EU offers EUR 1.18 million to WTO programmes for developing countries

The following is excerpted from a 5 November 2012 press release by the World Trade Organization.

The European Union (EU) donated EUR 1 million to the Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund (DDAGTF) and EUR 180,000 to the Trade Facilitation Negotiation Group Fund for 2012. With these last donations, the EU’s total contribution to the WTO trust funds in favour of developing countries has reached about CHF 14 million (about EUR 11.5 million).

Members Sharing Information

Submitted by IFCBA on Wed, 2012-11-07 10:17

Your fellow IFCBA members are very interested in what is going on in your country. The sharing of information about national affairs often provides useful information to assist in developing new programs, products and services for members. It was agreed at our last Board meeting that there would be mutual benefit if members were invited and encouraged to share information on a regular basis. To that end, we have created a simple form to facilitate the sharing of that information.From what is received, we will create a regular update that we will share with all members.

Information technology: progress reported on expanding product coverage

The following is excerpted from a 1 November 2012 news item by the World Trade Organization.

At the meeting of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) Committee on 1 November 2012, Korea reported some progress on technical discussions it hosted early in the week on expanding the current product coverage of the ITA. It said that the 17 participating members are moving towards more substantial discussions, and that a revised consolidated list of products proposed for inclusion in ITA expansion would be circulated in mid-December.

Government Procurement Committee welcomes Indonesia and Montenegro as observers

The following is excerpted from a 31 October 2012 news item by the World Trade Organization.

The Committee on Government Procurement, on 31 October 2012, approved requests by Indonesia and Montenegro, respectively, for observer status. The decisions bring to 25 governments the total number of observers to the plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement.

Norway offers NOK 19.5 million to support sustainable trade in least-developed countries

The following is excerpted from a 31 October 2012 news item by the World Trade Organization.

The Government of Norway has disbursed NOK 19.5 million to the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), a programme that works to contribute to poverty reduction in least-developed countries (LDCs) by helping them to integrate into the global trading economy.

Swaziland accedes to the WCO Revised Kyoto Convention

The following is excerpted from a 31 October 2012 press release by the World Customs Organization.

The Ambassador of the Kingdom of Swaziland, H.E. Joel Nhleko, deposited his country’s instrument of accession to the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonization of Customs Procedures (Revised Kyoto Convention) with the World Customs Organization on 31 October 2012.

This release is available in its entirety at:

Global tax forum briefed on WCO and key Customs issues

The following is excerpted from a 27 October 2012 report by the World Customs Organization.

At the invitation of the Head of Secretariat, Ms. Monica Bhatia, the Deputy Secretary General of the WCO, Sergio Mujica, attended the fifth meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes held in Cape Town, South Africa from 26-27 of October 2012.

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