ICC News

8 April 2022 ICC has welcomed the launch of a new Centre for Digital Trade and Innovation by ICC United Kingdom, in response to the government’s ambition for the UK to have an open trading system with the rest of the world. In 2020, ICC launched the Digital Standards Initiative (DSI) in partnership with the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Singapore, to establish a globally harmonised, digitalised trade environment, in line with goals to foster inclusion and opportunity for those involved in international supply chains. In 2021, the World Trade Organization and World Customs Organization joined the DSI Governance Board as

7 April 2022 ICC has joined forces with the Canadian and Australian governments, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Fragomen, Talent Beyond Boundaries, and RefugePoint to launch the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility with the aim of encouraging and supporting the adoption of labour complementary pathways for refugees. The Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility is a new, multi-sectoral and multistakeholder initiative to increase refugee access to third country solutions via labour complementary pathways, through global dialogue and technical advice. Founding members gathered on 6 April for a virtual event to introduce the goals

1 April 2022 Following reports that the World Trade Organization is to cut the outlook for trade growth in 2022 by half, ICC has issued the following statement. ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO said: “The WTO’s anticipated projections are very much in line with the systemic disruption to trade that we’re seeing throughout our global business network. At a micro-level this means yet more production outages, fewer jobs created and a worrying increase in consumer prices. “As we’ve said consistently in recent weeks, governments and development banks need to take a far more proactive stance to cushion the real

30 March 2022 The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen their partnership and boost public-private collaboration. Signed by ICC Secretary-General John W.H. Denton AO and FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, the MoU aims to promote responsible investments in line with countries’ priorities, enhance communications and public-private collaboration, and facilitate knowledge-sharing. It will support the three pillars of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental – with an emphasis on mitigating climate change and strengthening the resilience of agri-food systems and natural resources. As part of

21 March 2022 A new paper from the ICC World Chambers Federation Certificate of Origin Council calls on all economies negotiating Preferential Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to ensure that the Rules of Origin Chapter provisions include an equivalent multi system. The measure would allow traders to choose between third party certified origin and self-declared origin statement methods when satisfying their preferential origin data. The ICC WCF CO Council Recommendation – Dual system paper, noted and reviewed by the ICC Global Customs and Trade Facilitation Commission, recommends dual systems to ensure legal security for business, safeguard data quality, and promote harmonisation which

18 March 2022 ICC and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to strengthen cooperation in areas of mutual interest in order to promote sustainable economic growth, revive global trade and advance the transition to a green economy. The two organisations already have a long history of cooperation across a variety of policy areas and initiatives, ranging from ICC’s input to the OECD initiative for safe international mobility during the COVID-19 pandemic, to collaboration on whistle-blowing guidelines. The new memorandum of understanding will help reinforce and deepen collaboration between ICC and OECD in

15 March 2022 The International Chamber of Commerce and the World Trade Organization have today published the first-ever toolkit to help companies and government agencies adopt available standards to accelerate the digitalisation of trade processes. Drawing on stakeholder consultations through ICC’s Digital Standards Initiative over the past year, the report emphasises that one of the primary barriers to the adoption of paperless processes is a lack of awareness of existing standards for digital trade. Currently, fewer than 1% of trade documents are fully digitised globally – with a typical transaction requiring the exchange of 36 documents and 240 copies in hard-copy.

25 February 2022 ICC has unveiled the newest contribution to its tools to help business stamp out corruption: the 2022 edition of the ICC Whistleblowing Guidelines. Providing practical guidance to help enterprises establish and implement a Whistleblowing Management System, the guidelines are an update of the ICC Guidelines on Whistleblowing published in 2008, incorporating current experience and practice of ICC member enterprises across a wide range of sectors and jurisdictions worldwide. The 2022 edition also aligns with key international legal instruments as well as global standards and best practice such as the 2021 ISO 37002 Guidelines on Whistleblowing Management Systems and the 2019 European

24 February 2022 The ICC Centre of Entrepreneurship (CoE) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) have announced a partnership to help entrepreneurs navigate intellectual property (IP) regulation and better manage their intangible assets. The partnership includes work to promote an IP self-assessment tool and to host workshops and seminars to train entrepreneurs on how to manage their creative assets, the results of their research and development, and their brands and trade secrets. WIPO IP Diagnostics Tool Developed by WIPO’s IP for Business team, the WIPO IP Diagnostics Tool is an intellectual property (IP) self-assessment tool. Developed as a practical instrument, the Tool

24 February 2022 Following the Russian incursion into Ukraine on 24 February, ICC has issued the following statement on behalf of the global business community. ICC Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO said: “As an organisation founded to promote peace and prosperity by advancing international trade and the rule of law, we condemn Russia’s breach of international law in the strongest possible terms. We call on Russia to immediately cease military action, withdraw its forces from Ukraine and revert to diplomatic means. “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will undoubtedly have significant repercussions for global supply chains in the weeks and months ahead.