(Reuters) - The House of Representatives and the Senate will vote next Wednesday on three long-delayed trade deals with South Korea, Panama and Colombia, congressional leaders said. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said on Thursday the Republican-led House will vote on the three deals on Wednesday and later Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the Democratic-led Senate will vote that day as well.

TEHRAN, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- In a bid to support domestic producers, Iranian government passed a bill prohibiting Iranian firms and organizations from importing commodities which are already produced by domestic companies, the local English language satellite Press TV reported on Friday. The bill was passed by the government in the meeting session of the cabinet in Iranian northwestern city of Hamedan on Thursday, said the report.

(Reuters) - The European Union took a step closer on Thursday to limiting world airline carbon emissions, which may point towards wider border measures against high-carbon industries and countries given a void in international climate action. The EU is the first jurisdiction to try and limit carbon emissions beyond its own borders, acting to shield the competitiveness of domestic airlines from participation in its own emissions trading scheme from next year. Such schemes force polluters to buy permits called allowances above a certain quota or emissions cap.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused the West on Thursday of using Georgia's refusal to back Russia's bid to join the WTO as an excuse for keeping it out of the world's main free trade club. As a World Trade Organisation member, ex-Soviet Georgia has the right to veto Russia entrance to the body, confirming its status as the world's largest economy outside the group. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war in 2008 that resulted in Moscow's recognition of two breakaway republics that Georgia still views as a part of its territory.

SEOUL, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- South Korean exports of industrial parts and materials hit a new high in the first three quarters of this year due to solid demand for locally-made petrochemical products and auto parts, a government report showed Thursday. Overseas shipments of industrial parts and materials reached a record high of 192.1 billion U.S. dollars during the January- September period, up 14.6 percent from the same period of last year, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement.

(Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations must make headway on a coordinated reform of the international currency system and eschew the unilateral actions that serve only to harm global commerce, World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy said.

China is the world’s largest depositor, producer, consumer and exporter of rare earths, controlling 97 per cent of the global supplies. But with China’s export restrictions, the gap between demand and supply is growing because of the dearth of any other major supplying nation.

Prior to joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the common perception in China was that the WTO belonged to ‘the Club of the Rich’, where wealthy countries imposed rules on poor and weak developing ones. Now, the WTO is one of the most widely recognised and respected international organisations within China.

(Reuters) - Australia is confident the world's toughest anti-tobacco laws will soon pass parliament, but the government warned on Thursday that the anti-smoking fight was not over and urged other nations to reject a possible WTO challenge backed by big tobacco.

The European Commission (EC) is proposing to amend the Market Access Regulation (MAR) governing the trade conditions for certain developing countries that have negotiated, with the European Union (EU), Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) which have yet to be signed and ratified.