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July - September 2022

ITC Trade and Market Intelligence

Enhancing the transparency of global trade and market access

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IN THIS ISSUE

Successful upgrade of the regional platform "The Euromed Trade Helpdesk"

Customized Export Potential Map launched for the Caribbean Forum

The World Tariff Profiles 2022 publication explores the complexity of rules of origin

Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine gain access to new trade intelligence

Global Trade Helpdesk now facilitates access to information on logistics providers

Partnering with COMESA Business Council on African Trade Observatory trainings

Opportunities to build strong value chains in Africa discussed at high-level event

Trade Briefs' Spotlight Series discuss evolution of Russian and Belarus' imports

Capacity Building:

ITC Tools data updates

A successful launch of the upgraded regional platform

“The Euromed Trade Helpdesk”

On Wednesday the 20th of July 2022, the new version of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk was successfully launched as part of the Third meeting of the Union for The Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Platform on Trade and Investment. The virtual launch was attended by senior officials from trade ministries of the overall Mediterranean region.

The platform will continue to boost economic integration of the region by tightening trade relations between 10 Mediterranean countries and the EU, as well as between the Mediterranean countries themselves. Indeed, according to ITC estimates, the Mediterranean region has a potential to export over USD33 billion among themselves by 2026. Half of which is not yet realized.

“In our new agenda for the Mediterranean we recognise the potential of trade and investment in creating opportunities for the people of the Southern Neighbourhood. It all starts with transparency and reliable information”. Said Maciej Popowski, Acting Director General, Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, European Commission. “This is the benefit of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk, a free and easy to use resource that can benefit consumers, companies, especially Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as policy makers. The revamped platform offers more information, from rules of origin, to trade in services; elements that are important for people to make informed decision when trading within and with the region.”

Visit the Euromed Trade Helpdesk

Further to more information and a new interface, users can address queries to a regional network of over 100 institutions in 10 partner countries and receive the customized answers needed to make informed business decisions.

“As the focal point of the Euromed Trade Helpdesk mechanism, I am very proud to have participated in the realization of this project of capital importance for foreign trade operators.” Said Houda Cherrad, Moroccan national focal point, Ministry of Industry, Trade, Green and Digital Economy (MCINET). “It is an informative and decision-making tool for our exporters who wish to conquer new markets in the Euromed region.”

Capacity building programme

Simultaneously with the launch, a customized capacity building programme started for Libyan stakeholders. Indeed, Libya joined the regional platform in October 2021, thanks to ITC collaboration with Expertise France under the EU4PSL project, and key partners attended a 4-day training on conducting market analysis using the Euromed Trade Helpdesk. Subsequently, some of these participants were selected to undertake another advanced workshop to become certified as trainers on Euromed Trade Helpdesk. The aim is to create a sustainable network in Libya that can disseminate its knowledge and raise awareness about the regional tool among local economic operators.

Similar capacity building programmes will be implemented in other countries thanks to EU-funded Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism phase II (TIFM II).

CUSTOMIZED SOLUTIONS

Customized Export Potential Map for the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) launched

On 10 August, ITC and the CARIFORUM Directorate officially launched Export Potential Map CARIFORUM.

The Export Potential Map (EPM) is one of ITC’s flagship tools for market analysis that estimates market growth and diversification opportunities for a country’s exports. The tool also identifies options for product diversification and their chances of export success across world markets. Its economic model pulls in information on trade, tariffs, GDP, population forecasts, elasticities, distances, and other variables to determine the potential level of trade a country can achieve for each of its export products in different markets within the next five years.

EPM CARIFORUM features a customized interface focusing on the export potential of the 15 Caribbean Community states and the Dominican Republic. The tool highlights the bloc’s export potential to the world, as well as opportunities for intra-regional trade in goods and services.

“This is an action to support the private sector to benefit from existing and future trade agreements and to increase the participation of the Caribbean into the global economy,” said Alexis Downes-Amsterdam, Director General of CARIFORUM during her opening remarks for the launch.

EPM CARIFORUM was developed within the framework of the United Kingdom Trade Partnership (UKTP) Programme, financed by the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

Explore EPM CARIFORUM

EXPORT POTENTIAL AND TRADE POLICY ASSESSMENTS

Expanding African-Caribbean Trade report launched at

AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum

On 1 September, ITC launched a new report on Expanding African-Caribbean Trade at the AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Barbados. The report identifies over $1 billion in export potential between the two regions, in sectors ranging from agrifood and healthcare to tourism, fertilizers and automobiles.

Unlocking this potential requires stronger relationships between African and Caribbean traders, the removal of trade obstacles such as high tariffs and non-tariff barriers, and greater investment in growth areas. The goods trade between the two regions is negligible and concentrated in just a few sectors including primary minerals and chemicals.

With the right support in place, Africa could boost its annual exports of merchandise to the Caribbean by $171 million by 2026, a 54% increase over 2020 levels. The Caribbean could expand goods exports to Africa by $80 million or 29% – and its exports of services such as travel and transport even more.

The report launch underpinned a renewed five-year partnership between ITC and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) focused on tackling trade barriers and building business capacity in order to realize African-Caribbean export potential.

Read the report

Reports identify export growth and diversification opportunities for women across Africa

In the context of the “SheTrades: Empowering women and boosting livelihoods through agricultural trade: Leveraging the AfCFTA” project, TMI prepared two value chain briefs for the cases of soy-to-poultry in Malawi and South Africa, and fisheries in Ghana and Nigeria.

The briefs provide an overview of trade trends and patterns along these value chains, with a focus on intra-African trade, and identify opportunities for export growth in the region using ITC’s export potential methodology. Additionally, the briefs highlight new or improved opportunities for export growth expected to emerge after the implementation of the AfCFTA.

In the context of the “SheTrades West Africa” project, TMI prepared reports focused on the agricultural sectors of Guinea and Liberia. The reports provide an overview of the agricultural export trends and patterns in each country, explore opportunities for export growth at the product and market level focusing on intra-African trade, and identify promising avenues for value-added diversification in agricultural exports in several value chains, both currently and after AfCFTA implementation.

While the potential for growth in existing exports for both Guinea and Liberia lies largely in traditional products (cocoa beans, palm oil, etc.), opportunities for growth are also identified in less traditional products such as frozen fish, wheat bran and sharps, sesamum seeds, and other oil seeds. For Guinea, diversification into some horticulture products is also promising (bananas, pepper, pineapples, and fresh coconuts), while for Liberia, beans, fisheries products, some types of fruit, manioc and manioc starch are among the most promising products. Additionally, in shell and shelled cashews are highlighted as products that Liberia is likely to be able to export successfully, opening up opportunities for related value-added products. In both countries, opportunities for value-added diversification exist in the cocoa, oil seeds, natural rubber, and wood value chains, with Guinea also having potential in the fish value chain.

All four reports will be published in the fourth quarter of 2022.

MARKET ACCESS MAP

"World Tariff Profiles 2022" explores the complexity of rules of origin

Discover the World Tariff Profiles 2022

Jointly published by ITC, WTO and UNCTAD, this annual report presents tariff-based market access conditions for goods applied by more than 170 countries and customs territories.

The report contains aggregated product statistics; tariffs imposed and faced by each economy; and an overview of non-tariff measures. ITC's Market Access Map is the main source of the applied tariffs data used in this report.

The two special topics of this year's edition explore use of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in international trade. The first topic assesses the global use of preferential rules of origin which determine whether available preferential import tariff can be utilized. It explores the highly technical and complex nature of these rules which can act as non-tariff barriers to preference utilization. The second topic globally compares the use of NTMs on renewable energy products ('green') versus fossil fuels ('brown'), and finds that NTMs are currently more widespread for brown energy products than for green products. The Rules of Origin Facilitator provided the insights on rules of origin in the special topic of this year's report.

Market Access Map is now available in Arabic

Market access information has become more accessible to the Arab-speaking world with the new Arabic version of Market Access Map launched in September. The translation covers web user interface, as well as terminology, explanations and glossaries. Explore tariffs and other market access conditions in more than 200 destinations by accessing the new Arabic version now!

Visit Market Access Map in Arabic

EASTERN PARTNERSHIP TRADE HELPDESK

Armenia, Moldova and Ukraine gain access to new trade intelligence!

Trade within the Eastern Partnership (EaP) region and to the European Union (EU) is now more accessible for SMEs thanks to the release of customized EaP Trade Helpdesk platform. Following a series of events, the platform is now available in local languages for Armenian, Moldovan and Ukrainian businesses.

The launch of the customized platform includes the setting up of an inter-agency network that addresses user’s enquiries as well as a training on the use of the platform to relevant trade agencies in the countries.

Developed under the EU funded EaP Trade Helpdesk project, the user-friendly platform allows small businesses make use of newly identified market opportunities and utilise the 40% of unrealised export potential in the region and with the EU.

Join today our ever-growing user base of EaP Trade Helpdesk!

Visit the Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk

GLOBAL TRADE HELPDESK

Now facilitating access to information on logistics providers

Following a recent MoU signed between the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and ITC, the Global Trade Helpdesk now links information on freight forwarders to help firms get their goods to market from the IATA ONE Source platform.

The Global Trade Helpdesk was also highlighted during the recent WTO Public Forum Session on Digital Platforms for Inclusive Growth co-organized by the ITC, the WTO Informal Working Group on MSMEs and the Delegation of Mexico. ITC Executive Director, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, expressed her support for the multiagency effort of 11 agencies joining forces to simplify market research for small businesses, and reaching users in over 190 economies across the globe.

The Global Trade Helpdesk also continues to offer quarterly open webinars in English, French and Spanish to interested firms. The last webinars held on September 5-7th and attracted over 400 participants from across 65 economies. For details and registration info about forthcoming session or to watch the videos from previous sessions, please visit the resources page.

Visit the Global Trade Helpdesk

AFRICAN TRADE OBSERVATORY

Partnering with COMESA Business Council to train the private sector on the

ATO Dashboard

The ATO Dashboard is meant to help African MSMEs benefit from trade opportunities within Africa. By providing accessible and timely trade intelligence the platform helps them identify promising opportunities across the continent. In partnership with the COMESA Business Council, ITC delivered the first two in-person workshops in Lusaka, Zambia and Lilongwe, Malawi, to almost two hundred businesses, business support organizations and government representatives.

During the 3-day workshops, participants learn how to conduct a market analysis using the ATO online platform. For Limbani Kaluwa, a participant, and a smallholder farmer commercialization Team Leader, the “ATO has opened a wider horizon for opportunities, engagement and expansion of their work in commercialization since the hard-to-get information is now at their fingertips.”

The ATO was also presented at the margins of the African Integration Day, on July 7th in Zambia with the Commissioner of the AUC. We have also launched two short video tutorials to show step-by-step how to use the ATO. Watch our video tutorials here!

Visit the African Trade Observatory

NON-TARIFF MEASURES PROGRAMME

High-level event discuss opportunities to build strong value chains in Africa

Government officials, Regional Economic Communities, development finance institutions, African business organisations, the private sector and young entrepreneurs gathered in Lusaka (Zambia) on the 20th of July for the 5th Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC).

At the high-level African Union-European side-event Unlocking opportunities for regional value chain integration within Africa, the International Trade Centre (ITC) presented the key findings of its value chain diagnostic at the continental level.

This innovative Value Chain Diagnostic study by ITC has identified 94 sectors value chains with high development potential in Africa. It focuses on four priority value chains (automotive, apparel of cotton, pharmaceuticals, and infant food) to identify bottlenecks preventing businesses from fully realising this potential. This work also puts forward recommendations to enhance value addition and integration at the regional level.

The full value chains report will be launched in Niger at the African Union Summit on Industrialization and Economic Diversification from the 20th to the 25th of November 2022. The study will be available in English, French, Arabic and Portuguese.

“Strengthening continental value chains is imperative for Africa to increase resilience to international crises. Our value chain diagnostics help identify the main challenges that prevent value chains from releasing full potential.", said Dorothy Tembo, ITC Deputy Executive Director.

The improved ePing version was launched

The online alert system ePing was launched on 13 July at the WTO headquarters in Geneva. The new ePing makes it easy for businesses to track sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT) measures within a specific sector or market through filtering options.

“Companies struggle to make sense of the multitude of health and safety requirements, product regulations, testing and certification procedures and other measures necessary to reach international markets”, analysed Dorothy Tembo, ITC Deputy Executive Director during the launch event. She emphasised the importance of the platform for small businesses facing hurdles when importing or exporting.

The new online tool’s version also offers several communication features to share information and discuss notified measures. Several ePing services will soon be available on a phone application to facilitate the dissemination of notifications.

The platform is a result of collaboration between the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the WTO and the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Visit ePing now

Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism in Mauritius and Madagascar

On 29th September, Mr A. Gannoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius, representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and other private and public institutions will gather in Port Louis to launch the updated version of the Trade Obstacle Alert Mechanism (TOAM) and its new mobile application. Since 2017, TOAM has been used by local authorities to support public-private dialogue on obstacles faced by local traders.

Mauritian traders will now benefit from the updated version TOAM with enhanced design to make it easier to report obstacles to trade in trans-border trade operations. It will also be the first time that the mobile application of the tool will be officially launched.

The week after, on 4th October, Madagascar's National Trade Facilitation Committee will chair the TOAM launch in the country. Ministries and technical and political bodies involved in implementing trade regulations and procedures will also participate in the ceremony.

The TOAM platform in Madagascar will help local traders connect to national and regional agencies to exchange on trade barriers and learn about the information needed to start export and import processes.

Both initiatives are part of the UK Trade Partnerships (UKTP) programme.

TRADE BRIEFS

High-level event discuss opportunities to build strong value chains in Africa

In August, the Trade Briefs incorporated data on imports. Users can now explore changes in imports by country in the Trade Trends section, as well as the evolution of the Russian Federation’s and Belarus’s imports of selected products in the Spotlight Series.

In June 2022, the value of the Russian Federation’s imports declined by 35% year-on-year, while the value of their exports increased by 23%. Between June 2021 and June 2022, the Russian Federation’s imports of motor vehicle parts fell by $413 million from countries with restrictive measures, and by $57 million from countries without restrictive measures.

Read the latest issue

CAPACITY BUILDING

Lao PDR workshop on trade data quality

Within the framework of the ARISE+ project, TMI delivered a set of three successful workshops on trade data quality and trade indicators in Lao PDR. The last of these workshops was held in Vientiane in July 2022 and complemented the knowledge learned during the first two workshops, which focused on database management and trade data querying. In this last workshop, 19 participants were trained on creating SQL queries and processing international trade statistics with MS Access and SQL. After multiple hands-on sessions using raw trade data, participants obtained the necessary skills for efficient data processing and analysis.

Certified trainers on market access in Iran

A group of 17 participants completed ITC training of trainers’ workshops held in Iran between July 23rd and July 27th to scale up skills on non-tariff measures (NTM) and market access key concepts and information tools. These highly qualified attendees from Iran’s Trade Promotion Organization (I-TPO) and institutions such as the Iran Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Business Training Centres, the Ministry of Trade, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are now fully equipped to deliver trainings independently. The new network of certified trainers is well-placed to deliver tailor-made workshops on NTM-related issues and ITC Market Analysis Tools (Market Access Map, Rules of Origin Facilitator) to Iranian companies throughout the country. Beyond empowering local companies to use ITC Tools as part of their export decision-making process, the network will propel a long-term sustainability of the output beyond the project’s duration.

These workshops were the second step of a 3-phase programme on enhancing the capacities of Iranian stakeholders on trade and market analysis. This initiative is funded by European Union in the framework of International Trade Centre’s EU-Iran Development project.

Export Potential Map workshop in Nepal

From 11 to 15 July, ITC delivered an in-person workshop in Kathmandu under the EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Project. The training introduced members of the private sector, trade promotion agencies, and research institutions to the Export Potential Map and advanced aspects of ITC’s export potential methodology. The nine participants (4 female, 5 male) became familiar with the methodology through theoretical sessions, applied exercises and the use of examples relevant to their national environment. They then worked in groups to develop export profiles on priority products which they presented to ITC trainers and their peers at the end of the workshop. The product profiles, which were improved and finalized after the workshop with remote guidance and feedback from ITC experts, will be uploaded to the website of Nepal’s Trade and Export Promotion Centre (TEPC) and disseminated to the wider Nepalese trade community.

Certified trainers on the ITC Tools

in the Philippines

Within the framework of the ARISE Plus Philippines, ITC conducted two successful virtual workshops held in November 2021 and February 2022 on conducting data-driven research of market opportunities by using ITC’s Market Analysis Tools. In July 2022, ITC brought together 12 participants and 2 observers at a Training of Trainers workshop where ITC reinforced their knowledge on the two leading tools and prepared them to effectively train their colleagues as well as Filipino MSMEs in the future. After rigorous assessment and coaching, ITC established a network of 10 certified trainers at 8 Filipino institutions and 2 additional workshops have already been organized by the certified trainers since.

Training the Nepalese trade community on the ITC Tools

In August 2022, ITC conducted a workshop on ITC Market Analysis Tools in Nepal in the framework of the EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Programme (TIP). The objectives of this workshop were to strengthen the competence of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MOICS) and other public agencies in Nepal to access and analyse trade and market access related data, and formulate trade-related strategies in the context of their graduation from Least Developing Countries (LDCs) in 2026. ITC coached 19 participants from Trade and Investment Support Institutions on how to develop a concise Quantitative Export Factsheet, which outlined opportunities for market diversification based on existing export potential and available preferential schemes. This was the third event organized in the framework on the EU-Nepal TIP, after two successful workshops held in May and July 2022 respectively on ITC Market Analysis Tools and on Export Potential Map.

Senegalese cooperative managers enhance skills on market access and export strategies

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and ITC teamed up to carry out trainings on market access and export strategies to economic actors engaged in cross-border activities on the 14th and 15th of June. The capacity building activities gathered 16 participants alongside the OIC Trade Fair held in Dakar.

The workshops activities addressed key trade issues, such as achieving sustainable development, understanding market access, regulatory requirements and trade barriers to better prepare for export. The trainings also covered the usage of ITC Market Analysis tools for specific goals: identify new business opportunities and obstacles, recognise the importance of Preferential Trade Agreements (TFAs) and improve knowledge of rules of origin.

For 93% of participants, the training was excellent (60%) or good (33%). “It was very interesting to learn how to identify export opportunities with Export Potential Map and the notions of trade flows with Trade Map”, says one of the participants. The attendees also expressed that mango and other products horticulturalists cooperatives would appreciate a new round of trainings.

Female entrepreneurs trained to address trade obstacles in West Africa

As part of the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP), ITC held two workshops in Senegal and Gambia to engage with women entrepreneurs using the Trade Obstacle Alert Mechanism (TOAM) to overcome these barriers.

Entrepreneurs attending the workshops learned how to report obstacles through the TOAM website and to better understand market access conditions.

"The platform can help reduce women traders' challenges, especially when national focal points from neighbouring countries work together. Some have already used the Trade Obstacle Alert Mechanism to report obstacles that they have faced, and these obstacles have already been addressed", says Beatrice Mboge, CEO of the Gambia Women's Chamber of Commerce.

In the last five years, more than 400 obstacles have been reported using the platform in the region and over 60% of these have been solved. The online reporting tool is supported by an identified interagency network. Businesses can anonymously submit trade queries or obstacles to public agencies.

SME TRADE ACADEMY

Do not miss next quarter's SME Trade Academy sessions on Trade Map and Market Access Map.

17 October 2022 - How to access international markets

21 November 2022 - How to analyse trade flows

ITC TOOLS UPDATES - TRADE MAP

Global merchandise trade data

Data for Q2-2022 are now available for 41 countries! Please do not hesitate to go to Data Availability page and discover recent trends for a product/country of your interest.

The same applies to the availability of freshly delivered monthly data. As of mid-September 2022, June 2022 data were already available for 41 countries, representing 57% of trade in goods. May 2022 data were reported by 60 countries.

During Q3 of 2022, the Trade Map team further improved the availability of 2021 data on trade in goods. The 2021 annual data are now available for 144 countries (in blue on the map), accounting for 98% of global trade in goods.

Map: Latest country data available as of 15th September 2022. For further updates, kindly visit the Data Availability page.

Chart: Latest period available for annual 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.

Closer look at company data

Are you interested in latest data on trade in services? We are pleased to share that the first quarter of 2022 data is available for 119 countries, among which 15 Least Developed Countries. Which one traded the most at the beginning of 2022? To find out, go to Trade Map's quarterly trade in services data!