The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 9 (some may also be given separate headlines):

Mexico recently revised its standard labeling requirements for prepackaged food and non-alcoholic beverage imports, KPMG said in an Oct. 7 post. The changes, which took effect Oct. 1, require food and beverage importers to include certain information on the product label, such as added sugar, saturated fats and sodium. Prepackaged products that contain sweeteners must not have labels with “characters, animations, cartoons, celebrities, athletes, pets or interactive elements that are aimed at children,” KPMG said. The packaging must also not “promote or encourage” consuming products with “high caloric content.” Traders wishing to submit challenges or “suspension requests” relating to the new requirements must file an action by Nov. 17.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 7 (some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Oct. 5 (some may also be given separate headlines):

FDA has signed an agreement to expand its food safety collaboration with its Mexican regulatory counterparts, the agency announced Oct. 5. The “statement of intent” signed by FDA and the Mexican National Service of Agro-Alimentary Public Health Safety and Quality (SENASICA) and Federal Commission for the Protection from Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) “embraces the use of new and emerging technologies to strengthen the Participants’ respective technical and predictive capabilities; leverages food safety programs at SENASICA and COFEPRIS and their work with local industry; and further enhances collaborations with other key partners in the United States and Mexico, among others,” FDA said. The statement also says FDA, SENASICA and COFEPRIS intend to expand the scope of their 2014 agreement on produce safety to cover other foods.

Canada published its notice for now-suspended plans to implement retaliatory tariffs on aluminum goods from the U.S. in the Sept. 30 Canada Gazette, Part II. Canada was set to apply the tariffs once the U.S. tariffs on goods from Canada took effect on Sept. 16, but after the U.S. decided Sept. 15 not to implement its tariffs, Canada said it would follow suit (see 2009150048). “Given the timing of the U.S. announcement on September 15, 2020, just hours before Canada’s planned announcement of surtaxes entering into effect, the Order in Council to impose surtaxes (the “Surtax Order”) was already approved and set to enter into force on September 16, 2020,” a Department of Finance Canada spokesperson said.

Mexico's cabinet members in charge of implementing labor law changes and managing the USMCA more broadly said they are helping the private sector evaluate whether businesses could be a target of the rapid response mechanism, and they are working on the four-year process of democratizing labor unions in the country. Labor Secretary Luisa Maria Alcalde de Lujan said new laws include eliminating the former arbitration system, which was part of the executive branch, and creating a system of labor judges.

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 23 (some may also be given separate headlines):

The Canada government issued the following trade-related notices as of Sept. 23 (some may also be given separate headlines):

As trade and labor attorneys wait to see which company is the target of a promised AFL-CIO rapid response complaint, Warren Payne, a senior adviser for Mayer Brown's public policy and international trade practices, said there can be informed speculation on who might be first.