Trends Transforming Trade

The idea of facilitating secure and compliant trade underpins many international agreements such as the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and WCO Safe Framework of Standards (SAFE) and is reflected in many “Authorised Economic Operator” programmes such as our own Australian Trusted Trader Programme (ATTP).

Government and its agencies also provide further assistance to those in the supply chain to take advantage of trade opportunities whether through Export Market Development Grants, other export and trade finance and education on benefits available through Free Trade Agreements (FTA).

GTPA hit the road in June for a whirlwind tour around Europe to meet with key stakeholders in Germany, Belgium, Amsterdam, Geneva and the UK. Whilst I had the great pleasure to attend the IfTI Global Symposium: “Financing. Impact. Together”, my long-time colleague, Collins Rex, participated in the WCO eCommerce Working group face-to-face meeting in Brussels as part of a 4-day gathering to determine the essential data elements for eCommerce customs clearance and agree on key eCommerce definitions.

Doing business globally and maintaining a competitive edge requires the development of new skills and knowledge.

Exporters must have access to a trusted network of skilled professionals to help their business to grow.

Surprisingly, international trade is perhaps the only recognised profession that hasn’t developed a global standard for certifying trade professionals – until now.

As Chair of the ITAC, I am delighted to announce that Dr. Alisa DiCaprio based in New York has joined the Trade Policy Working Committee.

As Chair of the ITAC, I am delighted to announce that Mr. Maninder Bhandari, based in Dubai, UAE, has joined the committee. As a former senior international banker with over 29 years' experience with HSBC, ABN Amro Bank, Emirates NBD and The Bank of New York Mellon in Asia/Pacific (Hong Kong, Singapore & India), Latin America & Caribbean/North America (Sao Paulo & Miami), Middle East & Africa (Dubai) Maninder brings in-depth domain expertise and a global perspective to the GTPA that will ensure the development of a world-class specialisation in Trade Finance & Supply Chain Finance.

Prominent African and international business executives and investors to explore business opportunities at the Africa Trade and Investment Global Summit (ATIGS); a prestigious biennial conference and exhibition to be held on June 24-26, 2018 in Washington, DC, USA at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center.

Organized by GAA Exhibitions & Conferences, the 2018 ATIGS edition will gather key economic players from more than 70 countries including government delegations, high-profile African leaders, project developers and international investors on June 24, 25 and 26, 2018 in Washington, DC. Designed to promote and facilitate international trade between Americas, Asia, Europe, United Arab Emirates and Africa, the 3-days event will provide a unique platform to gain strategic knowledge about local investment opportunities and business networking.

Sangeeta Khorana is Professor of Economics at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. She has a Ph.D. from the University of St. Gallen and a summa cum laude Masters’ degree from the Berne University in Switzerland.

Xtend2 Limited is an independent multi-sector trade promotion company committed to helping organisations around the world market goods and services beyond their national boundaries.

Established in 2001 by Gerald Lawson-Tancred, Xtend2 Limited prides itself on extensive networks of contacts in a vast range of industry sectors across Europe. Their expert market knowledge combined with their links to international organisations enables them to put their clients in touch with the right people and forge long lasting key business relationships. Their clients include Government Export Agencies, Chambers of Commerce, generic Trade Associations as well as regional government trade agencies from around the world.

U.S. trade policy is roiling markets. At the end of March, the U.S. stock market tumbled 700 points in a single day on news that President Trump would impose tariffs on Chinese exports. A degree of volatility and uncertainty has continued since then as the tariffs continue to make news. Canada, China, Europe, India, and Mexico are all preparing to retaliate.

The committee will provide advice to the ITAC on the development of competency standards, quality control, ongoing professional development and the global issues for the committee’s domain specialisation. This working committee is to provide advice to GTPA on its competency standards related to Risk Analysis and Mitigation.

The news that Australians will be blocked from shopping on Amazon's international websites and restricted to using its smaller local platform, so the e-commerce giant complies with new GST rules on online purchases, although not welcome, has not come as a surprise.

The news that Australians will be blocked from shopping on Amazon's international websites and restricted to using its smaller local platform, so the e-commerce giant complies with new GST rules on online purchases, although not welcome, has not come as a surprise.

The International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission recently published its authoritative flagship report on trade and trade financing. This year, the report, titled “Global Trade – Securing Future Growth” is in its tenth edition, and includes contributions from WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo, ITC Executive Director Arancha Gonzalez and numerous other influencers and luminaries in the world of trade. John Denton, Secretary General of the ICC and Honorary GTP introduces the report with a Foreword, highlighting the central role of financing in enabling trade. As Denton observes, “ Reliable and cost-effective financing is integral to the global trading system, helping companies to mitigate the risks and costs involved in the international flow of goods. This role makes the trade finance industry particularly sensitive to the politics of world trade…”

With APEC being held in Papua New Guinea in November 2018, the spotlight is on the many commercial opportunities available in PNG.

For the first time ever, AmCham is partnering with the U.S. Commercial Service in Australia and the U.S. Embassy in Port Moresby to assemble a business delegation to Papua New Guinea. Join us this August as we explore major projects spanning infrastructure, tourism, agribusiness, defence, and more. Tahe delegation will be led by Ambassador Catherine Ebert-Gray, U.S. Ambassador to PNG, April Palmerlee, CEO of AmCham Australia, and Doug Wallace, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Sydney.

2M Language Services (2M) is one of Australia's leading language service providers. Our experienced team works with large international corporations, exporting SMEs to assist them to increase their national and global reach, increase market share, reduce health & security risks, comply with safety obligations and help them meet their KPIs and grow.

Australian exporters must embrace new digital technology or risk being left behind, a world trade expert has warned.

Ms Lisa McAuley, Executive Director of Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) said exporters – particularly SMEs – are being “bogged down” by paperwork, bureaucratic red tape and arcane trade restrictions.

This can result in frustrating delays, which can be very costly.

There was a time when customs tariffs accounted for 80% of the Commonwealth Government's revenue. While customs duty revenue may not make the headlines in 2018, there are still a number of interesting customs and trade takeaways from the 2018/19 budget.

Single window

The Government will spend provide $10.5 million to transform and modernise Australia's international trade supply chain to deliver more efficient and secure trade processing – unfortunately this money will not go towards upgrading the ICS, but will be another study on the viability of a single window for international trade documents.

GTPA has developed the only international standard for certifying trade professionals. The Global Trade Professional (GTP) Programme, has been developed under ISO/IEC 17024, for the certification of professional competence in the various global trade disciplines.

GTP certification is based on the candidate demonstrating the fulfilment of a minimum number competence standards.

Dr Michael Gasiorek is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the University of Sussex as well as the Co-founder and Managing Director of InterAnalysis Ltd since 2009. InterAnalysis is a University spin-out company focussing on development of the TradeSift software, training and consultancy on trade in goods, services and investment with a particular focus on working with and in developing countries.

Are you ready for when Australia's new Country of Origin labelling laws take effect on 1 July 2018? Need to know if your food is a priority food or not? Whether it has been substantially transformed?

Or are you concerned about the impact the ACCC case against Heinz will have on your marketing? The ACCC is currently targeting the health angle when marketing food products... even when such claims are 100% compliant with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

As an island nation, Australia's past and future prosperity is closely linked to successes in international trade and investment. In the face of increasing protectionist rhetoric worldwide, the role of trade and investment professionals is now crucial more than ever.

If you are an international trade or investment professional, please join us at Austrade on Thursday 3rd May for a dedicated PIT Speed Networking Session.

This will be an opportunity to meet like-minded peers and to share experiences of facilitating trade and investment between Australia and the rest of the world.

Click here to register

“Trade has been a major contributor to economic growth and poverty reduction, but more can be done to make it even more inclusive.” Ms Lisa McAuley CEO of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (“GTPA”).

“I was delighted to participate on the recent All Party Parliamentary Group for Trade Out of Poverty with ODI (APPG-TOP with ODI), led by Lord Purvis of the UK and Minister Enelamah of Nigeria and supported by the APPG-TOP Secretariat as well as the group of experts representing various Commonwealth countries.”

Long Finance's Distributed Futures research programme is pleased to announce the publication of the report, "The Economic Impact Of Smart Ledgers On World Trade", the latest in a series of exciting projects in the programme. The report, sponsored by the Cardano Foundation, came as a result of the the Worshipful Company of World Traders and the Distributed Futures' interest in quantifying the potential impact of Smart Ledger technology on international trade. Written by Douglas McWilliams, Cristian Niculescu-Marcu, and Beatriz Cruz from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), it includes a Foreword by Michael Parsons FCA, Chairman of Cardano Foundation, and a Preface by Professor Michael Mainelli, Executive Chairman of Z/Yen Group.

Roger Singleton brings a very unique set of skills to this committee in terms of where the GTPA wishes to explore the importance of Industrie 4.0 skills development and competencies.

Roger  is the founder of Riscon Solutions Ltd, an engineering consultancy that specialises in capacity building of staff and organisations to improve performance.

Francis Wong OAM is a leading South Australian entrepreneur who migrated from Brunei in 1988 to establish one of the more awarded national tourism companies in Australia. Since his arrival he has been actively developing positive relationships between Australia and global economies, especially Asia. His global tourism connections have enable him to open many doors for Australian and Asian businesses and establish successful relationships.

I am delighted to announce on behalf of the GTPA, that David Winterton based in Australia has joined the Trade Finance and Supply Chain Finance Working Committee.

David leads a team of Trade and Supply Chain specialists who provide ANZ clients structuring advice for their short-term liquidity requirements and risk mitigation solutions to assist in their effective management of both domestic and cross-border trade flows and is particularly passionate in providing SME support on the direction of Trade Finance in a digital world.

Welcome to the second International Freight Forwarding & Customs Broking industry snapshot released by HLB Mann Judd in conjunction with The Australian Federation of International Forwarders and The Front-Line Group.

GTPA is delighted to welcome Marc L Busch as the new Chair of the International Affairs and Trade Policy working committee. Marc will also be involved in providing oversight into the Trade Regulation and Compliance and Trade Law ISO/IEC 17024 competency developments.

Marc L Busch (Ph.D., Columbia University) is the Karl F. Landegger Professor of International Business Diplomacy at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Professor of Government and Professor of Business Administration at Georgetown University. He is an expert on international trade policy and law.

Lisa McAuley, the CEO of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) was delighted to be part of an Inquiry Committee of distinguished experts that has today published its Final Report examining the potential of the Commonwealth family of 53 nations to help its poorest countries and citizens to trade out of poverty, in line with the values of the Commonwealth Charter and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Inquiry Committee –– co-chaired by Lord Jeremy Purvis of the UK and Hon. Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister for Industry, Trade and Investment of Nigeria –– was established by the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Trade Out of Poverty and the UK Overseas Development Institute in September last year.

Miss Radika Kumar previously was the Deputy Permanent Head of the Fiji Mission in Geneva and a Commonwealth Trade Adviser under the EU funded Hub and Spoke II programme. She holds a PhD in Economics and International Trade and a Master’s Degree in Economics.

GTPA is pleased to welcome Marco Amprimo to the Young Trade Professionals Working committee.

SynergetiX Management Consulting specializes in assisting companies to shape their China Strategy.

A strong relationship with China is very important to your export prosperity. SynergetiX Management Consulting aims to enhance your Short, Mid & Long-term strategies, set-up business procedures, improve performance, retain and build on the successful links we have developed with Australiasia countries in recent decades.

SynergetiX Management Consulting services clients all over the world with open opportunities to China.

The news that the Department of Home Affairs is planning to introduce a new tax on parcels posted from overseas, under a federal government plan to cover security screening costs, might be seen as a NTM.

One has to ask whether the time is right for Australia to be looking to introduce measures domestically that could be perceived as new taxes on imports. And should this levy be seen as a tax, it could well result in retaliatory measures that would impact on e-commerce opportunities for Australian companies overseas. We acknowledge the importance of increased security and screening and the importance of robust security, but we would like to see whether there is a different way that this could be funded so it does not hurt consumers and business, who will ultimately bear the cost.

GTPA is pleased to announce that Ziyaad Ebrahim has been certified under ISO/IEC 17024 as a Global Trade Professional in the field of Trade Management.

Ziyaad has close to fifteen years of experience in international trade and development.He joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) after serving 12 years in various positions within the Government of Seychelles.

Mr Denton is a legal expert and adviser on global policy, international trade and investment and infrastructure. His advice is sought by Australia’s most prominent corporations and by governments and international bodies alike. Mr Denton is also an Honourary Member of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) and on behalf of the GTPA Board we congratulate him on the new appointment and wish him all the very best in continuing to drive the important work of the ICC on behalf of the business community.

( This article is kindly republished with the permission of FoodLegal and first appeared in the March 2018 edition of its monthly online FoodLegal Bulletin. FoodLegal is an Australian regulatory consultancy specialising in compliance risk assessment, product development compliance strategies, compliance project management for International clients, and product certification assessment for food retailers, exporters, importers, manufacturers, distributors or others: ( https://www.foodlegal.com.au/) ).

The new Country of Origin (Food Labelling) Information Standard 2016 is mandatory from 1 July 2018. The effect of this Information Standard in combination with the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement could enhance a competitive trade advantage for New Zealand food companies over Australian companies globally.

( This article is kindly republished with the permission of FoodLegal and first appeared in the March 2018 edition of its monthly online FoodLegal Bulletin. FoodLegal is an Australian regulatory consultancy specialising in compliance risk assessment, product development compliance strategies, compliance project management for International clients, and product certification assessment for food retailers, exporters, importers, manufacturers, distributors or others: ( https://www.foodlegal.com.au/) ).

FSANZ invites written submissions on draft variations to the Food Standards Code arising from Application A1151 (Beta - Galactosidase)

On 1 March 2018, FSANZ called for written submissions on the draft variation to the Food Standards Code Schedule 18 arising from Application A1151 – Beta – Galactosidase from Papiliotrema terrestris as a Processing Aid (Enzyme).

Written submissions are due by 12 April 2018.

This FoodLegal Symposium focuses on the importance of new traceability protection technologies, databases and regulatory frameworks to protect brand and product integrity and the need to implement countermeasures for food fraud; as well as the opportunities to use similar technologies to create an exciting brand story and enhanced brand reputation.

GTPA welcomes FoodLegal specialises in providing solutions and advice in relation to regulatory issues surrounding the Food Standards Code, Australian Competition and Consumer Act as well as advice in relation to product development and food marketing compliance.

From 1 July this year, low value goods[1] imported from overseas by consumers in Australia will attract Goods and Services Tax (GST).

This means that vendors—including merchants, electronic distribution platform operators and re-deliverers—with sales subject to GST of AUD75,000 or more each year will need to register with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), collect GST at the point of sale and remit that GST to the ATO.

As this is a tax measure and not a border measure, the ATO is responsible for implementation and all compliance activity.