Final negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union and Singapore were completed last month. The agreement will be one of the most comprehensive the EU has ever negotiated and will create new opportunities for companies from Europe and Singapore to do business together. An EU-Singapore FTA will be the EU’s second agreement with a key Asian trading partner, after the EU-Korea FTA, which has been in place since July 2011.
UK products, services and expertise are in demand all around the world and businesses that export grow faster and survive longer than those that solely rely on their domestic market.
London 2012 has seen all the eyes of the world looking our way, providing a perfect platform for UK businesses to showcase themselves and do profitable business in overseas markets.
The Export Insight Series is an unrivalled opportunity to expand your business overseas. It aims to introduce novice and non-export businesses to the principles of international trade so that you can go on to grow internationally. If you haven’t exported before, you will probably have lots of questions and be unsure where to start. UKTI there to help you by providing a low-cost and accessible way to expand your business horizons.
What’s Included? There is a nominal charge of £99 +Vat for each of the Export Insight Visits. UKTI will then organise and pay for group flights, accommodation, in market group transport and activities.
Participants will need to pay for other food and drink, public transport and any personal extra charges incurred.
The remaining visits on the programme cover the following markets:
January 2013 France Italy
February 2013 Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Spain
March 2013 Republic of Ireland Poland Sweden
Please click here to see the brochure which includes details of how to book onto the visits.
The ninth issue of the Export Control Organisation’s Training Bulletin contains full details of courses, seminars and workshops that will increase your understanding of the UK’s strategic export controls.
These events are aimed at exporting and trading individuals or companies of all sizes, as well as government organisations, and cater for a wide range of knowledge levels.
The latest bulletin includes all details, charges and an application form. Download the bulletin here.
For more information on export controls and the work of the ECO generally, call the EOC helpline on 020 7215 4594, or email with your questions: [email protected]
A new framework to enhance the EU’s ability to enforce its rights in the international trading system has been put forward by the European Commission.
Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that ensuring EU’s partners respect the agreed trade rules is essential to make trade agreements work for the European economy.
Covering the EU’s responses in cases of illegal trade measures in other countries, the proposal aims to provide for effective action to safeguard the interests of EU companies and workers.
A framework will be established to enable the Commission to take executive action when the trade interests of the EU are at stake, rather than, as at present, reacting on a case-by-case basis when EU rights are not respected.
This should allow the EU to implement trade responses in a more streamlined, efficient manner in order to encourage the offending country to remove the illegal measures.
“The EU’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and bilateral trade agreements help the EU economy,” Mr De Gucht said. “However, those agreements must be respected for them to deliver results.”
Action under the proposed new regulation could also be taken to compensate for import restrictions imposed on EU products in exceptional situations (so-called safeguard measures), or to react to cases where a WTO member country changes its trade regime in a way that negatively affects EU trade (such as raising its import tariffs) without adequate compensation.
The Council of the European Union has agreed to adopt a new Council Regulation concerning restrictive measures against Iran which amends EU Council Regulation No 267/2012. This new Regulation came into legal force on 22 December 2012 and was published in the Official Journal of the EU.
The Council agreed to keep the prohibition on the purchase, transport or import of gas originating in Iran or exported from Iran (Article 14a) under review, with a view to ensuring its effective implementation. Other key industry sectors impacted by the new regulation are:
Following publication in the Official Journal on 22 December, the complete text of the Regulation is available on the EU website.
The rules on food imports from Japan, following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station on 11 March 2011, were until recently imposed by Regulation 284/2012. This has now been replaced by Regulation 996/2012 governing imports of Japanese food and animal feed. This Regulation notes that, since 2002, Regulation 178/2002 on the general principles and requirements of EU food law has provided for the possibility of adopting appropriate EU emergency measures for food and feed imported from a third (non EU) country in order to protect public health, animal health or the environment, where the risk cannot be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member States individually.
Following the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power station, the European Commission was informed that radionuclide levels in certain food products originating in Japan – such as milk and spinach – exceeded the action levels in food applicable in that country. Such contamination may constitute a threat to public and animal health in the EU and the European Commission (EC) therefore imposed special conditions governing the imports of feed and food originating in or consigned from Japan. Keeping the situation under review, the EC has replaced the relevant regulation on a number of occasions. The most recent version (Regulation 284/2012) applies from its date of entry into force (30 October 2012) until 31 March 2014.
The inflation figures published last Tuesday confirmed that CPI remained unchanged for the third successive month in December at 2.7%. The largest upward pressure came from the price increases in utility bills but this was offset by downward pressure from air fares. Although there is some uncertainty around the near term outlook, our view is that inflation will start to creep up over the next few months before slowing later in the year.
Recentretail sales figures were weaker than predicted. UK sales fell at a seasonally-adjusted 0.1% in December from the month before. Although retail sales were up 0.3% in annual terms, it was slowest annual growth rate for a December since 1998 – with the exception of December 2010. These figures increase the risk that the ONS will announce a small negative figure for the fourth quarter this week.
On last Monday the Pensions Minister confirmed that the government will introduce a single-tier state pension from April 2017. This will reduce complexity and offer a higher state pension for the self-employed but may reduce the state pension for higher earners; this will also eliminate ‘contracting out’ and associated national insurance rebates. The government will explore the possibility for defined benefit schemes to change scheme rules to compensate for this loss without trustees’ permission.
The government finally published its response to the Sickness Absence Review last Thursday. The response committed government to introduce an independent health advisory and assessment service that will provide an independent assessment of employees who have; been off work for four weeks; retain tax relief on Employee Assistance Programmes; reduce record requirements for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and look at removing tax disincentives for employers who want to pay for medical interventions for sick members of staff. The Percentage Threshold Scheme for claiming-back SSP will be scrapped.
Qatar Customs Authorities, have issued a new ruling with regard to goods being directly shipped to Qatar from the UK with an EC Certificate of Origin. It is causing some confusion and problems so please be aware of this.
Norfolk Chamber has contacted the British Chambers of Commerce for clarification, as we know this will affect many exporters in our region.
They suggest that BEFORE SHIPPING YOUR GOODS, you should raise your EC Certificate of Origin and scan/email to your client and ask them “will this be accepted by your Customs Authority?”
If your client says no, you should then raise an Arab Certificate of Origin but this will cost a lot more to process so please be aware of this. Prices for Arab Certificates can be obtained by calling the International Trade Team on 01603 729712.
For those of you who ship to Qatar by air, please see the Documentation Procedure for Air which outlines everything you need to show on the Invoice and other documents.
As and when we receive any further news on this matter, we will update our website accordingly
Healthcare UK, the new organisation set up to promote Britain’s healthcare sector to international customers, will be launched in the Middle East at a major international trade show this month.
In a joint initiative between the Department of Health, NHS Commissioning Board and UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), Health Minister Lord Howe will launch the organisation at the Arab Health Congress in Dubai on 29 January.
He will be joined by UK Business Ambassador Lord Darzi and the newly appointed Healthcare UK Managing Director, Howard Lyons.
Lord Howe described the UK as a world leader in healthcare, with unrivalled experience and expertise in meeting the health needs of a diverse population.
“Healthcare UK is good news for the UK economy, which will benefit from the extra jobs and revenue created by our highly successful healthcare industries as they trade more across the globe,” he went on. “It also means more money for the NHS across the UK.”
The aim is to provide a single gateway to the UK’s capabilities in healthcare – private, public and academic – to help international customers access the UK’s expertise.
UKTI Chief Executive Nick Baird said that Mr Lyons brought a great deal of international commercial healthcare experience to his new job, having worked in the NHS and the private health sector in Britain and overseas.
One of the tasks of Healthcare UK will be to facilitate the formation of consortia of UK organisations to provide complete solutions to major healthcare challenges.
The European Commission has recommended to the EU Council of Ministers that the Union should vote in favour of renewing two long-standing trade agreements: the International Sugar Agreement and the Grains Trade Convention.
It is seeking the Council’s authorisation for Commission representatives to vote, on behalf of the Union, in favour of renewal at the forthcoming meetings of the governing bodies of these two agreements.
The Grains Trade Convention 1995 was concluded by the EU by Council Decision 96/88/EC until 30 June 1998 and, since then, it has been regularly extended.
Last considered in June 2011, it remains into force until 30 June 2013. A further extension of the Convention by up to two years is seen by the Commission as being in the EU’s best interest.
Similarly, the International Sugar Agreement 1992 was concluded by the EU by Decision 92/580/EEC and entered into force on 1 January 1993 for a period of three years until 31 December 1995.
Since then, it too has been regularly renewed for further two-year periods.
The Agreement was last extended in June 2011 and remains into force until 31 December 2013. The Commission has said that it would be in the interest of the Union to vote for an extension of the Agreement to 31 December 2015.
It is intended to facilitate trade by collecting and providing information on the world sugar market and other sweeteners and provides a forum for intergovernmental consultations on sugar and on ways to improve the world sugar economy.
The Convention exists to further international co-operation in all aspects of trade in grains and to promote the expansion of international trade.