More Trade News in Brief – Week 12 (18 – 24 March 2013)

 

* ISO Guidelines for Armed Maritime Guards

 

14 March 2013

 

ISO has developed a guideline for armed maritime guards and to defend the ship navigation from piracy attacks.

 

ISO/PAS 28007:2012, Ships and marine technology – Guidelines for Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSC) providing privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) on board ships (and pro forma contract).

 

Check here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* OECD – Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being

 

 OECD releases Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being to provide advice on the collection and use of measures of subjective well-being.

 

The Guidelines is developed under the OECD’s Better Life Initiative.

 

Please follow the link.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* Cayman & Brazil Sign TIEA

 

Cayman Islands sign a landmark tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Brazil.

 

Check here for more.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* Spain & Argentina Sign Fresh DTA

 

Spain and Argentina have signed a new accord aimed at preventing double taxation and tax evasion.

 

Kindly follow the link.

 

Advertisement

News from European Union

 

* The 2013 European Neighbourhood Policy Package

 

The EU published its 2013 ENP proposed to the 16 of EU’s closest neighbours – Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine.

 

Check here and here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

 * The Council adopts energy infrastructure regulation

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* New EU label for venture capital and social entrepreneurship funds

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 11 (11 – 17 March 2013)

 

* EU-US Trade Talks to Start

 

12 March 2013, Brussels

 

The European Commission agreed the draft mandate for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement with the United States, the draft mandate will be sent to the Council for the Member States to approve.

 

Read more here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* Brazil Joins the UN CISG

 

5 March 2013, Vienna

 

Brazil becomes the 79th State Party to the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG).

 

Further information on the CISG is available on the UNCITRAL website at www.uncitral.org.

 

Check here too.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* The Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts

 

1 March 2013, Vienna

 

The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts entered into force on 1 March 2013.

 

Further information on the Convention is available on the UNCITRAL website at www.uncitral.org.

 

Kindly follow the link for more.

 

News from BRICS

 

* BRICS Business Council

 

6 March 2013, Pretoria

 

The BRICS Members announced the launch of the BRICS Business Council for trade and industry promotion.

 

Check here for more.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* BRICS Customs Cooperation

 

11 March 2013, Pretoria

 

The BRICS Customs Agencies search for speeding up customs procedures and agreed to unify the software, organize preliminary informing and stimulate electronic customs clearance of cargoes.

 

Please follow the link.

 

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 10 (4 – 10 March 2013)

 

* ICC – New Model International Sale Contract

 

4 March 2013, Paris

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released the updated Model International Sale Contract including an interactive digital version.

 

The new model permits companies and lawyers to define their own reliable import-export agreements that are in line with Incoterms® 2010 and the latest developments in international trade.

 

Visit the ICC Commercial Law and Practice Commission.

 

Check here for more.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

 * US Foreign Trade Policy

 

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) released the ”2013 Trade Policy Agenda and 2012 Annual Report”.

 

Please find the 2013 Agenda and 2012 Report here.

 

Also, USTR published its 2013-2016 Strategic Plan.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

 

* New Zealand and Chile Signed FTA

 

New Zealand and Chile signed a free trade agreement (FTA).

 

Check here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* UN Strength Sanctions on North Korea

 

7 March 2013

 

The United Nations Security Council tightened sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)’s trade and banking.

 

Check the Press Release.

 

News from European Union

 

* EU and Japan to Start Negotiation on FTA

 

The EU and Japan are set to hold a summit within the month as a launch pad to talks that could lead to a major free trade deal.

 

Follow the link for more.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* EU-Thailand FTA Negotiations to Start Soon

 

The EU will start negotiations with Thailand on a free trade agreement soon.

 

Check here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* EU-Morocco Talks on FTA Begin

 

The EU and Morocco begin talks on free-trade agreement.

 

Please follow the link.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 9 (25 February – 3 March 2013)

 

* New ISO Standard for Electronic Signatures

 

The new ISO standard secures the electronic signatures when the documents they authenticate are transferred and processed through different information technology systems.

 

• ISO 14533-1:2012, Processes, data elements and documents in commerce, industry and administration – Long term signature profiles – Part 1: Long term signature profiles for CMS Advanced Electronic Signatures (CAdES)
• ISO 14533-2:2012, Processes, data elements and documents in commerce, industry and administration – Long term signature profiles – Part 2: Long term signature profiles for XML Advanced Electronic Signatures (XAdES)

Check here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* GVCs and Development: Investment and Value Added Trade in the Global Economy

 

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) describes in a new report regarding the global value chains (GVC) and its importance in investment and trade.

 

Please follow the link.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–—

 

* Azerbaijan & Lesotho – New Members of the Global Forum on Tax Transparency

 

The Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, multilateral framework carried out by both OECD and non-OECD economies, welcomes Azerbaijan and the Kingdom of Lesotho as new members.

 

Click here for more.

 

Read more on the work of the Global Forum here and here.

 

 

UN Initiatives in Climate Change and Green Economy

 

* The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)

 

19 February 2013, Nairobi/ Vienna

 

The UN established a new network in order to help worldwide countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to changing weather patterns, drought, soil erosion, and other impacts of climate change.

 

The Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN) aims to speed up the transfer of climate-related technology and expertise to developing countries.

 

Kindly read more about the CTCN here.

 

——————————————————————————————————————————————–— 

 

* The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE)

 

22 February 2013, Nairobi

 

Four UN agencies – the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International LabourOrganization (ILO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – have set a new partnership to support 30 countries over the next seven years in building national green economy strategies.

 

More information on PAGE can be found following the link.

 

Check the Press Release.