DHAKA, June 24 (Xinbhua) -- Bangladesh's food grain import during July-April period of the outgoing 2011-12 fiscal year ending this month declined sharply by more than 50 percent year-on- year, said a central bank official of Sunday. Quoting Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the official who preferred to be unnamed said Bangladesh's rice import plunged 56.32 percent year-on-year to 283.8 million U.S. dollars during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year 2011-12 (July 2011-June 2012).

DHAKA, June 24 (Xinbhua) -- Bangladesh's food grain import during July-April period of the outgoing 2011-12 fiscal year ending this month declined sharply by more than 50 percent year-on- year, said a central bank official of Sunday. Quoting Bangladesh Bank (BB) data, the official who preferred to be unnamed said Bangladesh's rice import plunged 56.32 percent year-on-year to 283.8 million U.S. dollars during the first 10 months of the current fiscal year 2011-12 (July 2011-June 2012).

President Lee Myung-bak met with Chilean President Sebastian Pinera on Friday, and agreed to upgrade their free trade agreement to a new level.Speaking at a joint press conference following their bilateral summit, President Lee said that the two countries have decided to expand cooperation to various fields, such as education, culture and renewable energy, through an enhanced trade pact.

(Reuters) - The United States on Friday pressedArgentina to "immediately" end an import licensing regime and other curbs that have frustrated foreign exporters and also raised concern about "sweeping new import restrictions" that Indonesia has imposed.The comments came in a pair of remarks made by a U.S. official at the World Trade Organization in Geneva and copies of which were made available in Washington.June 22, 2012 Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - Brazil has taken the first legal step at the World Trade Organization to challenge South Africa's use of anti-dumping measures on shipments of Brazilian poultry meat, the global trade body said in a statement on Friday. Brazil has "requested consultations" with South Africa over South Africa's accusation that Brazilian imports were "dumped", or sold at an unfairly low price that damaged South Africa's own poultry sales, the WTO said.

WASHINGTON — Argentina tweaked import regulations on bottle caps and water balloons. India banned exports of cotton. South Africa instituted a tariff on artificial turf. Those recent policy changes sound minute. But they, and scores more like them, have stoked fears about trade protectionism rising as the global economy cools.

At the recent second meeting of the Working Party on the Accession of Afghanistan members supported an early accession of the nation to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Participants at the meeting, held on June 18, 2012, undertook a thorough examination of Afghanistan's current trade regime, and reviewed the latest reforms implemented by Afghanistan to advance its accession process by bringing its frameworks into line with WTO rules.

The United States and the European Union on Wednesday inched closer to starting negotiations on a long-desired free trade deal, with the release of a report calling for wide-ranging market opening and mutual acceptance of product standards.U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration is already pursuing a free trade agreement between the United States and 10 countries in the Asia Pacific region, referred to the US-EU initiative at a closing press conference on Tuesday at the Group of 20 leading economies summit in Las Cabos, Mexico.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -06/21/12)- As news reached out across the country about Canada's invitation to join the negotiations for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Canadian chicken farmers reaffirmed their confidence in the Canadian government's long-standing support of supply management.The TPP has been regarded by some critics as having been out of reach for Canada, as a direct result of the country's support for its dairy, poultry and egg farmers and the supply management system that allows them to receive a fair price for the products they make.

BRISBANE, Australia, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Queensland will try everything possible to reverse the federal government's decision to allow pineapple imports from Malaysia, State Agriculture Minister John McVeigh said on Thursday. McVeigh condemned the decision in parliament on Thursday, saying it was one of the worst decisions made by the anti- agriculture Labor government in Canberra.