10 December 2020 ICC’s Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy (BASCAP) initiative has released a 2020 update of its 2013 publication examining the balance of facilitation and control required to combat illicit trade in Free Trade Zones. Paris, 10 December 2020 The updated paper Controlling the zone: Balancing facilitation and control to combat illicit trade in the world’s Free Trade Zones sheds light on the trends of counterfeiting and other forms of illicit trade facilitated through free trade zones (FTZs). Specifically, the report addresses how criminals

10 December 2020 The SME Climate Hub has joined forces with Oxford University to provide small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with tools and resources to help them take climate action. Ahead of the 5th anniversary of the Paris Agreement signing, the freely available tools and resources are specially selected for SMEs to reduce carbon emissions, build business resilience and gain a competitive advantage, and help them achieve the Paris Agreement goals. As the world reflects on progress on climate action since the Paris Agreement signing,

9 December 2020 In a memo to World Trade Organization Members, ICC has called on negotiators to accelerate progress and conclude a high standard agreement by the next WTO Ministerial Conference. There are now 86 World Trade Organization (WTO) Members negotiating the JSI, representing well over 90% of world trade. Citing the indispensable role of the digital economy during COVID-19, the memo says: “As communities have socially distanced to flatten the curve, contactless payments have enabled safe, COVID-free transactions; brick-and-mortar retailers have rapidly moved to

8 December 2020 ICC’s Ibero-American national committees in 13 countries have joined forces to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, underscoring the importance of the anti-corruption agenda as a key means of promoting social inclusion and economic growth in the region in the context of the current pandemic. Celebrated on 9 December each year, Anti-Corruption Day aims to raise awareness of corruption and of the role of the 2005 United Nations Convention Against Corruption in combating and preventing it. ICC national committees of the ICC in Latin America acknowledge

8 December 2020 ICC and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School will join forces to develop a set of all-encompassing artificial intelligence (AI) principles to enable business to implement innovative, trustworthy, and human-centric AI solutions as part of their operations. Over the years, policy and regulatory discussions concerning AI have focused on sector-specific or issue-specific issues without considering wider ethical, societal, or business implications. As part of this partnership, researchers from ICC’s Knowledge Solutions department and Saïd Business School will undergo an extensive review of existing

3 December 2020 The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Global Export Finance Committee’s Sustainability Working Group (ICC-SWG) has commissioned International Financial Consulting Ltd. and Acre Impact Capital to develop a white paper, to be published in June 2021. The paper will review the state of sustainable finance across the export finance industry and propose both product and policy recommendations aimed at increasing the flow of export financing towards sustainable activity. Sustainability is an increasingly important topic for a wide range of public and private stakeholders