IBEC - Delivering for business

Trade and international relations

Key issues

EU-US Business Roundtable 2013
01/05/2013 - he EU-US Business Roundtable organised by IBEC with BUSINESSUROPE and the US Chamber of Commerce on 18 April 2013 provided support to the process for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.

EU and Japan formally launch trade talks
01/05/2013 - The EU and Japan have formally agreed to launch negotiations for a bilateral trade deal with the first round taking place on 15-19 April 2013.

EU to open negotiations on a free trade agreement with Thailand
01/05/2013 - On 28 February 2013 the European Commission received the endorsement from the Council to open negotiations on a FTA with Thailand.

EU welcomes Russia's WTO accession after 18 years of negotiations
20/11/2012 - After 18 years of negotiations, Russia joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) as its 156th member on 22 August 2012.

Key skills for enterprise to trade internationally
20/11/2012 - IBEC participated in the Steering Group to the Forfas and Expert Group on Future Skills Needs report on key skills for enterprise to trade internationally.

EU and U.S. agree to mutual recognition of each other's trusted trader programmes
20/11/2012 - The EU and the U.S. agreed on 4 May 2012 to mutually recognise each other's "trusted traders" programmes. This should allow companies to benefit from faster controls and reduced administration for customs clearance

IBEC submission on the Review of the White Paper on Irish Aid
05/09/2012 - IBEC believes that the private sector can be an important partner in maximising the impact of development aid, but that the significant role that business can play needs to be better understood in an Irish context.

Publication of the recast Modernised Customs Code creating the Union Customs Code
20/11/2012 - The Modernised Customs Code (MCC) was adopted in June 2008 (Regulation (EC) No. 450/2008).

EU negotiating mandate on investment protection in bilateral negotiations with Canada, India and Singapore
05/09/2012 - The European Council Trade Policy Committee (TPC) took the political decision on 12 September 2011 to grant a mandate to the European Commission to negotiate an investment chapter in the three bilateral negotiations with Canada, India and Singapore.

WTO 8th Ministerial meeting main results
20/01/2012 - The WTO 8th Ministerial conference was held in Geneva from the 15th to 17th December. The two main decisions were the accession of Russia (and a number of smaller countries) to the WTO and an unexpected deal on the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

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