More Trade News in Brief Week 3 (13 – 19 January 2014)

 

* Oxfam’s New Global Food Table

 

Oxfam published an index which compares the way the food is produced and distributed around the world.

 

European countries occupy the entire top 20 bar one – Australia ties in 8th place – while the US, Japan, New Zealand, Brazil and Canada all fall outside. African countries occupy the bottom 30 places in the table except for four – Laos, Bangladesh, Pakistan and India are there too.

 

See more at Good Enough to Eat, Oxfam Media Briefing.

 

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* South Korea & India Agree To Upgrade FTA, Revise DTA

 

South Korea and India agreed to upgrade their comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) and put into effect the revised double taxation agreement (DTA) between the two countries as soon as possible.

 

Check here for more.

 

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ASEAN + 6 Free Trade Negotiations

Phnom Penh (Cambodia)

 

ASEAN and its FTA’s partners expected to commence in 2013 negotiations on a new regional trade treaty, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

 

The RCEP is to be negotiated between ASEAN’s ten member countries – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – and its current six free trade agreement (FTA) partners – Australia, New Zealand, China, India, South Korea and Japan.

 

Check here and/ or here for more information.

 

Brazil Signing Currency Swap Agreements with All BRICS

 

Brazil and China have signed a Currency Swap Agreement in order to pay for trade transactions in local currencies (the real and the yuan or renminbi).

 

Furthermore, Brazil revealed that similar currency swap agreements were under study with all the members of the BRICS group of nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).

 

On the other side, China have signed similar agreements with Australia, Hong Kong and Japan.

 

More Trade News in Brief – Week 24 (4–10 June 2012)

* EU Starts Free Trade Talks with Armenia

 

1 June 2012, Brussels

 

The European Union (EU) and Armenia have agreed to begin negotiations for a comprehensive Free Trade Area.

 

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* Report on G20’s Trade & Investment

 

31 May 2012

 

WTO, OECD & UNCTAD published a report showing the negative impact of protectionist and discriminatory trade measures.

The seventh WTO-OECD-UNCTAD report for the G-20 on trade and investment reveals that government-imposed trade and investment restrictions continue to be an obstacle for global growth and development.

 

Please consult the report here.

 

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* Hong Kong-Portugal DTA Comes Into Force

 

On June 3^rd come into force the agreement for the avoidance of double taxation (DTA) signed between Hong Kong and Portugal.

 

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* Canada Starts Investment Talks With Benin and Burkina Faso

 

The Canadian government has launched negotiations on foreign investment promotion and protection agreements (FIPAs) with Benin and Burkina Faso.

 

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* India and Bahrain Sign TIEA

 

The governments of India and Bahrain have signed a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA).

 

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* Annual Asset Management Report: Facts & Figures in Europe – EFAMA

 

31 May 2012, Brussels

 

EFAMA published the Fifth Annual Review Asset Management in Europe: Facts & Figures (using data as at end 2010).

This report take a tour of european the industry looking at its overall size, general structure, asset allocation and client base.

 

Please see the Report.

The European Union and the BRIC Countries Statistics

31 May 2012

 

The four BRIC Countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and  Eurostat (the statistical office of the EU) releases the publication “The European Union and the BRIC Countries”.

 

The publication contains data on demography, economy, health, education, labour market, trade in goods, agriculture, energy and environment, transport and communication as well as science and technology.

 

For further information please refer to EU’s website.

 

A Global System for Aviation Carbon Emissions

 

After China, India, the United States and Russia oppose the EU’s Emissions Trading System directives, EU might alter its ETS if an agreement is reached.

 

A global system for aviation carbon emissions have been introduced in discussion by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a U.N. body, and it is supported by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), an industry group, which opposes the European charges.

 

More here.

New OECD Members

12 May 2010, Brussels

 

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has agreed to invite Estonia, Israel and Slovenia to become members of the Organisation, its membership will grow to 34 countries.

 

Before the admission, the three countries were reviewed by several commissions with respect to their compliance with OECD standards and benchmarks.

 

The last country to became member was Chile earlier this year and membership talks with Russia are in progress. In the same time, the OECD is strengthening its growing partnership with major emerging economies, including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa.

India–Pakistan New Trade Relations

23 April 2012, Attari, India

 

Officials from both countries have promised to open their markets to each other by the end of the year.

They have already liberalized some commercial ties and inaugurated a new border depot, there is even talk of opening new crossings to facilitate commerce.

 

Both countries’ central banks are exploring opening branches across the border.