More Trade News in Brief Week 34 (17 – 23 August 2015)

FAO – World Food Prices Hit Lowest Level in Almost Six Years

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) the prices for global agricultural products in July hit their lowest level since September 2009.

Check here for more: UN agency reports world food prices declining to six-year low .

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EPA – The Clean Power Plan

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) unveiled The Clean Power Plan, it aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from US power stations and it shows the determination of the US to address global warming.

Read more here.

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WMO – First Half of 2015 ‘Hottest Six Months on Record”

The United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO) reported the globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces was the hottest for such period on record, from January to June 2015.

Find more here.

 

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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 25 (16 – 22 June 2014)

 

* 11th UNCTAD-OECD Report on G20 Investment Measures

 

The Report on G20 Investment Measures is a joint report issued periodically by UNCTAD, the OECD and the WTO.

 

Download:

– 11th UNCTAD-OECD Report on G20 Investment Measures

– 11th UNCTAD-OECD-WTO Report on G20 Trade and Investment Measures (Joint Summary)

 

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* Ecuador: National Green Export Review (NGER)

 

Ecuador becomes first country to undergo innovative UNCTAD programme to assess ‘green export’ potential.

 

Read more about it here.

 

Quick Links:

– National Green Export Review

– UNCTAD’s Trade, Environment, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Branch

 

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* New Zealand Concludes FATCA IGA

 

New Zealand and US have signed a Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act intergovernmental agreement which will facilitate information exchange under FATCA.

 

Check here for more.

 

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* Canada Confirms South Korean FTA Terms

 

The Canadian Government has tabled the final text of its Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with South Korea.

 

See more here.

 

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* ICC: Trade Register Report 2014

 

ICC published the Trade Register Report 2014.

 

First launched in 2009 by ICC’s Banking Commission, the report is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading analytical reports on global risks for the trade finance industry—identifying risks across a range of trade finance products and markets.

 

Check here for more.

 

More Trade News in Brief Week 46 (11 – 17 November 2013)

 

* ICC-Ifo World Economic Survey

 

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Ifo published the latest Ifo World Economic Survey.

 

Kindly find the main findings about the current economic situation and expectations following the link.

 

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* HEInnovate – Entrepreneurial Online Tool

 

The European Commission and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched an online self-assessment tool for universities to measure how entrepreneurial they are.

 

HEInnovate enables institutions to assess their performance in different areas.

 

Check here.

 

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* EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard

 

The European Commission (DG Research and Innovation and Joint Research Centre) published the 2013 Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard.

 

On first place is situated Volkswagen (Germany) and second place in the ranking goes to Samsung Electronics (South Korea). Other companies in the top-10 include five based in the US (Microsoft, Intel, Merck, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer), two in Switzerland (Roche and Novartis) and one in Japan (Toyota).

 

Check the 2013 ranking here and the press release 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.

 

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* 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.

 

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* Iran – Indonesia Inked a MoU

 

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

 

Check here.

 

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* 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.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 18 (29 April – 5 May 2013)

 

* SESAR – Single European Sky

 

European Commission adopted a regulation establishing governance and incentive mechanisms to facilitate the effective and timely deployment of SESAR.

 

SESAR is the EU’s project that aims at modernising the Air Traffic Management (ATM) system.

 

Please read more here and here.

 

You can find more about SESAR here.

 

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* International Code of Direct Selling

 

ICC released the revised International Code of Direct Selling which was developed in close co-operation with the World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA).

 

Follow the link for more.

 

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* WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA)

 

Liechtenstein became the first WTO member to ratify the amended version of the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).

 

Read more 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.

 

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* 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.

 

News from European Union

 

* European Innovation Partnership (EIP)

 

The European Commission launched the European Innovation Partnership to help make Europe a world leader in raw materials exploration, extraction, processing, recycling and substitution by 2020.

 

More information on the EIP on Raw Materials.

 

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* Bioeconomy Observatory

 

The European Commission will establish an observatory to map progress and measure the impact of the development of the European Union’s bioeconomy.

 

Check here.

 

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* The EU’s Free Trade Agreements

 

The European Commission released a memo regarding the EU’s Free Trade Agreements:

– On-going negotiations

– Free Trade Agreements finished but not yet entered into force

– Free Trade Agreements already in force

 

Please find more here.

 

Also check, fur further information the EU’s bilateral free trade agreements.

 

WTO – One Billion Tourists: One Billion Opportunities

13 December 2012

 

With the occasion of the estimated one billion numbers of tourists travelling this year, UN World Tourism Organization (WTO) lunched a new campaign One Billion Tourists: One Billion Opportunities.

 

The WTO insists tourists to respect local culture, presser heritage and buy local goods when travelling.

 

                                                                                                                        Credit: WTO

EU Presents ”Rethinking Education”

20 November 2012, Brussels/Strasbourg

 

Europe believe that it needs a radical rethink on how education and training systems: the youth unemployment rate is close to 23% BUT at the same time there are more than 2 million vacancies that cannot be filled.

 

Some of the ”Rethinking Education” issues presented in brief:

 

– A much stronger focus on developing transversal skills and basic skills, especially to entrepreneurial and IT skills.

– A new benchmark on foreign language learning.

– Investment in world-class vocational education and training systems and increase levels of work-based learning.

– Member States need to improve the recognition of qualifications and skills

– Technology, in particular the internet, must be fully exploited.

 

Please read more here.