IDC Manufacturing Insights today announced a new IDC MarketScape report that provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the characteristics that explain a vendor's success in the global trade management (GTM) marketplace and help assess current and anticipated performance in the marketplace. The new study, IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Global Trade Management 2014 Vendor Assessment, (Doc #MI251598) assesses the capability and business strategy of five of the key GTM vendors including Amber Road, GT Nexus, Integration Point, Oracle, and SAP.

While in Brussels for the WCO meeting of the working group on the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement, IFCBA representatives met with the WCO Secretary General, Mr. Kunio Mikuriya to discuss matters of concern to customs brokers around the world.  Attending this meeting with Mr. Mikuriya were IFCBA Chair, Mr. Shantanu Bhadkamar; IFCBA Managing Directors, Ms. Candace Sider and Mr. Pedro Bequengue; IFCBA Past Chairman, Mr. Jaime King; and IFCBA Secretary, Ms. Carol West.

Program seeks to encourage voluntary disclosure of customs violations in exchange for reduced penalties, inspections.

A pilot program to study the efficacy of a customs self-disclosure program in China could be extended past the end of 2014, according to the trade law firm Mayer Brown.

WTO economists have reduced their forecast for world trade growth in 2014 to 3.1% (down from the 4.7% forecast made in April) and cut their estimate for 2015 to 4.0% from 5.3% previously.

The downgrade comes in response to weaker-than-expected GDP growth and muted import demand in the first half of 2014, particularly in natural resource exporting regions such as South and Central America. Beyond this specific downward revision, risks to the forecast remain predominantly on the downside, as global growth remains uneven and as geopolitical tensions and risks have risen.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a pledge from Chinese President Xi Jinping to invest $20bn as the leaders sought to adjust a lopsided trade relationship and resolve a flare-up on their disputed border.

Leaders of the world’s two most populous countries yesterday announced a five-year plan in which China would invest $20bn to help reduce India’s largest trade deficit with any single country. China will also help set up industrial parks in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, which Mr Modi ran before taking power in May.

Latin America is a region of great diversity and endless opportunities for imports and exports. Given this diversity, both economic and political, companies doing business in Latin America need to stay informed of the latest regulations and opportunities from the various countries' governments where they are doing business. In an effort to assist you in staying up-to-date,

For the purposes of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and executing treaties and other international agreements, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) controls imports of goods under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act and also provides respective provisions to regulate goods based on the Export Trade Control Order (hereinafter referred to as the “order”) under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.

Eagle Eye Expositions of Norwalk, CT has announced the full roster of speakers, topics, panelists and sponsors for its “Beyond the Border 2.0” U.S./Canada Border Conference, which will take place at the COBO Center in Detroit, MI on September 16-17.

From now on, German companies can export paperless via Rotterdam. After submitting an export declaration to the German Customs, it is no longer necessary for the carrier to take any paper documents with them.  The only thing an exporter still has to do is to provide prenotification to Portbase, the Port Community System of the Dutch ports. That has been agreed between the German and Dutch Customs.