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December 12, 2011

Occupy Protesters Descend on West Coast Ports

Trucks backed up at Oakland; riot police push back Long Beach protesters several hundred Occupy movement protesters blocked entrances to the Port of Oakland on Monday while police in riot gear lined up at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to block attempts to shut down work at ports along the West Coast.
Riot police surrounded and methodically pushed back about 100 protesters who had been blocking access to the Port of Long Beach. By 9 a.m. the road leading to Terminal J was clear and traffic moving.
Two large groups of protesters marched in circles around the two main truck entrances to the Port of Oakland, causing long backups of drayage trucks trying to enter the terminals.
Protesters in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area gathered around 5 a.m. Pacific Time at Harry Bridges Park, near the Port of Long Beach. According to local reports, police ordered the protesters to leave the port area.
Officials at Port Metro Vancouver in British Columbia said their terminals were open for business Monday morning.
In the most dramatic action yet associated with the movement that began as
Occupy Wall Street, protesters have vowed to shut down activity at the ports along the West Coast, including LA-Long Beach facilities that handle some 40 percent of U.S. inbound container traffic.

The movement, which has called Dec. 12 Occupy the Ports day, is making the ports a flashpoint for a broad array of criticisms of the U.S. economy in the wake of the 2008 Wall Street meltdown. Occupy organizers have pointed to Goldman Sachs' part ownership of the SSA marine terminal at Long Beach.

U.S. and Canada Agree on Action Plans for Beyond the Border and Regulatory Cooperation Council Initiatives

On December 7, 2011 U.S. President Barack Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that an agreement had been reached on the implementation of the Beyond the Border (BTB) and Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) joint initiatives which were first announced in February.

According to a Fact Sheet released by the White House, the Beyond the Border Action Plan "sets out joint priorities for achieving a new long-term security partnership in four key areas, guided by mutual respect for sovereignty and our separate constitutional and legal frameworks that protect individual privacy."

The key areas are:
- Addressing threats at the earliest possible point through joint, integrated threat assessments and by improving intelligence and national security information sharing.
- Promoting trade facilitation, economic growth, and jobs.
- Strengthening cross-border law enforcement.
- Protecting shared critical infrastructure, including enhancing continental and global cyber security.

The Regulatory Cooperation Council is tasked with the promotion of economic growth, job creation, and benefits to consumers and businesses through increased regulatory transparency and coordination. The Fact Sheet states that the U.S. and Canada "intend to eliminate unnecessary burdens on cross-border trade, reduce costs, foster cross-border investment, and promote certainty for the general public and businesses, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises operating near the border, by coordinating, simplifying, and ensuring where possible the compatibility of regulations."

Initial work will focus on:
- Agriculture and food.
- Transportation.
- Health, personal care products, and workplace chemicals.
- The environment.


The White House Fact Sheet is available online at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/07/fact-sheet-us-canada-beyond-border-and-regulatory-cooperation-council-in

Joint statements by President Obama and Prime Minister Harper are available at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/12/07/statements-president-barack-obama-and-prime-minister-canada-stephen-harp


CBP Releases December 7th COAC Meeting Materials

On December 7, 2011 the fourth Commercial Operations Advisory Committee (COAC) meeting of 2011 took place in Washington DC. All meeting materials and presentations have been made available for download by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on their website.

Topics discussed at the meeting included:
- Anti-dumping/Countervailing Duties
- Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Progress
- Role of the Broker
- Land Border Security Initiatives
- Air Cargo Security
- Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement

The COAC advises the Secretaries of the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the commercial operations of CBP and other related Department functions. Meetings are held four times a year and membership consists of 20 private sector representatives and a co-chair from both Treasury and DHS.


The meeting materials for the December 7th COAC meeting are available at:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/trade_outreach/coac/coac_12_meetings/dec_7/meeting_materials/

 

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Tons News is compiled from a number of public sources that, to the best of Tons knowledge, are true and correct. It is our intent to present only accurate information. However, in the event any information contained herein is erroneous, Tons accepts no liability or responsibility.