U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) signed Monday a Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA) with the Customs Administrations of Guatemala and Colombia at the Trade Facilitation and Cargo Summit.
”By cooperating with our regional partners theough MRAs and other bilateral arrangements, we are able to create a unified and sustainable security posture,” said Pete Flores, Executive Assistant Commissioner for CBP Field Operations. “As a result, we are furthering our efforts to facilitate trade and enhance our economic security mission.”
Hosted by Debbie Seguin, Assistant Commissioner for International Affairs, guests included Marco Livio Diaz Reyes, Superintendent of Guatemala’s Superintendencia de Administracion Tributaria, and Ingrid Magnolia Diaz Rincon, Director for the Direccion de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales de Colombia.
MRAs are bilateral understandings between two customs administrations providing a platform for the exchange of membership information and recognizes the compatibility of the respective supply chain security program.
CBP reached this MRA after the customs administrations of Guatemala and Colombia had agreed on a Joint Work Plan (JWP) during 2022 Trade Facilitation and Cargo Security Summit, held in Anaheim, California. The JWP is a document that lays out the path towards MRAs between the two customs administrations’ Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) programs. A JWP shows commitment from both programs, requires high level support, and lays out detailed steps towards MRA.
The document, referred to as an “arrangement,” indicate the security requirements or standards of the foreign industry partnership program, as well as its verification procedures, are the same or like those of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (CTPAT) programme.
The world’s best restaurant is in Sweden. Yes, even in Stockholm. The French restaurant guide La Liste named Frantzén the world’s sharpest restaurant.
The well-known restaurant guide La Liste has, after weighing hundreds of guides, reviews and press statements, concluded that the Swedish star restaurant Frantzén is the best in the world.
The restaurant is the only Swedish one to be awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide, which in itself says a lot about the quality.
First place at La Liste is shared by Björn Frantzén with two other restaurants that ended up with the same high score as Swedish Frantzén: French Guy Savoy and American Le Bernardin.
Trade agreements of various kinds are there to help as one of the most important instruments to mitigate and simplify international trade in an increasingly complex and complccted world. There are more than 550 agreements operational today and we know from studies that they are only utilized to 55-60%. Companies are leaving money on the table and missing opportunities in new markets.
Even though the potential is so much higher, the power of trade deals is still impressive. Thanks to the Economic Partnership Agreement, trade between the EU and Japan grew by an impressive 13.4% in 2022.
The agreement also helped both partners recover from the pandemic, with trade in goods returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2021.
In fact, EU exports to Japan grew by 6.6% in 2020 compared to the previous year, exceeding the growth rate of the previous three years.
According to both partners, this agreement is an important cornerstone of the EU-Japan trade relationship and plays a crucial role in strengthening the political ties between the EU and Japan.
By the way, did you know that Japan holds a significant position in the EU’s trade relations with Asian countries, standing as its second largest trading partner after China? Moreover, in terms of both imports and exports of goods, Japan is ranked seventh among the EU’s trading partners.
Source: EuropeanCommission
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