More Trade News in Brief – Week 27 (25 June – 1 July 2012)

* US to Cooperate With Switzerland & Japan On FATCA

 

25 June 2012, Washington

 

After the agreements reached with France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK, US is pursuing  the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) with Switzerland and Japan.

 

 More here.

 

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* UNCTAD & WIPO Start Regular Consultation

 

25 June 2012

 

The United Nation Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)  and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have decided to establish of a regular consultation mechanism between the two organizations to strengthen consultation and coordination on issues of mutual interest.

 

Further information here.

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* OECD – International Migration Outlook 2012

 

27 June 2012

 

OECD published the International Migration Outlook 2012 which provide an analysis of recent developments in migration movements and policies in OECD countries.

 

        More here.

 

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* ICC Publishes Banking Commission Official Opinions

 

28 June 2012, Paris

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) published  the volume “Banking Commission Official Opinions” on regard of the impact and isuues related to the latest ICC rules on documentary credits, collections and demand guarantees in daily practice.

 

For further information please click here.

 

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WB – Global Economic Prospects June 2012

The World Bank (WB) publish the twice-yearly Global Economic Prospects to examine growth trends for the global economy and how they affect developing countries.

EU & Vietnam Agreements

26-27 June 2012, Brussels

 

EU and Vietnam signed a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) on 27 June 2012

Also, on 26 June, EU and Vietnam officially launched negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

 

About the signed PCA please read here, and about the FTA negotiations please click here.

IMF – Systemic Banking Crises Database

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) update their Systemic Banking Crises Database – a report that examines data from banking crises that have occurred between 1970 and today.

EU Signed a Trade Agreement with Colombia & Peru

26 June 2012, Brussels

 

The European Union (EU) signed a Trade Agreement with Colombia and Peru.

 

Further information and other EU agreements can be found here.

Brazil Signing Currency Swap Agreements with All BRICS

 

Brazil and China have signed a Currency Swap Agreement in order to pay for trade transactions in local currencies (the real and the yuan or renminbi).

 

Furthermore, Brazil revealed that similar currency swap agreements were under study with all the members of the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

 

On the other side, China have signed similar agreements with Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

ISO Standards for the Green Economy

ISO release a new compilation containing the entire ISO 14000 family of environmental management standards, plus a collection of publications related to sustainability development.

 

The CD Compilation, ISO standards for the green economy – Sustainable development, includes:

 – 30 International Standards developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 207, Environmental management: ISO 14001, ISO 14064, ISO 14065 etc

– ISO 20121:2012, Event sustainability Management Systems – Requirements with guidance for use developed by ISO/PC 250 project committee, Sustainability in event management.

 

More here.

More Trade News in Brief – Week 26 (18–24 June 2012)

* IPCC Asks Greenhouse Gas Inventories Task Force to Revise Guidelines

 

7 June 2012

 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) asked its  Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI) to develop, revise and update  the guidance on greenhouse gas emissions and removals from land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF).

 

For further information please click here.

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* WCO and UNIFAB Sign an MOU to Combat Counterfeiting

 

14 June 2012, Brussels

 

The World Customs Organization (WCO) and the Union des Fabricants (UNIFAB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their close cooperation in the fight against counterfeiting.

 

More here.

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* US & EAC – Trade and Investment Partnership

 

20 June 2012, New York

 

The United States Trade Representative (USTR) and the East African Community (EAC) member states signed a joint statement on a new trade and investment partnership.

 

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* Vietnam & Morocco Sign Investment Protection Accord

 

19 June 2012, Rabat

 

Morocco and Vietnam signed a bilateral accord designed to promote and to protect investments in both countries.

 

 

Launch of the revised KLRCA Arbitration Rules

Singapore International Arbitration Blog

On 2 July 2012, the latest version of the KLRCA Arbitration Rules (the “Rules”) will come into force. The Rules update the KLRCA Arbitration Rules 2010 and follow on the heels of the Arbitration Amendment Act 2011 which sought to enhance and emphasise the Malaysian courts’ non-interventionist and pro-enforcement stance in international arbitration.

In particular section 8 of the Act was specifically amended to explicitly state that the courts are entitled to intervene only in situations expressly provided for by the Act. Previously, it had been worded more vaguely as “[u]nless otherwise provided, no court shall intervene in any of the matters governed by this Act“.

A copy of the Rules can be found here. Some of the more pertinent revisions are as follows.

1. A new Rule 2 now specifies the information, documents and fee required to register an arbitration with the KLRCA. Previously, the Rules only…

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Launch of the Revised KLRCA Arbitration Rules

On 2 July 2012, the latest version of the KLRCA Arbitration Rules (the “Rules”) will come into force. The Rules update the KLRCA Arbitration Rules 2010 and follow on the heels of the Arbitration Amendment Act 2011 which sought to enhance and emphasise the Malaysian courts’ non-interventionist and pro-enforcement stance in international arbitration.

 

In particular section 8 of the Act was specifically amended to explicitly state that the courts are entitled to intervene only in situations expressly provided for by the Act. Previously, it had been worded more vaguely as “[u]nless otherwise provided, no court shall intervene in any of the matters governed by this Act“.

 

A copy of the Rules can be found here. Some of the more pertinent revisions are as follows.

1. A new Rule 2 now specifies the information, documents and fee required to register an arbitration with the KLRCA. Previously, the Rules only required that the party commencing the arbitration copy the notice of arbitration to KLRCA. It was then left to the KLRCA to follow-up and request further information.
   The aim of this revision is to reduce the time usually taken by the initiating party in submitting the necessary documentation for the KLRCA’s verification.
2. The time for the appointment of arbitrators has been reduced to 30 days in line with the requirements under the Malaysian Arbitration Act 2005.
3. A new Rule 5 now provide for challenges to arbitrators. Such challenges will be administered by the KLRCA and the Director will determine those challenges.
4. Parties and the arbitral tribunal have 30 days to agree on a schedule of fees from the time of the appointment of the tribunal and to inform the KLRCA of such, failing which the KLRCA Schedule of Fees shall apply.

The Rules will automatically apply to all arbitrations commenced under the KLRCA after 2 July 2012 unless parties stipulate otherwise.