More Trade News in Brief Week 19 (4 – 10 May 2015)

South Korea, Vietnam Sign FTA

The bilateral FTA upgrades the South Korea – ASEAN agreement by further cutting import duties, more than 90 percent of all their traded goods.

Check here for more.

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Digital Single Market for Europe

The Digital Single Market strategy is made up of three policy areas or ‘pillars’:

Better online access to digital goods and services

An environment where digital networks and services can prosper

Digital as a driver for growth

Please read more here.

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ECB publishes its Euro Money Market Study 2014

The European Central Bank (ECB) is publishing its biennial report entitled “Euro Money Market Study 2014”.

Check it here.

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ICC Revises DOCDEX Rules

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has revised its DOCDEX rules, a dispute resolution mechanism specifically designed to address trade finance concerns.

Check here for more.

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New ICC Cyber Security Guide

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a new straight-speaking guide to help companies of all sizes manage their approach to cyber security and mitigate threats posed by cybercrime.

Click here for more.

 

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More Trade News in Brief Week 12 (16 – 22 March 2015)

* Switzerland, EU Ink New Savings Tax Pact

Switzerland and the European Union (EU) have initialled an agreement on the automatic exchange of tax information (AEOI). Account data will be collected from 2017, with the first exchange scheduled for 2018.

See more clicking here.

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* EU: Combatting Corporate Tax Avoidance

The European Commission presented a package of tax transparency measures as part of its ambitious agenda to tackle corporate tax avoidance and harmful tax competition in the EU. A key element of this Tax Transparency Package is a proposal to introduce the automatic exchange of information between Member States on their tax rulings

Read more here.

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* China and US Telecoms Giants Lead Global Patent Activity in 2014

According to the UN World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) annual review of international patent filings, a leading Chinese telecoms giant overtook a Japanese firm as the largest applicant last year, and China and the US together accounted for 87 per cent of the total growth in filings under WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

Under that system, some 215,000 applications were filed in 2014, a 4.5 per cent increase over the previous year, WIPO said in a news release.

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* WTO: Assistance in Food Safety, Animal and Plant Health

Five agencies and their partners operating a programme to help developing countries meet international standards on food safety and animal and plant health have approved plans for 2015–2019 designed to further strengthen safe trade.

The decision will allow the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) to continue to provide assistance to developing countries,

The STDF was set up in 2004 by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO) and World Trade Organization (WTO), and is run by the five partners together with donor countries and representatives of developing countries.

Check here and here for more.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 42 (13 – 19 October 2014)

 

* Eurostat Regional Yearbook 2014

 

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, published The Regional Yearbook 2014.

 

Check here.

 

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* International Tourism Up by 5% in the First Half of 2014

 

International tourist arrivals grew by 4.6% in the first half of 2014 according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Destinations worldwide received some 517 million international tourists between January and June 2014, 22 million more than in the same period of 2013.

 

Read more about here.

 

 

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* South Africa & Hong Kong – DTA

 

Hong Kong and South Africa signed a comprehensive double taxation agreement (CDTA).

 

See more here.

 

 

News from EU

 

* Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA)

 

The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) is fully operational in all eurozone countries on 1st August 2014.

 

Check here and here for more.

 

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* Lithuania to Join Euro Area

 

EU Council formally approved the accession of Lithuania to the euro area and single supervisory mechanism (SSM) on 1 January 2015.

 

Read more here.

 

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* Southern African Region and the EU – EPA

 

The European Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group (Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland) concluded negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).

 

For more information click here.

 

News from EU

 

 

* EU – Simpler and Fairer VAT System

 

The change in VAT rules will be applied from January 2015.

 

Check here from details.

 

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* EU – International Trade in Services

 

EU28 surplus up to €173 bn in 2013 and United States, Switzerland and China are the main partners.

 

Download the report here.

 

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* EU – Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

 

The European Commission has today adopted two communications – an Action Plan to address infringements of intellectual property rights in the EU and a Strategy for the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in third countries.

 

Read more about it here.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 19 (5 – 11 May 2014)

 

* ICC – Guide to International Franchising

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published a practical guide to help business people understand why, how and when to use franchising to expand into new foreign markets.

 

Check the “Using Franchising to Take Your Business International: ICC Strategies and guidance for master franchising, area development and other arrangements”.

 

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* US & Singapore – FATCA Agreement

 

United States and Singapore have initialled the text of an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

 

Check here for more.

 

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* EU & Japan – FTA by 2015

 

The European Union (EU) and Japan agreed to a one-year review that should lead to the “early conclusion of a highly comprehensive and ambitious” free trade agreement (FTA).

 

Read more here.

 

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* US & Israel – Reach FATCA Agreement

 

United States and Israel have concluded the text of an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

 

See more following the link.

 

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* USTR Releases Annual Report on Intellectual Property Rights

 

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has released its annual “Special 301” Report on the adequacy and effectiveness of U.S. trading partners’ protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR). 

 

Find the Press Release here.

 

News from EU

 

* Stronger Rules to Defend the EU’s Rights under Trade Agreements

 

The new legal framework will allow for a more effective EU response to illegal measures taken by its trading partners.

 

Read the Press Release.

 

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* EU’s first ‘Partnership Agreement’ for Growth and Jobs in 2014-2020

 

The European Commission has adopted the first of 28 “Partnership Agreements” that set down the strategies in EU member states and regions for European Structural and Investment Funds.

 

Check here for more.

 

 

News from EU

 

* Labour Force Survey 2013

 

Eurostat Commission published the EU’s statistics on the labour market for 2013.

 

Find the report here.

 

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* First EU Transport Scoreboard

 

EU Transport Scoreboard compares Member State performance in 22 transport-relevant categories.

 

Check the EU Transport Scoreboard.

 

Please find the related Memo and the Press release.

 

 

 

Ukraine Crisis

 

* Rusia Annexes Crimea

 

Russia officially annexes Crimea away from Ukraine.

 

Read more here or search over the internet.

 

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* EU & US Sanctions After Ukraine Crisis

 

The US and the European Union have retaliated over the Crimea referendum by targeting sanctions against Russians and Ukrainians’ officials.

 

Check here for more or search over the internet.

 

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* EU Strength Ties with Ukraine

 

The European Union and Ukraine signed the core elements of a political association agreement.

 

Follow the link for more or search over the internet.

 

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* NATO Exercises in Ukraine

 

Ukraine will hold joint military exercises with U.S. and Britain. In addition to US and UK troops, Rapid Trident 2014 will include units from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Canada, Georgia, Germany, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Ukraine.

Rapid Trident military exercises have been held annually on the territory of Ukraine for a number of years. Ukraine has a partner relationship with NATO but is not officially a member.

 

Read more here or search over the internet.

 

 

 

News from EU

 

* Emissions Trading Scheme for Aviation

 

The Presidency of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament have agreed on a draft regulation amending the EU Emissions trading scheme (ETS) directive (2003/87/EC).

 

Read more here.

 

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* European Maritime Safety Agency

 

The Council and European Parliament reached a compromise on funding the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) in response to marine pollution caused by ships and oil and gas installations.

 

Check here for more.