ASSINGMENT ON

TRADE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CANADA AND SINGAPORE

& WTO’S ROLE
 CITIZENS

CANADA:

                               RASHEDI SAMIUR RAHMAN   06-07262-3

                              JAKARIA MUHAMMUD:         06-07485-3

    TASLIMA UMME:                     06-07090-2

ISLAM MD. SHARIFUL:             07-07840-1

SINGAPORE

                               FARZANA ASHRAF                      06-07036-2

                                ASADUZZAMAN MAHAMMAD   06-07064-2

                                AZIM RIYASAT                             06-07040-2

                                ARIF MD GOLAM                        06-06253-1

About WTO:

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an international organization designed by its

founders to supervise and liberalize international capital trade. The organization officially
commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakesh Agreement, replacing the General
Agreements on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1947. The World Trade
Organization deals with regulation of trade between participating countries; it provides a
framework for negotiating and formalizing trade agreements, and a dispute resolution
process aimed at enforcing participants' adherence to WTO agreements which are signed
by representatives of member governments and ratified by their parliaments.

Some highlighted points about: World Trade Organization (WTO)

1) Location: Geneva, Switzerland
2) Established: 1 January 1995
3) Created by: Uruguay Round negotiations (1986-94)  
4) Membership: 153 countries on 23 July 2008
5) Budget: 189 million Swiss francs for 2009
6) Secretariat staff: 625
7) Head: Pascal Lamy (Director-General)

Functions:
• Administering WTO trade agreements
• Forum for trade negotiations
• Handling trade disputes
• Monitoring national trade policies
• Technical assistance and training for developing countries
• Cooperation with other international organizations 

Canada’s role in WTO:

With the collapse of the Doha Round of trade talks in Geneva, the World Finger-pointing
Organization (WFO) is now set to take over the trade agenda. China blames the United
States, the U. S. blames China, India blames Europe, small nations blame big ones and
big ones blame the small. Canada didn't blame anyone in particular for the failure of the
talks, in part because it had no one to blame but itself.

At the 153-member WFO, however, it would be folly to pin the Doha collapse on any one
nation or group. It was a conspiracy of the like-minded and the wrong-headed, politicians
and bureaucrats who talk free trade but spend every waking hour operating under the
ancient mercantilist fallacies that exports are good and imports are bad.
Given this prevailing world trade ideology, collapse of the Doha Round certainly poses
risks. Multilateral trade agreements may not be the most perfect form of free trade, but
they are the best thing we have and any threat to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is
cause for concern. On the other hand, the WTO itself is not about to collapse. Existing
agreements, whatever their weaknesses, remain in place.

The trick now is to turn the WFO back into the WTO. Every one of the WTO's member
nations --including Cape Verde (pop: 499,796; location: hard to find) added last week as
the 153rd member -- could use a refresher course in the economics of free trade. It may
take a year or two -- re-education is a slow process --but in the end new and improved
global perspectives on trade could emerge.

As it turns out, the Doha deal that didn't survive may not have been worth saving. Far too
much protectionist baggage was piling up on the negotiating table, from China's request
for the absolute right to impose tariffs to the U. S. insistence on the right to subsidize
agriculture and, most pathetic of all, to Canada's sly early carve-out of farm product
supply management as a sacred "sensitive" category that could not be touched.

Canada's defense of its farm protection monster is indefensible. Supply management -- a

genuine monopoly rip-off of all Canadian consumers, an assault on sound economic
principle and a tool of economic oppression -- remains the driving force behind Canada's
current trade policy. It is Canada's trade policy.

In March of 2007, Chuck Strahl, then agriculture minister, declared: "Canada's new
government demonstrates its support for supply management." As the Doha talks crashed
yesterday in Geneva, International Trade Minister Michael Fortier said: "Our position on
supply management will not change. Our position has been known for some time. And
we have no intention of changing that position."

That ministers in the Conservative government of all of Canada can hold such positions
openly is a testament to the aggressive farm lobby takeover of Canadian trade policy. The
supply management protection program is becoming even more deeply entrenched as
Canadian trade principle.

All Canadians should note that supply management is not just a policy. It is a government
sanctioned monopoly. And not a monopoly in the flabby way that Canadians throw
around the word monopoly, as in Bell Canada or Rogers being a monopoly. This is a
monopoly with total economic control over everything it does. It makes its own laws and
regulations, a state within a state.

A recent Quebec government commission minced no words. "A marketing board is a

monopoly with broad powers to intervene in the sale and marketing of agricultural
products." Such boards, moreover, have regulatory powers, described as "unilateral
decision-making tools with the same weight as an act of parliament."
The results of the supply management system, maintained by Ottawa by force, are
indescribably destructive. In the dairy sector, milk prices are kept well above
international prices, Canadian milk and dairy product consumption is in constant morbid
decline, exports are non-existent and vast pools of debt and waste are built around quota
ownership.

The real barometer of supply management is the price of the official monopoly quota, the
right to milk a cow. The June price in Ontario was $33,235, up from $26,000 in June of
last year. Meanwhile, the price of milk is going up September 1 -- a "special increase" to
cover rising costs. Ottawa supports all this, right to the point of helping to destroy a trade
agreement.

Singapore’s role in WTO:

Import:

For import of all goods (including controlled and non-controlled items) into Singapore,
you are required to:

* Obtain an IN Permit through TradeNet® before goods are imported into Singapore,
and
* Pay the duty and/or Goods and Services Tax (GST) due at the prevailing rate at the
time of importation.

Conditions

* When importing meat, make sure it does not appear stale or have off odours.
* Import only meat or poultry that has been stored at the right refrigerated conditions.
Do not import chilled or frozen meat or poultry that is at room temperature.
* Do not import meat or poultry in packaging that is leaking or torn.
* Ensure that there is no excessive moisture on the surface of meat or poultry. It shows
that the food items have not been handled properly.

WHOLESOME MEAT AND FISH (IMPORT, EXPORT AND TRANSHIPMENT)

RULES

(a) where the meat product or fish product is a prepackaged product, each package of the
meat
product or fish product; o
(b) where the meat product or fish product consists of a carcass or part of a carcass which
has not been prepackaged, each such carcase or part thereof; "customs office or station"
means any place that is prescribed as a customs office or station under the Customs
(Offices and Stations) Regulations (Cap. 70, Rg 7) and, in relation to any meat product or
fish product which has been imported into Singapore, means the customs office or station
at which the meat product or fish product arrived in Singapore; "export health certificate"
, in relation to any consignment of meat products or fish products that is to be exported to
a foreign country, means a certificate issued by the Director-General or an authorised
officer stating to the effect that the consignment has been examined in accordance with
the requirements of that country and has been found to be fit for human consumption and
in compliance with the requirements of that country; "health certificate" , in relation to
any consignment of meat products or fish products that originates from a foreign country,
means a certificate issued by a competent authority of that country stating to the effect
that there are in place in that country, such animal health and veterinary public health
control programmers or, where applicable, such shellfish sanitation programmers, which
conform to such requirements as may be specified by the Director-General; "license"
means a license required under section 5 of the Act for the import, export or
transshipment of any meat product or fish product; "licensee" means a person who holds
a valid license; "package" , in relation to any meat product or fish product, means any
box, bag, wrapper, packet, can, bottle or other article in which the product is contained or
packed; "permit" means a permit required under section 6 of the Act for the import,
export or transshipment of any consignment of meat products or fish products.

Person to whom license or permit may be granted

3. — (1) The Director-General shall not grant a license or permit to any person unless the
person is carrying on business in Singapore and is —
(a) Registered under the Business Registration Act (Cap. 32); or
(b) In the case of a company, incorporated or registered under the Companies Act (Cap.
50).
(2) The Director-General may refuse to grant a license to an applicant if he is satisfied
that the applicant or one of his partners or, if the applicant is a body corporate, one of its
directors —
(a) Had previously been convicted of an offence under the Act or these Rules; or
(b) Was the holder of a license which had been revoked under section 8 of the Act.
License and permit not transferable
4. (1) No licensee shall transfer or assign the benefit of his license or any permit granted
to him to any other person.
.
(2) A licensee who contravenes paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and shall be
liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.
Licensee importing or transshipping meat products and fish products to submit
certain documents
5. —(1) A licensee who has imported or who is transshipping any consignment of meat
products or fish products shall, before the removal of the consignment from the customs
office or station, submit to an authorized officer
a copy each of —
(a) The health certificate relating to the consignment (if required by the authorized
officer);
(b) The import declaration in respect of the consignment; and
(c) Such other document in respect of the consignment as the Director-General or
authorized officer may reasonably require.
(2) A licensee who fails to comply with paragraph (1) shall be guilty of an offence and
shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.

Procedure for examination of imported meat products and fish products

6. —(1) The examination of any consignment of meat products or fish products which
has been imported into Singapore shall be carried out at the place where the consignment
is being kept immediately after its import.
(2) The authorized examiner shall conduct —
(a) a general examination of the whole consignment; and
(b) a detailed examination of at least one basic packaging unit of the meat products or
fish products declared in the cargo clearance permit and health certificate.
(3) Any sample of meat product or fish product that is frozen shall be adequately thawed
for the purpose of the detailed examination under paragraph (2) (b).
(4) The person who has imported the consignment or his representative shall, before the
commencement of the examination, present to the authorized examiner conducting the
examination 2 sets (in duplicate) of the cargo clearance permit and health certificate
relating to the consignment.
(5) Where the authorized examiner, upon having conducted the requisite examination,
finds that the consignment of meat products or fish products is fit for human
consumption, he shall endorse the cargo clearance permit relating to the consignment
with a statement to that effect.
(6) Where the authorized examiner, upon having conducted the requisite examination,
finds that the consignment of meat products or fish products is unfit for human
consumption, he shall —
(a) Endorse the cargo clearance permit relating to the consignment with a statement to
that effect; and
(b) notify an authorized officer of his finding.
(7) The authorized officer may detain the consignment pending its removal, destruction
or disposal from Singapore under section 10 of the Act.

Labeling of meat products and fish products

7. —(1) For the purpose of section 6 (1) (d) of the Act, a licensee shall ensure that —
(a) Every basic packaging unit of any meat product or fish product to be imported by
him; and
(b) Every carton containing one or more of such basic packaging units of the meat
product or fish product, are labeled with the following particulars:
(i) A description of the meat product or fish product;
(ii) The country from which the meat product or fish product originates;
(iii) The brand name of the meat product or fish product, if any;
(iv) the name and designation number of the processing establishment in which, and the
date on which, the meat product or fish product was processed, if applicable;
(v) In the case of a meat product, the name and designation number of the slaughter-
house in which the animals used in the production of such meat product were slaughtered
and the date of the slaughter;
(vi)The name and designation number of the establishment in which, and the date on
which, the meat product or fish product was packed;
(vii) The batch number and, where the meat product or fish product is canned, the
canning code; and
(viii) The net weight of the meat product or fish product as contained in each basic
packaging unit and outer carton thereof.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to fish that is landed directly from fishing vessels.
(3) For the purpose of section 6 (2) (g) of the Act, a licensee shall ensure that any meat
product or fish product to be exported by him is packaged and labelled in accordance
with the requirements of the country to which the meat product or fish product is to be
exported.
(4) Where a licensee to whom paragraph (1) applies fails to comply with that paragraph
—
(a) he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not
exceeding $10,000; and
(b) the Director-General or an authorized officer may, as the case requires —
(i) take such measures as may be necessary to ensure that no part of the meat product or
fish
product imported by the licensee is sold or distributed; or
(ii) cause the meat product or fish product to be destroyed or removed from Singapore,
and recover any costs and expenses reasonably incurred by him from the licensee.
Export health certificate
8. —(1) Any licensee who requires an export health certificate for the export of any
consignment of meat products or fish products may apply to the Director-General or an
authorized officer for the issue to him of the export health certificate.
(2) Any application under paragraph (1) shall be in such form as the Director-General
may require and shall be accompanied by —
(a) a written document from a competent authority of the country to which the
consignment is to be exported specifying the import requirements of that country; and
(b) the appropriate fee.
(3) Upon receiving an application for an export health certificate, the Director-General or
the authorized officer shall examine the consignment to be exported or cause the
consignment to be examined by an authorized examiner and shall issue the export health
certificate to the applicant only if —
(a) the examination reveals that the consignment is fit for human consumption; and
(b) the import requirements of the country to which the consignment is intended to be
exported are complied with.

Offences to be compoundable
9. All offences under these Rules may be compounded in accordance with section 39 of
the Act.

(b) If, after having studied the plan and schedule included in an interim agreement
referred to in paragraph 5 in consultation with the parties to that agreement and taking
due account of the information made available in accordance with the provisions of sub-
paragraph (a), the Contracting Parties find that such agreement is not likely to result in
the formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area within the period contemplated
by the parties to the agreement or that such period is not a reasonable one, the
Contracting Parties shall make recommendations to the parties to the agreement. The
parties shall not maintain or put into force, as the case may be, such agreement if they are
not prepared to modify it in accordance with these recommendations.

(c) Any substantial change in the plan or schedule referred to in paragraph 5 (c) shall
be communicated to the Contracting Parties, which may request the contracting parties
concerned to consult with them if the change seems likely to jeopardize or delay unduly
the formation of the customs union or of the free-trade area.

8. For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) A customs union shall be understood to mean the substitution of a single customs
territory for two or more customs territories, so that

(i) Duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce (except, where necessary,
those permitted under Articles XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV and XX) are eliminated with
respect to substantially all the trade between the constituent territories of the union or at
least with respect to substantially all the trade in products originating in such territories,
and,

(ii) Subject to the provisions of paragraph 9, substantially the same duties and other
regulations of commerce are applied by each of the members of the union to the trade of
territories not included in the union;

(b) A free-trade area shall be understood to mean a group of two or more customs
territories in which the duties and other restrictive regulations of commerce (except,
where necessary, those permitted under Articles XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV and XX) are
eliminated on substantially all the trade between the constituent territories in products
originating in such territories.

9. The preferences referred to in paragraph 2 of Article I shall not be affected by the

formation of a customs union or of a free-trade area but may be eliminated or adjusted by
means of negotiations with contracting parties affected.* This procedure of negotiations
with affected contracting parties shall, in particular, apply to the elimination of
preferences required to conform with the provisions of paragraph 8 (a)(i) and paragraph 8
(b).

10. The Contracting Parties may by a two-thirds majority approve proposals which do not
fully comply with the requirements of paragraphs 5 to 9 inclusive, provided that such
proposals lead to the formation of a customs union or a free-trade area in the sense of this
Article.

11. Taking into account the exceptional circumstances arising out of the establishment of
India and Pakistan as independent States and recognizing the fact that they have long
constituted an economic unit, the contracting parties agree that the provisions of this
Agreement shall not prevent the two countries from entering into special arrangements
with respect to the trade between them, pending the establishment of their mutual trade
relations on a definitive basis.*

12. Each contracting party shall take such reasonable measures as may be available to it
to ensure observance of the provisions of this Agreement by the regional and local
governments and authorities within its territories.