EU round up – Paint exporters to benefit from EU-Canada trade deal

European Union (EU) and Canadian paints and coatings exporters are to benefit from a new free trade deal struck between the EU and Canada. Once the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) has been ratified (probably in 2015), it will lead to all existing non-food duties imposed on goods traded between the parties being scrapped. This will mean an end to existing 6.5% duties levied by the EU and Canada on imports of each other’s paints and varnishes, including pigments, enamels and lacquers. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said: "Canada is one of the most advanced economies in the world. This agreement will provide significant new opportunities for companies in the EU and in Canada by increasing market access for goods and services.”

The EU already sells substantial volumes of paint to Canada – exporting in 2012 US$15.4M worth of paints and varnishes (including enamels and lacquers) based on synthetic polymers or chemically modified natural polymers, dissolved or dispersed in non-aqueous media; and US$5.6M worth of water-based paints.

It also sold US$6M worth of pigments (including metallic powders and flakes) used to make paints. As for Canadian exporters, in 2012 they sold US$4.6M worth of water-based paints to the EU in 2012, US$1.5M worth of oil-based paints and US$2.4M worth of pigments.

EU and international paint and coatings regulatory news:

*The Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) is to review, over the next 18 months, its chemical hazard assessment programme to provide a more specialised service for member countries from 2015.

This will tailor the system to take into account new comprehensive chemicals regulatory regimes in OECD member countries.www.oecd.org/env/ehs/risk-assessment/oecdcooperativechemicalsassessmentprogramme.htm

*A report commissioned by EU anti-fraud office OLAF has unveiled the extent of corruption involved in EU public procurement contracts for construction projects that involve the purchase of significant volumes of paints and coatings. It claimed in 2010 alone, between E1.4 and E2.7bn was lost to corruption in public procurement tenders within just five sectors in eight EU member states, looking at the construction of road/rail projects, waste water plants, airport runways, (plus staff training projects and medical device contracts). Looking at all tenders in the sample it found 37-53% of airport runway construction works contracts were probably dirty, as were 11-21% of motorway construction contracts and between 9% and 18% of railway track construction materials and supplies contracts.
http://ec.europa.eu/anti_fraud/documents/anti-fraud-policy/research-and-studies/ identifying_reducing_corruption_in_public_procurement_en.pdf