More Trade News in Brief – Week 14 (1 – 7 April 2013)

 

* USTR – Reports on Barriers to Trade

 

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) publishes various Reports on Barriers to Trade:

 

Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Report)

 

Sanitary and Phytosanitary Barriers to Trade (SPS Report)

 

2013 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers

 

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* UN – Global Arms Trade Treaty Approved

 

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a global arms trade treaty to regulate the international trade in conventional arms.

 

Please find more about the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) following the link.

 

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* OECD – Global Economy Outlook

 

OECD published its latest Interim Economic Assessment.

 

Check here.

 

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* US – West African States to Start TIFA Negotiations

 

The United States is exploring a trade and investment framework agreement (TIFA) with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

 

The ECOWAS member states are Sierra Leone, Senegal and Cape Verde.

 

Read more about it here.

 

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More Trade News in Brief – Week 21 (14-20 May 2012)

* CIS Summit 2012

 

 15 May 2012, Moscow

 

Countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) reaffirm their commitment to tied their relations and to considered economic and trade cooperation a priority.

 

On 15^th May, the delegations of the CIS’s members discussed the ratification of the agreement on a free trade zone within the Commonwealth of Independent States.

 

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* Informal Talks on Information Technology Agreement (ITA)

 

15 May 2012-05-18

 

Under the WTO’s organization, several countries have announced their intention to start informal bilateral and plurilateral consultations on what products to add to the Information Technology Agreement (ITA).

 

More here.

 

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* South Africa – CPI & PPI to be Reviewed

 

 16 May 2012, Pretoria

 

The Government announced that the methods used to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the Producer Price Index (PPI) are to be reviewed. More here.

 

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* EU Demands Accurate Information

 

 European Parliament has emitted a resolution calling for accurate information on customs duty and value-added tax (VAT) evasion in member states.

The aim argue was that the EU Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) is unable to recover misused money from member states or even to provide accurate data related to EU funds.

 

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* The 5^th Round Negotiation between China & Switzerland on FTA

 

16 May 2012, Beijing

 

On the last round negotiations, 8-10  May en Beijing, the two parts exchanged views on issues as: goods trade tariff reductions, trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, intellectual property rights, competition policies and trade dispute remedies.

 

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* G8 Summit – “Acting Together”

 

This year’s G8 Summit, under the motto “Acting Together”, will take place on 18-19 May 2012 in Camp David.

 

More: EU & U.S. Department of State.