Latest from USCIB Archives

Briefing: Are Countries Living Up to Their Open-Market Promises?

Published on June 18, 2009
BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter of Deloitte (right) introduces OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría.
BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter of Deloitte (right) introduces OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría.

On June 2, coincident with USCIB’s latest OECD tax conference, we had the pleasure of hosting a timely and well attended luncheon in Washington, D.C., examining the OECD’s role in helping keep markets open to cross-border investment.

Taking place against the backdrop of ongoing economic turmoil, growing protectionist sentiment and ambitious proposals for regulatory reform, these two events provided important opportunities for USCIB members to interact directly with senior government and international officials making the decisions that will shape the future of the global economy.  They also underlined the importance of USCIB’s affiliation with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD in providing access to the work of the OECD.

The open markets lunch, organized with support from the TransAtlantic Business Dialogue, BIAC, Deloitte and several other leading business organizations, was titled “The Global Investment Agenda: Challenges to Global Capital Flows and Foreign Investment.”  The impetus for the session was growing concern that cross-border capital flows have contracted sharply and that governments, while cognizant of the benefits of open investment regimes, are apt to yield to domestic economic and  political pressures and impede cross-border investment.

OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría set the tone in his opening address, declaring: “It is crucial for the investment policy community to counter such pressures, now and firmly.”  He noted that the OECD is ideally placed to work on investment openness, and that along with the IMF, WTO and UNCTAD, it is monitoring investment activity to ensure that governments refrain from raising new investment barriers.  A report by this group will be sent to the G20.

A panel chaired by Dan Price (Sidley Austin), a top White House aide in the previous administration and including Jeff Shafer (Citigroup), Jose Vinals (International Monetary Fund) and Matthias Sonn (German Embassy), picked up the general theme struck by Mr. Gurría.  They urged business to raise its voice to the Obama Administration on the need for strong leadership to resist investment protectionism and to keep markets open for cross-border investment.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

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Business Makes an Impact at Commission on Sustainable Development

Published on May 27, 2009
(Photo: United Nations)
(Photo: United Nations)

On May 15, the 17th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) concluded two years of negotiations on how to drive forward implementation of Rio and Johannesburg summit commitments in six major development areas – agriculture, land, water, rural development, drought, and Africa.  The two-week summit, which included a high-level session, agreed a set of priorities to expedite the implementation of sustainability measures in the cluster of land and agriculture issues.

USCIB and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) served as the primary business representatives at the CSD, working with the International Agrifood Network, Croplife International and the International Fertilizer Association.  The CSD recognizes nine “major groups,” or important sectors of society, which are expected to contribute their experiences in implementing Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, and in identifying future areas for partnership and strengthened implementation.  ICC represents the “business and industry” major group, and has official status in the CSD’s activities.

Business engagement in the CSD session – which was attended by representatives of over 60 governments and numerous non-governmental organizations – emphasized the stake and contribution of a broad range of industries that are concerned in the food value and supply chain, as well as in other promising areas, such as biotechnology, energy and sustainable chemistry.  Business representatives underscored the importance of flexibility to reflect national circumstances, integrated policies that reflect risk assessment and management, sound science and economics.

“We were able to draw attention to the need for a strengthened focus on capacity-building and information-based approaches,” said Helen Medina, USCIB’s director of agriculture, health care and biotechnology.  “One critical element of that is to ensure that intellectual property rights are protected and strengthened.  This year’s CSD deliberations made good progress in providing momentum to international cooperation to address the food crisis, and to advance emerging technologies in other agricultural areas, such as bio-energy and biotechnology.”

The draft text included references to trade, technology, climate change, biodiversity, and the right to food.  Throughout the week, USCIB and ICC met with several with government officials and intergovernmental authorities to stress the importance of advancing measures to accelerate economic recovery and address trade, IPR and biodiversity in their primary forums, such as the World Trade Organization, the World International Property Organization and UN Convention on Biological Diversity.

A copy of the full CSD conclusions text, the ICC discussion Paper on CSD-17 and all Business and Industry interventions can be found on ICC’s website at www.iccwbo.org/policy/environment/id1465/index.html.

Staff contacts: Helen Medina and Norine Kennedy

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UN Commission on Sustainable Development website

African Employers Forum Focuses on Continent’s Response to Crisis

Published on May 26, 2009
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.
Nairobi’s business district: Kenya and other African nations face declining capital inflows.

Prior to the financial crisis, many parts of Africa were making good progress toward macroeconomic stability and reform of the business environment.  But the global recession hit the continent hard, significantly slowing growth and employment, spurring currency devaluations, declining investment and remittances from abroad, and falling prices for African commodities.

African governments, employers and workers must work together to respond effectively to the crisis.  This was the goal of the African Employers Forum, hosted by the Federation of Kenya Employers, May 18 and 19 in Nairobi.  The event brought together social partners from across the continent and overseas.

The forum, supported by the International Labor Organization as well as the International Organization of Employers, also celebrated the Federation of Kenya Employers’ 50th Anniversary.

USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg addressed the gathering.  She highlighted the increased attention being devoted to Africa under the Obama administration, with a doubling of U.S. assistance and efforts to strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which provides duty-free access to the American market for a range of products from the continent.

“Although U.S. aid to Africa increased significantly under the Bush administration, President Obama has promised to double it by the end of his first term,” Ms. Goldberg said.  “We also have a number of priorities in the areas of fighting poverty in Africa.”  She said the crisis had hit labor markets around the world very hard, but that as the economy improves in the U.S., more attention would turn to providing financial and technical support to mitigate the effects of the crisis in developing countries.

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson sent a congratulatory message to the federation’s members.  “Companies represented by USCIB have long seen the African continent as a growing and vibrant source of opportunities for partnership,” he wrote, noting USCIB’s support for President Obama’s call for strengthening AGOA by improving technical assistance and infrastructure development, and by promoting closer regional cooperation on trade.

Staff contact: Ronnie Goldberg

More on the International Organization of Employers

Kenyan newspaper article on Ms. Goldberg’s remarks

Lisbon Hosts Business Conference on OECD’s Response to Global Economic Crisis

Published on May 21, 2009
Participants sought to defend the global economy from protectionist backsliding.
Participants sought to defend the global economy from protectionist backsliding.

As global leaders continue to face the challenges of addressing the global financial and economic crisis, over 150 international business and government policy decision-makers met May 21 to explore and discuss how the OECD and the international business community are working together to promote open markets and job creation.

The one-day conference, organized by the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) and its Portuguese member Associação Industrial Portuguesa – Confederação Empressarial (AIP-CE) on the occasion of BIAC’s annual general assembly, provided insight into how the Paris-based OECD, which groups the world’s most advanced industrialized nations, influences economic policies worldwide and how business can engage with it.

“We must work together, BIAC and OECD, to restore public trust,” said OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría. “Trust in governments and regulations, in banks and corporations, in open markets and globalization as a whole.”

BIAC Chairman Charles P. Heeter (Deloitte & Touche) helped open the event.  “Crisis management necessitates extraordinary measures, and governments are pressing, both domestically as well as internationally, to restore market confidence in the financial sector and to stimulate their economies,” he stated.  “BIAC is the means for the business voice to be heard at the highest levels at the OECD as it deals with today’s problems and thinks of tomorrow’s challenges.”

In a panel discussion of the current global economic outlook, USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson called upon governments to refrain from imposing new barriers to trade and investment, even where technically allowable under multilateral rules.  Referring to recent OECD discussions of globally integrated production, he stated: “We must resist the tide of ‘below the WTO radar’ non-tariff barriers that disrupt global, vertically integrated production patterns.”

Additional speakers included Fernando Teixeria Dos Santos, Portugal’s minister of state and finance, Jorge Rocha De Matos, president of AIP-CE, and Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues Portugal’s ambassador to the OECD.  Panels included numerous other business and industry representatives from the U.S., Japan, Germany, Brazil, India, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, as well as host Portugal.

Mr. Heeter concluded by thanking AIP-CE for successfully hosting this year’s event, and by highlighting that BIAC will build on the outcomes of the roundtable in preparing for its June 23 consultation with OECD ministers in Paris.  “It is in times like these when our collective work is needed more than ever,” he said.  “Business and governments acting together can help restore trust in globalization.”

Staff contact: Peter Robinson

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The Financial Crisis: USCIB responds

Published on April 2, 2009

Latest statements and information from USCIB and our global business network

Glass globe being held by C clamp on blue background with moneyAmid ongoing financial shocks and market turmoil, USCIB and its global business network continue to actively promote efforts to provide sensible regulatory oversight and get world economic growth back on track.

Our unique affiliations with leading worldwide business groups – including the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers, and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD – provide an invaluable channel through which to influence the course of global policies and regulations affecting business and the economy.

Here are links to the latest statements and actions from USCIB and our global network.

3846_image002USCIB:

– “The G-20 and the Danger of Protectionism” (letter in The New York Times by USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, April 1, 2009)

– Joint industry letter to President Obama on keeping markets open for foreign investment
(March 30, 2009)

– Business, Anti-Poverty and Faith-Based Groups Unite in Support of Open Markets (March 20, 2009)

– U.S. Multinational Companies Strengthen the Domestic Economy: Study demonstrates how domestic multinationals contribute to American productivity and prosperity
(March 16, 2009)

– G8 Business Summit Preparations Well Underway (March 2, 2009)

– U.S. business groups urge rejection of “Buy American” provisions in stimulus package (letter to Senate, February 3, 2009)

– USCIB letter to President Obama on priorities for tackling the economic crisis (January 21, 2009)

– Now More Than Ever: In the current crisis, USCIB’s core values matter (column by USCIB President Peter M. Robinson, January 2009)

– G8 Business Leaders: Crisis Demands Urgent Response, But Does Not Indicate a Failure of Market Economics (December 4, 2009)

– Accepting USCIB Award, Coca-Cola CEO Says Financial Crisis Jeopardizes Market Openness
(November 17, 2008)

– USCIB statement on the G-20 Summit (November 13, 2008)

– USCIB President Peter M. Robinson: Some Thoughts on the Current Crisis (October 21, 2008)

– Key Officials Address Critical Role of Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment (October 14, 2008)

3846_image004International Chamber of Commerce:

– ICC welcomes G20 boost to trade finance and pledge to conclude Doha Round (April 2, 2009)

– ICC plea in Financial Times: avoid deceptively simple solutions (April 1, 2009)

– “Resist Protectionism”
(letter to The New York Times by ICC Chairman Victor Fung, March 31, 2009)

– G20 must take action to fight protectionism and support trade finance to keep trade flowing
(March 31, 2009)

– ICC calls on G20 to address impact of Basel II on trade finance (March 27, 2009)

– Trade volume and value decline sharply as a result of crisis (March 23, 2009)

– A staunch advocate of globalization and trade (interview with ICC Chairman Victor Fung, International Herald Tribune, March 20, 2009)

– ICC issues positions on global economic crisis (March 13, 2009)

– ICC Chairman Victor Fung meets Gordon Brown ahead of G20 Summit (March 12, 2009)

– Lowest global economic index in history (February 18, 2009)

– ICC experts discuss the financial crisis and its implications (December 19, 2008)

– Doha Round agreement all the more vital in global economic crisis (December 17, 2008)

– First ICC Regional CEO Forum for Asia Pacific calls for unlocking of liquidity to spur global trade
(November 24, 2008)

– Lowest global economic index in 20 years (November 20, 2008)

– ICC Chairman hails G20 leaders rejection of protectionism and commitment to conclude WTO’s Doha Development Agenda (November 17, 2008)

– ICC Commission on Banking discusses trade finance problems at WTO (November 17, 2008)

– In CNN interview, ICC Chairman urges G20 to stimulate trade (November 13, 2008)

– ICC Chairman urges G20 leaders to adopt bold solutions to financial crisis (November 12, 2008)

– Op-ed by ICC Chairman calls for a revitalized global trading system (November 10, 2008)

– International cooperation vital to resolve financial crisis (October 15, 2008)

3846_image006Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD:

– Business calls for credible G20 action to support open markets (March 31, 2009)

– Water and the economic crisis (March 16, 2009)

– The financial crisis and the role of the OECD (BIAC newsletter, December 2008)

– Major exporters pledge ongoing credit support for developing country imports (November 24, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD welcomes G20 Declaration and offers support (November 17, 2008)

– OECD forecasts protracted economic slowdown (November 13, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD preparing two-pillar action plan in response to crisis, says Gurría (November 12, 2008 – OECD website)

– OECD business calls for decisive G20 action against protectionism (November 10, 2008)

3846_image008International Organization of Employers:

– IOE information paper: Exiting the Crisis in Labor Markets (April 2009)

– World Employers: Financial Markets Need to Provide Stability and Liquidity to Business
(February 10, 2009)

– IOE president: Global employers are up to the challenge of the economic crisis (IOE newsletter, January 2009)

– The impacts of global crises on labor markets must be addressed (October 20, 2008)

Protection From Brand Infection

Published on March 23, 2009

steel boxUSCIB has teamed up with the Chief Marketing Officer Council on “Protection from Brand Infection,” a new initiative to help leading brand specialists understand and contain the brand damage caused by counterfeiting, piracy and fraud.

A variety of tricks, schemes and frauds have been “infecting” leading brands for years.  According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, counterfeiting and piracy cost the U.S. economy between $200 billion and $250 billion per year, as well as 750,000 American jobs.  A Gartner study estimates 3.6 million Americans lost $3.2 billion in the 12 months ending in August 2007 to phishing scams.

To help explore these issues of brand image and integrity issues and implications, “Protection from Brand Infection” will examine how Internet fraud schemes are impacting brand trust, confidence, credibility and affinity among consumers, channels and business partners and what today’s senior marketers can do to combat these schemes.

Please share your experiences with us by completing this brief online survey.  All responses will be kept confidential and all participants will receive a free copy of the final research report.

For more information on the survey or the CMO Council, please contact Peter Moore at (646) 652-5205 or pmoore@globalfluency.com.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

Click here to launch the survey

More on USCIB’s Intellectual Property Committee

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UN Talks on Global Chemicals Database May Impact Broad Swaths of Industry

Published on March 3, 2009

UNEPKimberly McLaughlin, USCIB’s director of product policy, nanotechnology, China, EU, and APEC affairs, recently represented American business in Geneva at a UN Environment Program informal workshop on a proposed global database of chemicals used in articles and products worldwide.  At this gathering of over 100 government, academic and NGO participants, Ms. McLaughlin underscored U.S. business concerns that confidential business information be protected and provided insight into managing the scope of this proposed project, highlighting the diversity and complexity of information across business sectors.

The scope of a chemicals database – which was first proposed last year by the EU, Japan and the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety as an emerging issue to be addressed in the UN’s Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) process – will be negotiated at the upcoming second session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management, in Geneva May 11 to 15.  USCIB will lead a business delegation, encompassing particularly those downstream chemical users who can be greatly affected by discussions of global chemicals policy.

Sweden has taken the lead in the development of the issue, co-chairing the informal workshop in Geneva, as well as providing a representative to act as the facilitator in the preparation of conference documents to which USCIB has recently submitted comments (available on our product policy resource page, under “recent accomplishments”).  This round of comments on the draft conference documents is expected to close by March 9.

At the Geneva workshop, many NGOs and governments raised the issue of exposure of chemicals from articles and products that are found in computers, textiles, toys and jewelry as well as the problem with the recovery of chemicals from products in waste management.  There were calls for an international harmonized database of chemicals in articles and products throughout the supply chain and extended producer responsibility.  Several participants at the workshop called for an international binding instrument that would lead to a compulsory database of chemicals information in articles all through the supply chain with the hope towards substitution and alternatives.  USCIB is concerned that, if these calls and proposals were to be implemented, there would be a significant impact on companies across numerous industries, regardless of size and nationality.

USCIB is seeking to raise awareness of this issue among its members and global business partners.  Many companies and industries already invest heavily in infrastructure to provide information about the use and exposure of potentially hazardous substances in their products.  These companies and industries also invest significant time and effort in establishing, maintaining and improving product end-of-life recycling and management programs.  USCIB believes it would be valuable to use these experiences as a basis for consideration of additional work, and provide a strong business voice to these ongoing negotiations and future mandate of this project.

Those wishing to learn more should contact Kimberly McLaughlin at kmclaughlin@uscib.org.  The next USCIB Product Policy Working Group meeting is scheduled for March 9 in Washington, D.C., where members will discuss next steps and USCIB engagement in this process.  Members should contact Justine Bareford at jbareford@uscib.org to register.

Staff contact: Helen Medina

More on USCIB’s Product Policy Working Group

SAICM negotiations website

G8 Business Summit Preparations Well Underway

Published on March 2, 2009
This year’s G8 Business Summit will be held in Sardinia.
This year’s G8 Business Summit will be held in Sardinia.

Preparations for this year’s G8 Business Summit are well underway.  The summit process, launched two years ago as a way for leading industry groups to provide input to the annual summits of G8 leaders, has taken on added urgency with the onset of the global economic crisis.  Business federation heads met in extraordinary session in Paris last December to craft a response to the G20 meeting in Washington and help chart a way forward.

Timothy E. Deal, USCIB’s senior vice president for Washington, attended a February 24 preparatory meeting in Rome aimed at reviewing an initial draft of a joint declaration to be issued at the G8 Business Summit in Sardinia, Italy on April 23 and 24.

The declaration will address the following issues:

  • the impact of the economic and financial crisis
  • protectionism and freedom of investment
  • climate change: the road to Copenhagen.

G8 business leaders will address these topics in a public session on the second day of the summit, following an informal “brainstorming” session on the opening day.  The summit will conclude with a gala dinner hosted by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.  USCIB Chairman William G. Parrett will head the USCIB delegation in Sardinia and will be joined by leaders of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable.

Staff contact: Rob Mulligan

More on the December G8 Business Summit meeting

Self-Regulation and Advertising: Surviving the Global Challenges Ahead

Published on February 10, 2009
Plenary speaker Deborah Platt Majoras, vice president and general counsel with Procter & Gamble and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.
Plenary speaker Deborah Platt Majoras, vice president and general counsel with Procter & Gamble and former chair of the Federal Trade Commission.

Last month in Washington, D.C., just ahead of the change in administration, marketers and advertisers from around the world gathered at an International Chamber of Commerce roundtable on the future of self-regulation, organized by USCIB.  The January 12 roundtable focused on upcoming U.S. regulatory and self-regulatory initiatives, their international components, and engagement by U.S. firms on global marketing and advertising policy.

Plenary speaker Deborah Platt Majoras, vice president and general counsel with Procter & Gamble and the former chair of the Federal Trade Commission, shared her perspectives on what lies ahead for the advertising industry, given the current financial crisis, and warned against the call for broad regulatory reforms.

Ms. Platt Majores urged business to communicate the benefits of advertising in encouraging competitiveness and to stress the cost-effectiveness of self-regulation at a time where government coffers are already heavily burdened.  She praised the Children’s Food and Beverage Initiative, which uses marketing and advertising to foster good nutrition for children, as a positive undertaking by the food sector.

“It is a great example where self-regulation can do something that government cannot do, not just because of constitutional limitations but also in terms of effectiveness,” Ms. Platt Majoras said.

Speakers from AT&T, Google, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, the FTC, the U.S. and Dutch self-regulatory bodies and a range of legal experts contributed to panel discussions on:

  • advertising in interactive environments
  • sustainability and advertising
  • self-regulation in Latin America
  • new models and initiatives in self-regulation

Chairing the roundtable, the American advertising executive John Manfredi, who also serves as chair of the ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising, cautioned that the erosion of trust caused by the current crisis has serious implications for the marketing world.

“When trust and confidence are gone, marketing and marketers suffer. Without trust, it’s impossible to establish or retain a relationship with consumers,” he said.  “And without trust, bad things happen.  Not only in the marketplace, but also in the arena of public policy and governance.”

The ICC Commission on Marketing and Advertising met the day after the roundtable and explored practical steps for the commission to take in 2009 to help restore trust and effectiveness in self-regulation.

The roundtable and commission meetings, hosted by the law firm Winston & Strawn, attracted participants from 11 countries, including China, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, Sweden and Turkey.  (Click here to view a summary of the roundtable.)

ICC has been a major rule-setter for international advertising since the 1930s, when the first ICC code on advertising practice was issued. Since then, it has extended the ICC self-regulatory framework on many occasions to assist companies in marketing their products responsibly.  A revised and expanded consolidated ICC Code on Marketing and Advertising Practice was issued in 2006, following in the long-established tradition of promoting high ethical standards for advertisers, advertising agencies and the media around the world.

Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke

Summary of the ICC Marketing Roundtable

More on USCIB’s Marketing and Advertising Committee

ICC website

China Celebrates a Decade in ATA Carnet System

Published on December 2, 2008
L-R: Yang Huazhang (CCPIT), Cynthia Duncan (USCIB, Peter Robinson (USCIB), Song Lee Ju (Singapore International Chamber of Commerce), Peter Bishop (London Chamber of Commerce & Industry), Hao Chongfu (Chinese Customs Control & Inspection)
L-R: Yang Huazhang (CCPIT), Cynthia Duncan (USCIB, Peter Robinson (USCIB), Song Lee Ju (Singapore International Chamber of Commerce), Peter Bishop (London Chamber of Commerce & Industry), Hao Chongfu (Chinese Customs Control & Inspection)

Business representatives from around the world gathered last month in Beijing to mark China’s ten years in the ATA Carnet system, the innovative network of nations granting duty-free, tax-free entry to many types of goods.

USCIB President and CEO Peter M. Robinson led a delegation of U.S. business experts to the meeting.  USCIB was instrumental in helping to open up the world’s most populous country to Carnets in the 1990s.  Over 7,000 Carnets have been issued for U.S. goods to enter China since its entry into the system.

China now ranks 12th among 65 countries in the ATA System, with over 3,200 Carnets issued in 2007 for goods valued at $73 million (U.S.), an increase of up 35 percent over 2006.

That number should grow significantly as the result of this year’s Beijing Olympics, for which China temporarily expanded the scope of goods admissible under Carnets to include professional equipment.

The global ATA Carnet system, overseen by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the World Customs Organization, permits the duty- and tax-free temporary exports of a wide range of goods for business use for up to one year.  Almost 160,000 ATA Carnets were issued worldwide in 2007 for goods valued at $17 billion.

Following 10 years of negotiations, Chinese customs authorities implemented the ATA Carnet system in March 1998 and appointed the China Chamber of International Commerce/China Center for the Promotion of International Trade (CCOIC/CCPIT) as the ATA Carnet national guaranteeing organization.

“USCIB was pivotal in bringing China into the Carnet system,” said Cynthia Duncan, USCIB’s senior vice president for Carnet operations.  Mr. Robinson, then-Carnet director Bruce Wilson and Anna Zhang, a Beijing native who joined USCIB in the 1980s and presently serves as director of Carnet claims, played “key roles,” according to Ms. Duncan, in advancing the date of China’s membership.  USCIB provided early training for CCOIC/CCPIT representatives, and it has been active in training and troubleshooting ever since.

“China has been a great addition to the ATA Carnet network,” said Peter Bishop (London Chamber of Commerce & Industry), chairman of the World ATA Carnet Council, part of ICC’s World Chambers Federation.  “There is no doubt that its participation will grow as time goes by and further anniversaries are celebrated.”

Recently China has taken other steps to facilitate cross-border movement of goods.  Chinese Customs, CCOIC/CCPIT and the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games put in place measures to ease the issuance of ATA Carnets for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in August and September.  Hundreds of ATA Carnets were used to get an estimated $400 million worth of goods into China for the games, with TV and radio equipment used by news crews from around the world leading the way.

Ms. Duncan said it is hoped that this experience will pave the way for the Chinese authorities to permanently extend the scope of application of ATA Carnets to encompass professional equipment and commercial samples in the near future.

Staff contact: Cynthia Duncan

More on the ATA Carnet Export Service

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