Turkey-South Korea Framework Agreement – Turkey and South Korea signed a Joint Declaration for the Turkey-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to establish a free trade regime between them. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries was around $7 billion last year. Once the preparations are complete, Turkey Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan expects to come together with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and sign the necessary agreements in June.
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Seaway Pipeline Expansion – Enbridge Inc. and Enterprise Products Partners LP will more than double the capacity of the Seaway Pipeline as a way of easing the oil glut of crude in the U.S. Midwest by adding 450,000 barrels per day (bpd). According to Enbridge the additional barrels will raise the pipeline’s capacity to 850,000 bpd by mid-2014. The company also plans on increasing the size of its Flanagan South Pipeline.
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Import Trade Auxiliary Communication System (ITACS) Now Available – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has implemented an ITACS system as a way of improving communication between the FDA and the US import trade community. The ITACS provides three functions: the ability to check on the status of an entry, the ability to submit entry documentation electronically, and the ability to submit goods availability information for targeted shipments electronically. The ability for the ITACS to submit more detailed entry statuses than what is currently transmitted via the Automated Broker Interface (ABI) is one of the biggest benefits of this new system.
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Protest at Port Nehru – Port Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s largest container gateway, has been shut down due to a protest by local political parties and trade unions. Protestors are upset over the delays in worker compensation packages. The strikers are forcing ocean carriers to skip calls at the port and have set up blockades on access roads to prevent trucks loading or unloading containers at cargo terminals.
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