Trends Transforming Trade

In the New Year I will be moving on to head up the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA). Over the years a group of us explored different avenues in which companies and the community of service providers that support them could obtain international certification to recognise their competency in the field of global trade. We could find no pathway in which there was a global standard (which I found rather strange), particularly as we advocate for the harmonisation of global standards in other sectors.

Trade financing, an esoteric and poorly understood branch of finance, is demonstrably critical to the pursuit and conduct of international trade, by companies of all sizes, and by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular. Those based in developing and emerging markets are in even more urgent need of the liquidity and risk mitigation solutions available through trade financing.

Buenos Aires—Pity the World Trade Organization (WTO). In three years of Talking Trade posts, at a rate of roughly 50 per year, the WTO does not get featured often. Unfortunately, nearly each time the WTO makes an appearance, the news is not good.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires most U.S. importers of food and beverages to develop and implement Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVPs). Covered importers must document their foreign suppliers’ FDA compliance, including whether or not each supplier is subject to a FDA Import Alert.

GTPA welcomes new corporate member Impact, IMPACT is a boutique consultancy specializing in integrated communications. Our goal is to become business associates of our clients and develop communication strategies to capture their target audiences and markets. Our added value is based on the personalized attention of our clients, and the expertise and creativity of the management team. Our work is dynamic, flexible and agile.

GTPA is absolutely delighted to have certified our first Global Trade Professional under ISO/IEC 17024. GTPA has certified Ms Fatou Ndiaye from KPMG as a GTP with a specialisation in Trade Management at the Management Level. Fatou has almost a decade of experience in international sales and export development and joined KPMG from a boutique Trade & Investment consulting company specialised in assisting Australian SMEs in their expansion to Europe. Her portfolio included clients from a broad range of industries i.e. waste water, medical device, automotive, IT.

Corporate service providers engaged in global trade can apply to be a GTPA-Trusted Service Provider to align their organisation and employees to the GTPA’s standards and network.

The GTP Programme, launched in Argentina on the 12^th December by the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism, and Investment- Australia is a brand-new initiative based on the internationally accepted requirements for person certification under ISO/IEC 17024, and has been designed to address the need for a global program that recognises and certifies global trade professionals across national boundaries.

GTPA is delighted to welcome new Corporate Member eCOM. eCOM Asia is an integration and commerce company specialising in solutions across the Supply Chain. eCOM’s customers are predominantly in Sourcing, Manufacturing, Automotive, Customs, Banking, Logistics/Distribution, Shipping, Terminals, Retail and FMCG. With IBM and Mulesoft products as a core technology, eCOM builds industry leading supply chain information that help enterprises solve supply chain optimization problems, harmonize business process, facilitate information logistics, and create true Supply Chain governance. We are a one-stop information logistics solutions company that provides comprehensive consulting, development, implementation, testing, community management, and after-sales support services.

GTPA is now open for business and we invite all individuals involved in the practice of global trade, including companies involved in import and export who wish to certify their staff to explore how they could become a GTP to broaden their global career and open the door to a world of opportunities. Information can be found on the GTPA website at www.gtpalliance.com.

Government and international institution bureaucrats don’t understand the realities of business.

Businesspeople and entrepreneurs don’t have the first clue about the nuances and intricacies of policy, trade negotiations and geopolitics, or even the complexities of trade promotion.

These are common perceptions, often cited, from both sides of the “table” in international engagement and trade. Entrepreneurs and business leaders may have a view that policy specialists and others in the government and international institution side are a bit academic, worrying a great deal about technical issues that have little to do with the practical realities of competing and succeeding in international markets.

The benefits of international trade are currently the subject of debate in various contexts, however, it has long been demonstrated that, even with its systemic imperfections which must be acknowledged, trade has been a powerful driver for economic value creation, inclusion and poverty reduction, as well as peace and security.

This session will introduce the Global Trade Professionals Alliance, outline the mandate, organisation and aspirations of the GTPA, and link the GTPA trusted network to the professionalization of trade practice.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. This could well be a life motto for Jane Lu, founder of online fashion house Showpo. “What my experience has taught me is that failure isn’t so bad,” Lu says.“It sounds cliche, but the tough times have taught me and helped me grow.”

It turns out that there are a surprising number of individuals interested in the specific details of the TPP11 revisions. To satisfy the curious, this is a longer than usual blog post. It also appears here as a much prettier Policy Brief. To see how your firm should prepare now for the arrival of TPP11, click here.

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Harsha Vardhana Singh as our first Honorary Member. Honourary Membership of the GTPA is a significant award granted by the International and Technical Advisory Committee (ITAC) of GTPA. The award may only be conferred on persons who have through their lifetime career demonstrated a clear and distinct role in advancing global trade development.

You are cordially invited to join us for the official launch of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA), the global umbrella organisation driving professional certification in all dimensions of international trade, that will evolve into the premier trusted network of trade experts in the world.

GTPA is a new not-for-profit, membership-based organisation connecting individuals and organisations to a trusted network with recognised capabilities that power supply chains and their communities around the world.

International engagement, rules-based, fair and freer trade are being challenged today on the basis of narrow self-interest, ill-informed discourse and outright disregard for the facts. Which is why an organisation that can play an important role in raising, substantially, the quality of the discussion around trade, the quality of the conduct of trade around the world, and the wider positive impact of trade on development, poverty-reduction and economic inclusion is so important.

The Executive Director and Advisory Committee of the Global Trade Professionals Alliance (GTPA) invite expressions of interest from leading experts across all areas of international trade, to contribute to one or more Working Committees relating to specific specialisations in international trade.

November 2017: This is an updated version of an earlier post on Talking Trade, modified to reflect the TPP11 changes and the expansion of the agenda in RCEP. However, because RCEP, especially, remains under negotiation, the assessment should be viewed with some caution. For further discussion on how you can use or influence these agreements, please see us soon at the Asian Trade Centre.

Broken down, the new elements are the inclusion of the suspended bits (discussed more below), the revised entry into force (necessary after the US pulled out), a new section on withdrawal (the necessity of which was made crystal clear after the US pulled out), a new section on accession (since the old one was too vague anyway), a potentially interesting article 6 that seems to review the whole agreement in the future, and article 7 that copies across all of the original commitments and texts from TPP12.

Proving once again that good ideas cannot be killed, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is ready to move into force as soon as next year. Companies had largely given up on the TPP after the withdrawal of the United States. Now firms will need to scramble to figure out how the agreement matters to their business and what steps they should take to maximize the opportunities and minimize the risks arising from the most important trade agreement in decades.

On the eve of US President Donald Trump’s visit to China, the trade waters have been stirred up further by a pair of rulings issued by the US Department of Commerce late on Friday, October 27. In a 205-page memo, Commerce officials argued that China remains a non-market economy (NME) because “it does not operate sufficiently on market principles to permit the use of Chinese prices and costs for the purposes of the Department’s antidumping analysis.”

Education providers around the world should look to now join the GTPA and become an Approved Education Provider. This will provide education providers with the opportunity to be a recognised pathway for individuals to demonstrate their professional trade competencies as well as a platform to promote their institution as part of a globally recognised alliance.

15-19 July 2018

Following on the heels of the Prime Minister’s very successful and well-received delegation of senior Australian business and government leaders in February, AmCham Australia is pleased to offer your business the opportunity to send a representative on the AmCham Washington Doorknock 2018.

Join the Supporting Women’s Access to Global Markets Online Course for the APEC Business Community. Developed by the Australian APEC Study Centre and Australian Government, the training explores how business groups can better support women entrepreneurs and business owners to build export-ready businesses and access global markets. This course launched on 19 April 2021 and will be available as a free online resource until December 2021.

Australia has taken the first step in commencing formal consultations with Canada regarding measures Australia believes impose arbitrary and disadvantageous restrictions on the sale of imported wine in Canadian grocery stores, inconsistent with Canada's WTO obligations.

What is dumping and what do wine exporters need to do now?

The announcement that China has commence an anti-dumping investigation into Australia wine has come as a surprise many. Dumping is associated with unfair tactics and selling goods at a loss. This isn't what is associated with the Australian wine industry. However, the industry is in for a nasty shock – you can be found to be dumping even when acting ethically and selling at a profit.

It is easy to argue that the investigation is politically motivated. However, it is important to keep in mind that this week Canada commenced a dumping investigation against Australian gluten. Further, since the start of this year, Australian has commenced five anti-dumping investigations against Chinese products. Australian wine exporters need to focus on how to get the best outcome from the investigation, rather than question the motives of the Chinese government.