EU SANCTION AGAINST ECONOMIC THREATS
The European Commission has recently presented a new tool, created to counter the use of economic coercion by third countries, as a response to the economic pressure to which EU companies have been subjected in recent years, in order to better defend themselves on the global stage. (more…)
KOSOVO IN THE EU EXAMINATION
A meeting of the EU-Kosovo Stabilization and Association Council took place in Brussels on 7 December; on the agenda were Kosovo’s progress on its European path, following the publication of the European Commission’s 2021 Report and its progress in implementing the agreement.
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NEW APPLICATIONS OF THE WTO SIMPLIFICATION AGREEMENT
At the meeting of the Commission on Trade Facilitation on 20 July, the WTO Member States took note of the trade facilitation commitments which should be implemented by the end of the year, as well as continuing to work on first revision of the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).
BRAZIL, THE NEW SISCOMEX SINGLE PORTAL IS STARTED
Last week the Brazilian Federal Government started the new process of importing the Single Portal for the foreign Trade Programme, as part of the changes implemented by the Ministry of Economy, to gradually expand the scope of the Portal and simplify the procedures for operators.
The main novelty of the new style import process is the favor granted to companies certified as Authorized Economic Operator (AEO), which cover about 30% of the total value of Brazilian imports. Facilities are also made available to operators who submit a large number of import declarations, with the possibility of registering, correcting and consulting the single import declaration through the web-based integration of their systems with the government platform. The government also expects optimizations in the customs authorities’ work processes, thanks to the formation of virtual and specialized server teams, a more appropriate distribution of workloads and a better use of available public resources. The Single Foreign Trade Portal program is a federal government initiative to reduce the bureaucracy, time and costs of Brazilian exports and imports, in order to more efficiently meet the demands of individuals who carry out international transactions. The main objectives are the revision of the export and import processes, so as to make them more efficient and harmonized, and the creation of a one-stop shop for the interaction between customs and economic operators.
SHIPPING COMPANIES UNDER EXAMINATION USA
The Federal Maritime Commission plans to check nine of the largest container carriers, operating in U.S. markets, for practices of exercising oligopolistic market power to overload shippers with unjustified fees of detentions and demurrages.
THE WORLD TARIFF PROFILES 2021 HAS BEEN PUBLISHED
The WTO published on July 14 the 2021 edition of World Tariff Profiles, a joint publication with the International Trade Center the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which provides information on tariff and non-tariff customs measures imposed from over 170 countries and territories.
MERCOSUR, COMMON TARIFF COMING SOON
Intense and decisive days for the future of Mercosur’s external relations. The negotiating and technical teams of the regional organisation have been working since March and should publish the new conditions for the Common Customs Tariff.
KOREA, FREE TRADE AGREEMENT TO BE UPDATED?
In 2011, Korea became the first trading partner of the European Union in Asia to sign a Free Trade Agreement. In 2020, the volume of trade between Korea and EU countries reached 90 billion euros, an increase of 45% compared to 60 billion euros ten years ago.
CLECAT DEMANDS MORE COMPETITION IN CONTAINER TRANSPORT
The European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services expresses its firm disappointment with the EU Commission’s attitude to maintaining unjustified privileges in the transport sector and Invites member states to monitor the current critical situation of international trade. (more…)
PANDEMIC SLOWS PROTECTIONISM
According to a recent WTO report, the balance of trade policies respected by the G20 economies has prevented a destructive acceleration of those protectionist measures which would have further damaged the world economy, already tested by the health emergency.
The 25th WTO Trade Monitoring Report analyzes the trade measures taken by the G20 economies as the world continues to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. The period examined (from mid-October 2020 to mid-May 2021), presents interesting information, identifying a series of areas subject, in most Countries, to an economic recovery, even in the presence of a health emergency that has not yet ended. In particular, international cooperation and coordination between nations and intergovernmental organisations has increased and intensified in recent months. In numerical terms, since the beginning of the pandemic, the G20 economies have implemented 140 trade measures, 101 (72%) to promote trade and only 39 (28%) of a protectionist nature. The reduction or elimination of import taxation, applied to goods such as DPI, disinfectants, medical equipment, and medicine, accounted for 60% of trade facilitation measures. Export bans accounted for more than 90% of all restrictive measures; grants, loans, fiscal and financial incentives for the sectors most affected by the crisis (agriculture, health, tourism), on the other hand, were the subject of the support policies adopted.