More Trade News in Brief Week 26 (24 – 30 June 2013)

 

* Croatia – Welcomed to EU

 

On Monday 1 July Croatia will become the 28th Member State of the European Union.

 

For more information:

 

– Institutional and administrative aspects of Croatia’s EU accession MEMO/13/593

 

– Croatia’s EU accession – Q&A MEMO/13/629

 

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

 

* 2012 Annual Review of GSP System

 

US announced today the outcome of the 2012 Annual Review under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) program.

 

Check here.

 

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

 

* World Investment Report 2013

 

UNCTAD published its 2013 World Investment Report with the latest trends in foreign direct investment (FDI).

 

Download  World Investment Report 2013

 

Read more here.

 

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

 

* Norway the First to Sign the Hong Kong Ship Recycling Treaty

 

The Kingdom of Norway became the first contracting State to the Hong Kong International Convention for the Safe and Environmentally Sound Recycling of Ships (2009).

 

Please follow the link.

 

Advertisement

More Trade News in Brief Week 25 (17 – 23 June 2013)

 

* ICC Open Markets Index 2013

 

The ICC Open Markets Index is a biennial report which ranks the economies of the 75 based on four factors: observed trade openness, trade policy, openness to foreign direct investment and trade-enabling infrastructure.

 

The main conclusions of the ICC Open Markets Index 2013 are:

 

– G8/G20 countries failing to demonstrate global leadership on trade
– Canada the only G20 country in top 20 for openness to trade
– BRICS countries lagging due to restrictive trade policies

 

Check here for more.

 

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

 

* China and Taiwan Sign Service Trade Agreement (STA)

 

According to the agreement signed between Chinese mainland and Taiwan, the mainland will open 80 service sectors to Taiwan, while Taiwan will open 64 sectors to the mainland.

 

Check here for more.

 

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

 

 

* International Standard Banking Practice (ISBP) 2013

 

The revised 2013 guide published by ICC details banking practices to be applied when dealing with documentary credits that are subject to Uniform Customs and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP 600).

 

Kindly follow the link for more.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 24 (11 – 16 June 2013)

 

* Israel & Columbia Signed FTA

 

10 June 2013, Jerusalem

 

Israel and Columbia signed a free trade agreement (FTA).

 

Read more here.

 

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

 

* New EU Open Data Rules

 

13 June 2013, Brussels

 

The EU’s Parliament adopted the updated EU rules on the re-use of public sector information.

 

The aim of the rules is to make it easier for businesses to obtain access and permission to re-use government-held information.

 

Check here for more.

 

 

Open Data website.

 

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

 

* Investor Education Gateway

 

 4 June 2013, Madrid

 

IOSCO revealed its new website feature – the Investor Education Gateway.

 

 This online tool is an education initiative and aims to enhance the sharing of investor education information.

 

Check here the new initiative.

 

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

 

* A Common European Asylum System

 

12 June 2013, Strasbourg

 

EU adopted updated rules on asylum applications; these include common procedures, the creation of a basic set or rights for asylum seekers arriving in the EU and a proposal to stop transfers to member states struggling to cope with the number of asylum seekers and related responsibilities.

 

Kindle read the press release here.

 

DG Home Affairs website.

 

G8 Summit 2013

 

The G8 Summit 2013 will take place from 17 to 18 June 2013 in Lough Erne, Northern Ireland (UK).

 

The main topics on the agenda are:

 

• Advancing global trade as an engine for global growth and job creation and facilitating trade in Africa

• Ensuring tax compliance, by pushing, amongst others, for a global standard for the automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation and improving the reporting of multinationals to tax authorities

• Promoting greater transparency regarding the revenues from extractive industries and forestry, land governance and government data

 

Kindly check more on the UK’s Government webpage, which assumed the Presidency of the G8 for 2013.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 23 (3 – 10 June 2013)

 

* EU: Latvia is Ready to Adopt Euro

 

The European Commission concludes that Latvia has achieved the economical level convergence with the euro area and proposes that the Council decide on Latvia’s adoption of the euro as from 1 January 2014.

 

The European Central Bank (ECB) Convergence Report 2013 on Latvia can be found following the link.

 

Please check here and here.

 

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

 

* WTO – The Final Lap of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Accession

 

The bilateral negotiations for the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s World Trade Organization (WTO) membership are expected to complete by the 9th Ministerial Conference in December 2013.

 

Follow the link for more.

 

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

 

* ISO: Consumer Product Safety – Guidelines for Suppliers

 

ISO published a guideline on how to assess and manage risk to supply safe products to the consumer: ISO 10377:2013, Consumer product safety – Guidelines for suppliers.

Kindly check the new standard here.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 22 (27 May – 2 June 2013)

 

* US – CARICOM Signed TIFA

 

The United States and CARICOM signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) which replace the agreement establishing a Trade and Investment Council (TIC) signed in 1991.

 

Follow the link for more.

 

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

 

* BRICS Launched BRICSMART

 

The BRICS Exchanges Alliance launched its own website to create a single data portal containing information on its member’s financial products and services.

 

The website is called BRICSMART.

 

Kindly follow the link.

 

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

 

* Iran – Indonesia Inked a MoU

 

Iran and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on mutual trade cooperation.

 

Check here.

 

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

 

* Copernicus – The EU’s Earth Observation Programme

 

The new name of the European Commission’s Earth Observation Programme, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security), is Copernicus. The programme aims at providing Europe with a continuous, independent and reliable access to earth observation data and information.

 

Read more here.