More Trade News in Brief Week 6 (8 – 14 February 2016)

EU, Andorra Sign AEOI Agreement

The European Union (EU) and Andorra have signed a deal to automatically exchange tax information.

See more here.

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FTA Talks – China & GCC

FTA talks between China and the GCC – comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – originally began in 2004 but faltered in 2009. They resumed the talks this month and they are seeking to complete them by the end of 2016.

See more following the link.

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Canada, Taiwan Sign Double Tax Treaty

Canada and Taiwan have signed a double tax agreement (DTA) that will limit the withholding tax rates on income from dividends, interest, and royalties, and provide for the exchange of tax information.

Read more here.

 

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More Trade News in Brief Week 37 (7 – 13 September 2015)

New DTA Protocols

Switzerland has signed protocols to its double taxation agreements (DTAs) with Norway and Albania.

See more following the link.

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EFTA and Georgia Start FTA Talks

The member states of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and Georgia held a first round of negotiations towards a free trade agreement (FTA).

Check for more here.

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New Zealand Seeks Signature of Gulf FTA

New Zealand is looking for a free trade agreement with the Gulf States.

Check for more here.

More Trade News in Brief Week 26 (22 – 28 June 2015)

* UNCTAD – World Investment Report 2015

The World Investment Report focuses on trends in foreign direct investment (FDI) worldwide.

Check World Investment Report 2015 – Reforming International Investment Governance.

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* New WCO Guide to Customs Valuation and Transfer Pricing

The WCO launched a major new guide on the topic of Customs valuation and transfer pricing.

The guide is available to download via this link.

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* ICC Launches New Tool to Promote Business Sustainability

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) launched the 3^rd and radical update of its respected Business Charter for Sustainable Development.

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* OECD – Government at a Glance 2015

Monday, 6 July, the OECD will publish Government at a Glance 2015.

The biannual report presents more than 50 indicators to compare governments’ performance in everything from public finances (including government spending per person), cuts to staffing and pay in central government and the level of private asset disclosure by government officials to access to and satisfaction with the healthcare, education and the justice systems.

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* The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2015-2024

The OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2015-2024 will be published on Wednesday 1 July.

The report analyses agriculture production, discusses how global markets are reacting to price volatility in both food and commodity markets and looks at farm sector trends for the coming decade.

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.

 

News from UNCTAD

* Global Investment Trends in 2014 and Prospects for 2015

Global foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows declined by 8% in 2014. A solid FDI rise remains distant, reports the latest UNCTAD Global Investment Trends.

 Download: Global Investment Trends Monitor No. 18.

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* UNCTAD and WTO launch partnership on Integrated Trade Database

UNCTAD and the WTO agreed to cooperate in assisting the WTO members in implementing notification requirements for the WTO Integrated Data Base (IDB).

UNCTAD Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA).

An integrated customs management system for international trade and transport operations in a modern automated environment.

More Trade News in Brief Week 3 (12 – 18 January 2015)

* World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2015

The new ILO report includes a forecast of global unemployment levels and explains the factors behind this trend, including continuing inequality and falling wage shares.

Download the report from here.

Read more here.

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* IMF Downgrades Global Growth Forecast

According to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update , the IMF lowered growth expectations for this year and the next for most countries due to slowdown in investment, and urged governments and central banks to pursue economic stimulation policies and structural reforms to boost growth.

Download Full-Text PDF: English

 

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* UNCTAD – Latest developments in national and international investment policies

UNCTAD’s latest Investment Policy Monitor shown that the vast majority of new investment policy measures were aimed at creating more favourable investment conditions.

Download: Investment Policy Monitor No. 13

Quick link: Investment Policy Monitor (Series)

More Trade News in Brief Week 44 (27 October – 2 November 2014)

* Understanding National Accounts from OECD

 

The second edition of OECD’s guide Understanding National Accounts provides a comprehensive explanation of how national accounts are compiled and what they mean.

 

Read more here.

 

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* The Global Community of Practice on Food Loss Reduction

 

The Global Community of Practice (CoP) on Food Loss Reduction is launched jointly by the three Rome-based United Nations agencies, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme.

 

The Global Community of Practice on Food Loss Reduction attempts to reduce food losses and waste, which account for one third of food produced for human consumption, by bringing together for the first time a range of resources and allows stakeholders to share experiences and best practices.

 

The Global Community of Practice on Food Loss Reduction aims to become a global reference point that facilitates the sharing of information and linkages between stakeholders including public entities, civil society and the private sector.

 

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* ICC Adopts New Set of Rules for Dispute Resolution in Trade Finance

 

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Banking Commission unanimously adopted today revised rules for Documentary Credit Dispute Resolution by Expertise (DOCDEX).

 

Find more here.

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* WTO Report Says Restrictive Trade Measures Continue to Rise in G-20 Economies

 

Restrictive trade measures introduced by G-20 economies since 2008 continue to rise, according to the latest WTO report on recent trade developments issued on 6 November 2014.

 

> WTO Report on G-20 Trade Measures (mid-May 2014 to mid-October 2014)

 

> Summary and Status of G-20 trade and trade-related measures since October 2008 (Excel Format)

 

> OECD/UNCTAD Report on G-20 Investment Measures

 

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.

 

 

OECD Releases First BEPS Recommendations

 

The OECD released its first recommendations for a co-ordinated international approach to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

 

The recommendations, under the OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project, are designed to create a single set of international tax rules to end the erosion of tax bases and the artificial shifting of profits to jurisdictions to avoid paying tax.

 

The first 7 elements of the Action Plan released today focus on helping countries to:

• ensure the coherence of corporate income taxation at the international level, through new model tax and treaty provisions to neutralise hybrid mismatch arrangements (Action 2);
• realign taxation and relevant substance to restore the intended benefits of international standards and to prevent the abuse of tax treaties (Action 6);
• assure that transfer pricing outcomes are in line with value creation, through actions to address transfer pricing issues in the key area of intangibles (Action 8);
• improve transparency for tax administrations and increase certainty and predictability for taxpayers through improved transfer pricing documentation and a template for country-by-country reporting (Action 13);
• address the challenges of the digital economy (Action 1);
• facilitate swift implementation of the BEPS actions through a report on the feasibility of developing a multilateral instrument to amend bilateral tax treaties (Action 15); and
• counter harmful tax practices (Action 5).

 Please find more here.

China to Become World’s Largest Economy in 2024

 

According to a Report from IHS Economics, China will become the world’s largest economy in 2024.

 

IHS is a global information company with world-class experts in the pivotal areas shaping today’s business landscape: energy, economics, geopolitical risk, sustainability and supply chain management.

 

Read more about here.