MANILA, Philippines - Manila and Bangkok have agreed on the reasonable period of time for Thailand to comply with the ruling of the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the two Asean countries’ tobacco tax row, the Department of Trade and Industry said on Tuesday. In a statement, Secretary Gregory L. Domingo described the agreement as proof of the effectiveness of the multilateral trading system in resolving trade issues to expand global trade.

Oct 18 (Reuters) - Industrialised nations have not kept their promises to fight protectionism and should work out a new multilateral trade agreement, the European Union's trade chief said on Tuesday. In the text of a speech to be delivered at a conference of German engineers, European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that over the past year alone the EU's trading partners had introduced 130 new trade restrictions.

Canada and the European Union are holding a ninth round of talks on a free trade agreement, with the negotiations described by the Canadian government as the most significant trade initiative in fifteen years. The talks, underway in Ottawa, are scheduled to last until October 21. Ed Fast, Canadian Minister of International Trade said that: “Working alongside our negotiators, Canada and the EU are moving closer to an ambitious agreement that has the potential to boost two-way trade by 20%, creating prosperity and opportunity for Canadian businesses, workers and their families”.

Japan is said to be leading a chorus of protest at the World Trade Organization against a protectionist measure announced by Brazilian authorities in September to shield the nation's car manufacturing and car assembly industry from cheap foreign imports. As part of a package of measures to shield the domestic industry following the rapid appreciation in the nation's currency the Real, Brazil announced in September that it would hike the industrial products tax on car makers by up to 30% on vehicles that are assembled mainly from foreign-manufactured components.

Oct 17 (Reuters) - A three-nation customs union led by Russia will adopt food safety rules on Tuesday that comply with the rules of the World Trade Organisation, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday. Putin's comments, to an advisory panel of chief executives of multinational companies that invest in Russia, suggested that talks on wrapping up Russia's 18-year bid to join the WTO are moving towards a conclusion.

CHENGDU, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Visiting WTO Director General Pascal Lamy on Monday said the organization will strive to prevent any protectionist trends strengthening during the current tumultuous economic times. Lamy made the remark during his visit to Chengdu, capital city of southwest China's Sichuan province, where he will attend a seminar on global trade. Speaking of protectionism, Lamy said. "We have to be very vigilant of that. That is the main task of the WTO."

KUALA LUMPUR (Kyodo) — The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has prepared a framework of general principles to steer the establishment of an Asia-Pacific free trade agreement. The "ASEAN Framework for a Comprehensive Regional Economic Partnership" was discussed by ASEAN trade ministers at a one-day informal meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for adoption by leaders of the 10-member group at their summit meeting in Bali next month.

BEIJING, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Trade between China and the European Union (EU) totaled 35.6 billion euros (49.4 billion U.S. dollars) in July, allowing China to overtake the United States as the EU's largest trade partner, the Ministry of Commerce said, citing the latest statistics from Eurostat. The overall value of China-EU trade in July exceeded that of the EU and the United States by 800 million euros, accounting for 13.4 percent of the region's total imports and exports, according to data released by the EU's statistics office.

COLOMBO — Viet Nam and Sri Lanka have agreed to strive for one billion USD in two-way trade in the years to come. The two sides reached the consensus during talks between Vietnamese State President Truong Tan Sang and his Sri Lankan counterpart, Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo yesterday during a three-day State-level visit to Sri Lanka.

TBILISI, Oct. 15 -- Georgia and Russia will hold their next round of talks concerning the latter's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), a local official participating in the talks said on Saturday. The next round of talks is scheduled to start on Oct. 20 in Swiss city of Geneva as usual, according to Georgia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kapanadze.