditionally been used in steel hardening, in electronic applications and in light bulb filaments. The annual worldwide production of tungsten is a relatively small 80,000 tonnes with a value of about US$225 a tonne.

CONVENIENCE

A recent study reports that shoppers are looking for more efficient end effective ways to shop for convenience food items. The study found that rather than having convenience items scattered throughout a store, shoppers would prefer a dedicated convenience meals aisle where a full range of quick and easy products can be found. The study interviewed 1,500 shoppers in-store, and analyzed more than 15 million frequent shopper card households and over 100 million baskets. A convenience meals aisle would be located in the centre of a store, a highly profitable area for retailers, representing 88 per cent of total store net profit.

FISH

World fish production hit 143.6-million tonnes in 2006, the highest since records began in 1950. Just over 110-million tonnes was eaten by people, the rest used as animal feed or for other commercial purposes. Some 47 per cent of fish on dinner plates is now farmed and this is likely to increase as the amount caught in the wild levels off. China is the world's biggest producer landing 17-million tonnes of fish from its waters and farming 34.4-million tonnes.

WATER

As every farmer knows, water is a precious commodity. A new book details how much water is needed to create some daily goods. A cup of coffee for example, needs much more water than that poured into the pot. 1,120 litres go into producing a single litre of coffee. Only 120 litres go into making a litre of tea. 900 litres goes into making a litre of wine or apple juice. Leather shoes and microchips require over 16,000 litres of water each to be produced.

DOOMSDAY

There are now almost 20 million food crop seed samples stored in the "doomsday vault" in the Arctic. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault built 130 metres inside a mountain aims to protect the world's crop species against natural and human disasters. This US$7-million facility opened in 2008 is now storing one third of the planet's most important food crop varieties.

INVESTMENT

The Canadian government spent C$921-million on science and technology activities in biotechnology in fiscal year 2007/2008. Of the total, 29 per cent went on in-house activities performed by government departments or agencies. The other 71 per cent consists of contracts or grants to organizations and individuals outside of government.

PUBLICATIONS

Each month, a group of 30 to 40 people in China work on translating the latest issue of "The Economist." In the past, Chinese authorities have ripped articles about China out of some issues before they have hit the newsstands.

COMPLAINTS

Among the most bizarre complaints made by British holidaymakers were: sand being too white; there were too many Spanish people in Spain and too much curry served in restaurants in India. And frustration by some that it took nine hours to fly home to the UK from Jamaica when it took only three hours for Americans to fly home.

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