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ITC Trade and Market IntelligenceNEWSLETTER |
| Enhancing the transparency of global trade and market access |
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Businesses in West Africa use ITC's Trade Obstacle Alert Mechanism to solve obstacles
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Eastern Partnership Trade Helpdesk platform: Now live! |
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The African Trade Observatory at the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 |
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Libya officially joined the Eurmed Trade Helpdesk |
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Non-Tariff Measures programme:
New publication on Tanzania |
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Global Trade Helpdesk's growing support & upcoming features |
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Export Potential Assessments: Paper on unlocking regional opportunities in Africa
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Embedded ITC Tools: Trade Map Côte d'Ivoire and EPM Dominican Republic |
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Capacity Building: Sign up for the SME Trade Academy |
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| TRADE OBSTACLES ALERT MECHANISM |
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Businesses in West Africa use ITC's online platform to solve trade obstacles |
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| Image: Guinean Export Promotion Agency |
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| The year 2021 ends on a positive note for the International Trade Centre’s Trade Obstacles Alert Mechanism (TOAM) users in West Africa. Over the past months, 26 workshops dedicated to business communities and the public sector gathered 300 participants across ECOWAS region: Benin (44); Cabo Verde (26); Côte d’Ivoire (26); Guinea (28); Guinea Bissau (18) Niger (6); Nigeria (39); Sierra Leone (64); The Gambia (26); Togo (23). These training sessions have led to 172 trade obstacles reported on the TOAM platform and 64 resolutions by relevant national agencies. “TOAM is a fundamental tool for trade facilitation through the establishment of dialogue framework between the public and private sector to find a solution to trade obstacles,” says Mr Ousmane Mahaman, Secretary-General of the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Handcrafts of Niger. |
TOAM paving the road to concrete actions: |
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| Benin A user has reported his inability to benefit from the trade preferences under the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) framework. After notification on TOAM platform, authorities declared that the issuance of fraudulent certificates of origin is the cause of this obstacle. Custom has, then, implemented caution payments to importers which are refunded once the validity of the certificate of origin is confirmed. This has diminished reported cases of fraudulent certificates. This measure has facilitated cross border trade activities. |
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| Guinea The Guinean Export Promotion Agency organized a workshop on the 6th October 2021 to enhance knowledge on the procedures to benefit from African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) trade preference. This initiative is the answer to reported cases on TOAM platform regarding the lack of information and guidance to benefit from the AGOA trade preference. |
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| Togo After a report on the rejection of fresh vegetables exported to Europe due to the bacteria “Bemisia tabaci” the ministry of agriculture and inspection services at the airport took action to inform about inspection procedures and capacity-building of fresh agricultural products exports. This initiative aims to avoid financial losses for exporting companies. |
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| Cabo Verde A TOAM user reported delays at the port in Praia, which increased operating costs and delays in delivering customers’ orders. After notification via the TOAM platform, ENAPOR, the national port authority, initiated discussions with relevant stakeholders (freight forwarders and other entities) to elaborate a road map of concrete actions to solve the issue. |
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Gender inclusiveness in TOAM trainings |
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| Regarding TOAM gender inclusiveness process in the ECOWAS region, 31% of the attendees were women in 2021. In the workshop session provided to the AWEP (African Women Entrepreneurship program) in Nigeria on the 27th September 2021, Mrs Angela Ajala, National President of African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program, declared that “TOAM initiative can improve Nigeria exporters’ competitiveness”. |
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| EASTERN PARTNERSHIP TRADE HELPDESK |
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| The EaP Trade Helpdesk platform was officially rolled out at the 6th EU Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit, held in Brussels on the 15th December 2021. This unique regional web platform centralises trade intelligence for Eastern Partnership countries on market opportunities and requirements in the EaP and EU countries. The platform will be launched in national language versions in Eastern Partnership countries in 2022. To date, there has been a positive response to the project from stakeholders in the region as they recognize its contribution to improving the transparency of trade information. As we move into 2022, forthcoming activities include: |
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- The launch of business surveys on non-tariff measures, covering the export of goods and services. The surveys will document the experiences of traders in dealing with NTMs in order to gain a holistic understanding of existing trade barriers in the region;
- Work on creating guides to the documentation required to export selected products in EaP countries will start in early 2022;
- In terms of trade in services data, innovative training developed for the project aims to improve the availability of such data in the EaP countries. ITC’s collaboration with its Georgian partners in this area will continue. Following the completion of national assessment reports, travel has been selected as the focus sector in Moldova and Ukraine.
As well as centralizing existing information on the region, the EaP Trade Helpdesk platform will include the information generated through the above project activities on services, export procedures, and trade obstacles. The result of the improved information available will be to provide additional opportunities for SMEs in EaP countries to connect to regional and international markets. Check out the platform and stay tuned for more news about it! |
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| AFRICAN TRADE OBSERVATORY |
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ATO showcased at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) 2021 in Durban to businesses and officials
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| On November 15-20th, thousands of African entrepreneurs, business support organizations, and government officials from 55 countries met in Durban at the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Durban, South Africa. As the intra-African trade potential is forecasted to exceed $13 billion by 2026 (ITC Export Potential Map), making use of this potential requires firms and governments to identify and compare new opportunities for business engagement. The African Trade Observatory was showcased in a special session by African Union Commissioner Albert Muchanga and ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton, with support from business representatives from the COMESA Business Council, East African Business Council as well as officials from active ATO countries. |
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| As one of the official operating instruments of the AfCFTA, the Observatory is designed to improve the quality of and access to key trade related information in Africa including import statistics, export potential forecasts, tariffs and taxes, as well as relevant regulatory requirements. The ATO was also featured as part of the workshop during the IATF on “How to Export with the AfCFTA”. The Observatory, including the Monitor Module designed for African policymakers, was also presented at a workshop to government ministries and business associations on November 23rd, as well as virtually to SADC Secretariat and Member States on November 30th. |
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Libya officially joined the Euromed Trade Helpdesk
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| Libya has officially joined the Euromed Trade Helpdesk on October 27, 2021, making it the 10th country in the portal. His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Al Huwayj, Minister of Economy and Trade highlighted the importance of the Euromed Trade Helpdeskas a mechanism aiming at facilitating closer ties between the Euromed countries, supporting the regional integration and facilitating trade and investment among them. He reminded that the tool supports both public entities and private sector with trade related data for better informed decisions and gives the opportunity to users, specially economic operators, to submit their queries on the Helpdesk. |
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| NON-TARIFF MEASURES PROGRAMME |
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| New publication on non-tariff measures in Tanzania |
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| Establishing a single window to meet export-related requirements and improving international recognition of conformity assessments are vital for the development of Tanzanian exports. This is one of the key findings of the report “United Republic of Tanzania: Business perspectives”. The survey of more than 600 firms on non-tariff measures shows that 72% of Tanzanian exporters – especially those exporting agricultural commodities – struggle to comply with both domestic and foreign trade-related regulations and procedures. |
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| Growing support for the platform & upcoming features |
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| The WTO Informal Working Group on MSMEs published its draft text in preparation for 12th WTO Ministerial Conference reiterating the importance of Access to Information for MSMEs and the recommendations published in December 2019, among which the Global Trade Helpdesk was endorsed as a key source of trade and market-related information. The platform has reached 85,000 users across 200 economies since its launch in June, 2020. The Global Trade Helpdesk was also presented at the launch of the Trade4MSMEs platform on December 2nd at the WTO, as an important resource among the diverse sources the platform brings together. |
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| The GTH platform also integrates the new WIPO Diagnostic self-assessment tool for MSMEs alongside relevant resources for firms to help them register and protect their IP rights. Targeted webinars and training activities also took place with Badan Standardisasi Nasional from Indonesia as well as the Gobernación de Antioquia in Colombia. To serve the growing demand for virtual training activities, the Global Trade Helpdesk team will soon be launching open quarterly webinars in English, French and Spanish to better meet the needs of diverse firms beyond those work closely with specific business support organizations. |
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| EXPORT POTENTIAL ASSESSEMENT |
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ITC and UNCTAD co-author paper on unlocking regional trade opportunities in Africa
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| The TMI Studies team co-authored a paper on “Unlocking Regional Trade Opportunities in Africa for a more Sustainable and Inclusive Future” with colleagues from UNCTAD’s Africa and LDCs Division. The study served as a technical background paper for UNCTAD’s flagship “Economic Development in Africa Report 2021”, published on December 8. On December 14, Julia Seiermann (ITC) and Anja Slany (UNCTAD) presented the findings of the joint study at a launch event organized by UNCTAD. The study highlights the benefits of intra-African trade and opportunities for regional export growth. Compared to Africa’s exports to other regions, intra-African trade is more diversified, comprises a higher share of technologically advanced and processed goods, and tends to favour the participation of women and small enterprises. Moreover, opportunities for intra-African export growth are considerable: untapped export potential stands at $22 billion and could grow by $9.2 billion under the partial liberalization expected in the first five years of AfCFTA implementation. Under full liberalization, export potential could grow by $19.8 billion. The paper concludes by outlining the trade policies required to tap into existing opportunities and generate new ones. |
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| EMBEDDED MARKET ANALYSIS TOOLS |
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Boosting access to trade intelligence through customised MAT
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| Within the framework of United Kingdom Trade Partnership Programme UKTP, two additional countries have been benefited with the development of a customized interface to ITC’s flagship market analysis tools. A customised version of TradeMap has been created and embedded at the website of The Chamber of Commerce of Industry of Côte d’Ivoire, a longstanding partner of ITC in the Country. Their website is a well renowned resource that champions in providing relevant trade information services to the local business community. For Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a tailored version of Export Potential Map (EPM) has been developed and will be a highlight of the country’s “RD Datacomex”, the online self-service platform for trade information services. Both TradeMap Côte d’Ivoire and EPM Dominican Republic are already well operational and online at the website of these partner institutions that have expressed their satisfaction and gratitude to ITC and FCDO. |
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| Workshop on non-tariff measures in Iran increase knowledge on opportunities |
| From the 4th to the 15th December 2021, trade advisors, export consultants, trainers at local business support organizations (BSOs), business management professors and representatives from trade associations dealing with priority products gathered for a series of trainings led by ITC. The 10-day virtual workshops covered relevant international trade concepts and included live demonstrations on how to use ITC Tools in their export market analysis of priority Iranian products. This activity is part of the Trade & Market Intelligence capacity building programme for EU-Iran trade development project. In 2022, ITC will organize a Training of Trainers in Iran to build a network of local certified trainers on ITC Tools Trade Map and Market Access Map. The goal is to support Iranian companies in making data-driven business decisions. |
| Webinar on ITC Market Analysis Tools for EU businesses |
| On November 23rd and 30th ITC held two 2-hour webinars in partnership the European Trade Promotion Organsations Association (ETPOA). The two sessions welcomed over 150 European trade advisors who support EU businesses looking to export goods outside the European single market. The live-demonstration covered 4 tools from the ITC’s Market Analysis Tools suite: Trade Map, Market Access Map, Export Potential Map and Rules of Origin Facilitator, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. You can watch the recording of one of the sessions here. |
| Preparing a quantitative Market Profiles for the Philippines |
| In November, 16 women and 6 men representing various public and private institutions in the Philippines participated in a virtual training that covered the preparation of Quantitative Market Profiles for researching trade opportunities and developing a concise public document. The participants were guided by experts to look into trade trends, competition, trade agreements and regulatory requirements for export products, among others. They worked towards composing this structured fact sheet on potential markets for a specific product, which provides a comprehensive overview and allows the participants to sharpen their acquired skills to eventually support local businesses in their own research. Read up more about this workshop here. |
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| Trainings on Export Potential Map in Greece and Flanders |
| In November and December, ITC conducted remote trainings on customized versions of the Export Potential Map for Greece and Flanders. Export Potential Map Greece, launched in 2019, is a multi-year project funded by GIZ and Enterprise Greece, the Greek investment and trade promotion agency. Building on introductory training conducted in 2019, ITC’s workshop, held from November 30 to December 1, coached Enterprise Greece staff on using Export Potential Map Greece and Market Access Map for in-depth analysis, and on the use and interpretation of the product diversification and value chain indicators. ITC has also been developing a customized Export Potential Map for the Flemish region of Belgium, in partnership with Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT). From 8 to 10 December, ITC conducted remote training with six FIT staff members to introduce them to the export potential methodology and the customized tool which identifies trade opportunities for Belgium and the region of Flanders. Francis Baert, Strategy Planning Manager at FIT, thanked ITC trainers for a “great start of the training sessions” and said he was looking forward to diving deeper into technical discussions during the in-person workshop, tentatively scheduled for January 2022. |
| Training in Kathmandu, Nepal, on trade analysis |
| Despite travel restrictions, ITC continues to deliver high impact training to its beneficiaries. On 22-26 November, ITC leveraged the existing network of certified trainers and delivered a 5-day face-to-face training workshop in Kathmandu, Nepal in partnership with Tribhuvan University Central Department of Economics (TU CEDECON). The trainers, Surendra Gongal and Rajendra Singh, led the workshop for 24 lecturers and professors from the capital and remote regions. It was the first workshop out of 2 in the programme to strengthen the trade analysis capacity of Nepali academics and to expand the network of certified trainers at Nepal’s oldest and biggest university. Read more about the workshop here. |
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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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| The Trade Map team works tirelessly to improve the availability of 2020 data on trade in goods. The latest annual data is now available for 138 countries (in blue on the map), accounting for 96% of global trade in goods. |
| Latest period available for latest monthly data, number of countries and share of global trade they account for. |
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| A newly designed MacMap mobile version will offer owners of mobile devices all the functionalities and versatility of a desktop version in a compact and slick fashion. Be ready to browse tariffs and other market access conditions on the go! Check for the latest updates of Market Access Map
the data availability page. |
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| Hacque adfabilitate confisus cum eadem postridie feceris |
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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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