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ITC Trade and Market IntelligenceNEWSLETTER |
| Enhancing the transparency of global trade and market access |
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| For all latest news, follow us here. |
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First customized Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk platform launched in Georgia |
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Reforms lift obstacles to trade for exporters in Tanzania |
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ITC Trade Briefs highlight trade data related to the war in Ukraine |
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Market Access Map new mobile design available now |
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Evaluations of free trade agreements: the case of an ASEAN+2-Chile FTA |
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Efforts to reach new policymakers & firms with Global Trade Helpdesk |
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Revamped Euromed Trade Helpdesk available this summer |
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Strengthening the African Trade Observatory partners' network across Africa |
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Capacity Building: Sign up for the SME Trade Academy |
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| EASTERN PARTNERSHIP TRADE HELPDESK |
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| First customized EaP Trade Helpdesk platform launched in Georgia |
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| Friday 6 May 2022, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, the European Union and ITC, launched the Georgian version of their regional trade portal, the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Trade Helpdesk. |
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| “Building closer links with the EU and Eastern Partners is the highest priority of Georgia”, said Genady Arveladze, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia. “The new Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk platform will help Georgian businesses, including SMEs, to properly plan and make full use of their export potential.” The release of the Georgian EaP Trade Helpdesk follows on the development of this unique regional platform, which gathers relevant trade intelligence for the business community of the Eastern Partnership region. |
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| Freely accessible to all companies in Georgia, the platform allows users to identify new opportunities in the region and the EU, find market conditions by product and markets, or reach out to relevant agencies thanks to a network of 10 national institutions coordinated by the MESD. |
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| Georgia is a country with over 400 million Euros worth of export potential to the EU and other Eastern Partnership countries. Now, Georgian exporters are one step closer to realising this potential thanks to free, timely and accessible trade intelligence available in English, Georgian and Russian. |
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| “The EaP Trade Helpdesk platform is capacity building at its best” said Sigrid Brettel, Head of Cooperation, EU delegation to Georgia. “ITC has designed and delivered an interactive website including a training program which will enable future exporters to unlock the full export potential of the Eastern Partnership region with the EU.” |
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| Prior to the national launch, 29 participants from government and business support institutions took part in a 4 day customized training course on creating Export Market Roadmaps for identifying and comparing regional opportunities in the EU and EaP region. By the end of the year, the platform will also contain information about the steps required to export selected products from Georgia to the EU and also regionally. |
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What else happened under the project in Georgia? |
| The Trade Helpdesk initiative is also improving the coverage of information, notably on trade in services. Since 2020, the relevant Georgian authorities have been receiving customized assistance on creating more detailed statistics for the transportation sector. In addition, ITC launched the collection of step-by-step trade guides during a training session of technical experts from the EaP countries in Istanbul, Turkey. Those guides will gather all relevant information an exporter need to know to trade selected products within the region and with the EU. This information will be made available through the EaP Trade Helpdesk platform. In parallel to the launch of the platform, a Business Survey on non-tariff measures has started in Georgia, with hundreds of firms expected to share their experience of the regulatory obstacles they face when conducting the export or import of goods and services. |
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| Next steps for the EaP region? The EaP Trade Helpdesk platform will be customized and launched in the remaining EaP countries in the coming months, with the next launch scheduled for Ukraine in July. |
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| NON-TARIFF MEASURES PROGRAMME |
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Launch of the NTM Business surveys in the Eastern Partnership countries |
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| In April and May 2022, ITC launched business surveys on non-tariff measures in four Eastern Partnership countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova. The business surveys identify and document regulatory and procedural obstacles that exporters and importers face in relation to their trade operations. The surveys cover all goods sectors and three services sectors (transport and logistics; information and communications technologies (ICT) and ICT-enabled services; and tourism). Exporting and importing can be challenging and may involve complying with complex and changing trade regulations that vary across products, services, sectors and countries. The NTM business survey aim to better understand the obstacles to trade experienced by companies in the EAP region in their daily activities to provide better information about these impediments and to identify potential bottlenecks with regards to trade procedures and cross-border operations. Insights from the survey will assist both the private sector and government in improving the enabling environment for private sector development and improved export competitiveness for the region ITC requests the cooperation of businesses in these four countries by participating in the survey. The NTM Business Surveys in the EAP region are part of ITC's “Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk“ project which falls under the European Union's EU4Business initiative that covers all EU support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region of the Eastern Partnership. |
| ITC Business Survey: reforms lift obstacles for exporters in Tanzania |
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| On 14 April 2022, ITC launched the report “United Republic of Tanzania: Business Perspectives” in Tanzania, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tanzania. The report, which is part of ITC’s Invisible Barriers to Trade series, documents the results of the NTM business survey carried out in Tanzania in 2019-2020 on regulatory and procedural hurdles to trade that companies face. This is the first time ITC implements the NTM Business Survey twice in the same country, providing a unique assessment of how business experiences have evolved over time. The latest survey shows that more than a third of Tanzanian companies re-contacted have fully or partially resolved trade obstacles in the last six years. Companies highlight the various reforms the Government of Tanzania has made to facilitate trade in recent the years. Among the most important changes: the pilot of electronic single window to meet trade requirements, better regional recognition of conformity assessment requirements, and fewer or lower fees charged by different agencies. "The government acknowledges the importance of the NTMs Survey as it helps to unveil fundamental challenges the business community faces in doing business", declares Hon. Exaud S. Kigahe, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade. |
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| The report puts forward a series of recommendations to help businesses overcome trade hurdles and for the government to facilitate trade, including the upgrading of quality infrastructure, the improvement of packaging for exporting, among others. These recommendations have been drafted following a series of consultations with stakeholders in Tanzania. |
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Spotlight on trade data related to the war in Ukraine |
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| Since March 2022, the Trade Briefs have featured data related to the war in Ukraine. The March issue identified import dependencies for agricultural products and highlighted the share of a country’s agricultural imports coming from the Russian Federation or Ukraine. The entire African continent (with the exception of Zambia), all of the Middle East, and large parts of Central Asia are net importers of cereals. Several import dependent countries, including Algeria, Egypt, and Lebanon, imposed restrictions on food exports in March, in an attempt to protect their domestic markets from further price increases. |
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| Drawing on data from Market Access Map, the April issue added a new section on temporary trade measures related to the war in Ukraine. The section features information on the total number of measures, the type of measure by country, and the new measures introduced each month. The April Spotlight section highlighted changes in export potential estimates following the IMF’s GDP revisions. As a result of the gloomier world economic outlook, estimates of world export potential in 2026 declined by 1.2%, with export potential in Eastern Europe and Central Asia declining by 15%. The Spotlight section also identified exports from LDCs that were likely to be negatively affected by reduced import demand in Ukraine, the Russian Federation, and Belarus, and identified alternative markets for these products. |
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| The May issue, which featured March 2022 trade data, explored the shifting partner country composition for exports from the Russian Federation and Belarus, focusing on trade flows to countries with and without financial sanctions or product-specific import restrictions. For example, in October 2021, the US became the top importer of Belarusian fertilizers but in March 2022, the US did not import any fertilizers from Belarus. In February 2022, the US introduced sanctions targeting one fifth of Belarus’ financial sector. Between March 2021 and March 2022, the share of Belarusian fertilizer exports going to countries without restrictive measures, including Brazil, China, Indonesia, and Thailand increased significantly. Forthcoming issues of the Trade Briefs will continue to feature analysis of trade flows to countries with and without sanctions as more trade data becomes available. |
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Market Access Map launches a new mobile design |
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| In April, Market Access Map launched the new mobile website allowing users to access all functionalities from their smartphone devices. The mobile-responsive version of www.macmap.org allows users to seamlessly access, compare and analyse market access conditions across 200 destinations as well as to download bulk data files on their mobile device. If you are on the go, simply open your mobile phone and begin using www.macmap.org! |
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Market Access Map tracks emergency measures adopted in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine |
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| Since 24 February 2022, more than 110 temporary trade measures have been enacted in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The measures include economic sanctions, counter-sanctions, and other trade restrictions on products such as food and fertilizers. We urge users to take these measures into account when consulting market access information. |
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| EXPORT POTENTIAL AND TRADE POLICY ASSESSMENTS |
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| Evaluations of free trade agreements: the case of an ASEAN+2-Chile FTA |
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| In line with Chile’s interest in deepening, strengthening and expanding its network of trade agreements, the Subsecretaría de Relaciones Económicas Internacionales (SUBREI) of Chile and TMI collaborated on a joint report and skill transfer initiative on ex-ante evaluations of trade agreements, focusing in particular on the case of a free trade agreement between Chile and the ASEAN+2 region.1 |
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| The project took place between September 2021 and March 2022. During this time, SUBREI and TMI held monthly coordination meetings to discuss methodologies and preliminary results and collect feedback for inclusion in the joint report. Topics covered in the coordination meetings included analysis of trade trends using Trade Map, analysis of market access conditions using Market Access Map and the Rules of Origin Facilitator, export potential analysis using Export Potential Map, partial equilibrium outcomes, and the impact of trade on employment. In parallel to the more applied monthly coordination meetings, three half-day general trainings were held on: 1) Trade Map, Market Access Map, the Rules of Origin Facilitator, and ePing, 2) Export Potential Map, and 3) partial equilibrium analysis. These trainings included live demonstrations of the webtools, as well as detailed discussions on methodology and data treatment. |
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| The trainings were attended on average by 11 people, the entire team of experts of the Studies Directorate of SUBREI, who provided very interesting inputs to the discussions and very positive feedback on the trainings. By bringing together the databases and expertise of SUBREI and TMI, this project contributed to improving evidence-based decision making in Chile’s future trade relationships, and to better informing the public about potential outcomes of trade agreements. |
| 1 The ASEAN+2 region comprises Australia, New Zealand and ASEAN-10 countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. |
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| Engaging with partners to reach new policymakers and firms |
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| On April 6th, the Global Trade Helpdesk Steering Committee met bringing together representatives from the WCO, WTO, UNCTAD, ICC, WIPO, World Bank Group, UNIDO, FAO and ITC. The Steering Committee planned for forthcoming developments in the platform to continue to enhance data coverage into new areas such as transport and logistics and e-commerce. The group reiterated their commitment to working together to simplify market research for firms of all sizes and making available the most complete and timely information possible. |
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| The Global Trade Helpdesk continues to work closely with the WTO Informal Working Group on MSMEs and in collaboration with the Trade4MSMEs platform. The teams worked on joint webinars to serve Chilean stakeholders. The webinar on April 26th brought together over 160 Chilean policymakers, while the June 2nd webinar provided an interactive session for 76 Chilean firms. The two platforms were also highlighted during a session during the ITU WSIS session focusing on digital resources for firms. The first sessions of open quarterly webinars at the end of March met with great enthusiasm from firms from dozens of countries, and the next sessions will take place in lead up to MSME Day on June 21, 22, and 23rd. For details and registration info about forthcoming session or to watch the videos from previous sessions, please visit the website. |
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Euromed Trade Helpdesk network is making the final touches – revamped version available this summer!
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| You will soon access a brand new and upgraded version of Euromed Trade Helpdesk with more information on Mediterranean markets and new functionalities to ease your business and economic decisions. Stay tuned and get ready to sift through new data such as intra-regional trade potential, regulatory changes, rules of origin, trade in services statistics and Foreign Direct Investment flows. |
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| AFRICAN TRADE OBSERVATORY |
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Strengthening partners’ network across Africa
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| The ATO continues strengthening the relationship with government officials and private sector actors across the African continent. 30 African Union member states have now formally joined the project with the recent addition of Burundi and Zimbabwe. Consultations continued with participating members on automating trade data collection, processing and dissemination of trade information thanks to the support from the network of ATO National Focal Points. In Liberia, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry together with the Revenue Authority signed an MoU with ITC to formalize further their collaboration on data sharing. The consultations have also been extended to the collection of trade in services statistics and the setting up of reporting mechanism to track barriers to trade in services with Côte d’Ivoire, Uganda, Malawi, Burundi, and Seychelles. The ATO Dashboard was also presented to more than 400 businesses and private sector representatives through 5 webinars in April and May. The webinars were organized in partnership with various regional and continental private sector actors in the region, including the East African Business Council (EABC), COMESA Business Council (CBC), Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) at the margins of the 5th Prosperity for Africa Conference, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). |
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| New long-haul Capacity Building successfully deployed 7 editions, 3 continents, 3 languages |
| In the framework of United Kingdom Trade Partnership Programme UKTP, TMI has completed an unparalleled round of training events with an ambitious approach and array of contents through the long-haul workshop entitled: “Understanding UK-EPAs and spotting trade opportunities”. With the objective of reinforcing the awareness and dialog on post-Brexit aspects and imparting best practices to navigate and analyse these new market scenarios, a brand-new series of capacity building activities was designed and conducted for trade support institutions from over 20 ACP countries. For the first time, a combined format of virtual workshopping followed with Geneva-based live sessions was applied. The online part -which was built on ITC’s SME Trade Academy platform- was geared to convey standard and elementary theoretical aspects for participants to have a structured understanding of the UK economic partnership agreements, their characteristics and benefits. All this, through lectures, videos, animations, quizzes, forums and exercises to enrich participants’ learning experience. The second part was delivered over 5 days through daily sessions from Geneva and deployed a selection of ITC Market Analysis Tools to illustrate how policy makers, institutions and entrepreneurs can dig into markets’ particularities, opportunities, and access conditions. It was in this second part that full customization was achieved by applying examples focusing on key products from participating countries of each edition. “I appreciated the clarity, comprehensiveness and down-to-earth approach of these substantial contents”, “This workshop was important to my job particularly in analysing export potential and opportunities to advice our agri-stakeholders properly”, “Strong live sessions!” were some comments from participants of the 4th Edition of this workshop dedicated to CARICOM countries in coordination with Caribbean Export Development Agency CEDA. |
| Export Potential Map training with the Government of the Netherlands |
| On 12 April, ITC held a 90-minute virtual training with two government agencies of the Netherlands. The presentation familiarized staff of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) and the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries (CBI) with the export potential methodology and navigation and interpretation of Export Potential Map and Market Access Map. |
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| Hands-on trainings on NTMs gather public and private sectors in Tanzania |
| Aiming to equip the local business and traders with the knowledge of non-tariff measures and market access, ITC launched the Sensitisation on NTM study in Tanzania, a program featured in three regions of Tanzania - Mwanza and Mbeya for Tanzania mainland and Unguja for Tanzania Zanzibar - for nine days in May. The training sessions gathered around 100 participants from governmental and trade support institutions, businesses, and international trade actors. Two members of the local network of trained trainers on ITC information delivered part of the workshops, strengthening the ties with the local partners. The trainings combined theoretical concepts of NTMs on international trade with practical components. The participants could also have information on the different quality assessment concepts, using the EAC Quality for Trade Platform. “It was a great experience. I learned how I can search for markets through various tools. As for now, I am a small-scale farmer, but it has always been a dream to export my products someday. When the time comes, I will be ready." says a programme beneficiary in Mwanza. |
| New certified trainers in Iran ready to deliver workshops on Trade Map and Market Access Map |
| From the 9th to the 13th of April, 14 participants joined the Training of Trainers on Trade Map and Market Access Map held in Tehran. This in-depth training created a network of 13 ITC certified trainers and 1 certified analyst on ITC Trade Map and Market Access Map tools. The new network of Iranian certified trainers has acquired the necessary technical expertise in ITC Market Analysis tools to conduct independently high-level workshops for local stakeholders and businesses. The candidates' recruitment to join the ITC Training of Trainers was led by Iran Trade Promotion Organization (I-TPO) and the local coordination in Iran. Based on ITC assessment, the selection process considered the results of a previous training held in December 2021 and the participants' work plan to deliver trainings for Iranian trade support institutions (TSIs) and small and medium-sized companies. "This workshop was a great experience for me personally. In my town, there are no such opportunities, especially for women. Therefore, this workshop was a wonderful experience", declared one participant. This training of trainers is the second step of a 3-steps programme on enhancing the capacities of Iranian stakeholders on trade and market analysis in the framework of the EU-Iran Trade related technical assistance programme. For the third stage of the programme on capacity-building, I-TPO has requested ITC to suggest a plan of action to provide further guidance to the certified trainers through the organization and delivery of the training to local stakeholders and businesses in the coming months. |
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| SME TRADE ACADEMY Do not miss next quarter's SME Trade Academy sessions on Trade Map and Market Access Map. |
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| Trade Map - Global merchandise trade data |
| The 2021 Trade Indicators are now updated! Are you interested in learning more about recent developments? Please do not hesitate to go to Trade Map and discover the recent trends for a product/country of your interest. During the second quarter of 2022, ITC further improved the availability of 2021 data on trade in goods. The 2021 annual data are now available for 109 countries (in blue on the map), accounting for more than 93% of global trade in goods. |
| Map: Latest country data available as of 13 May 2022. For latest updates, visit the Data Availability page. The same applies to the availability of freshly delivered monthly data. As of mid-June 2022, December 2021 data were already available for 89 countries in Trade Map, representing 87% of trade in goods. March 2022 data were reported by 38 countries. |
| Chart: Latest period available for latest monthly data, number of countries and share of global trade they account for. Do you seek more? Visit the Data Availability page for more updates. |
| Trade Map - Trade in services |
| Are you interested in latest data on trade in services? We are pleased to share that the 2020 annual data are now available for 180 countries. Their trade then represents more than 95 % of global trade in services. |
| Rules of Origin Facilitator |
| The availability of product-specific rules of origin has increased to 490 trade agreements, covering 83% of all agreements in force. The most recent agreements of 2021, notably RCEP, EFTA-Indonesia, China-Maldives, India-Mauritius, Indonesia-Korea, Belize-Chinese Taipei, and UK continuity agreements with Asia-Pacific countries, have been processed and added thanks to the financial support from National Graduate Institute of Policy Studies (Japan). |
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| Market Access Map - 2022 tariffs update |
| Market Access Map updated customs tariff rates, including preferential agreements, for 75 destination markets. Thanks to its international network of government authorities, MSME exporters can learn the latest tariff conditions applicable on their product in any of these markets. |
| Market Access Map - Trade remedies |
| Market Access Map completed the collection and update of 2022 trade remedies for 77 applying countries. Such measures include antidumping, countervailing, safeguard and other similar measures adopted based on national legislation. |
| Market Access Map - Graphs |
| Market Access Map updated aggregate tariff indicators in Market Access Graphs module for the period 2007-2022. Analyse tariff policies of 200 countries by navigating to “Analyse” module - “Market Access Graphs”. |
| In April, Export Potential Map was updated to incorporate revised GDP forecasts from the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), published in April 2022. The WEO forecast for 2022 global GDP growth is now 3.6%, a downward revision of 1.3 percentage points compared to the October 2021 WEO. As a result of the gloomier economic outlook, estimates of world export potential in 2026 declined by 1.2%, with Ukraine (-38%), Belarus (-13%), and the Russian Federation (-13%) expected to see the largest contractions in export potential compared to the Fall 2021 update. |
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| International Trade Centre
Palais de Nations
1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 730 0111 |
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| Trade and Market Intelligence section
Telephone: +41 22 730 0540
Email: marketanalysis@intracen.org |
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| © 2021 All Rights Reserved |
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