News Stories Archives

Economist Report: Human Rights are a Matter for Businesses

Published on March 17, 2015

4981_image002With the support of the International Chamber of Commerce, the International Organization of Employers and other business organizations, the Economist Intelligence Unit published a report on the intersection of global business and the protection of human rights. “The Road from Principles to Practice: Today’s Challenges for Business in Respecting Human Rights” evaluates the state of play in business and human rights since the adoption of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in 2011.

The report shows that 83 percent of executives surveyed from a wide variety of sectors believe that human rights are a matter for businesses, not just for governments. 71 percent also said that their company’s responsibility to respect human rights goes beyond “obedience to local laws.”

While this response suggests corporate attitudes are evolving quickly, only 22 percent say they have a publicly available human rights policy in some form, and 44 percent say that human rights are an issue on which CEOs take the lead. The most common barriers to progress, according to the respondents, are lack of understanding of their company’s responsibilities and lack of training and education for employees.

The report also shows that companies do not see a business case – focused on immediate costs and benefits – for human rights, but rather see respecting human rights as helpful in building good relationships with local communities, protecting the company brand and reputation, and serving ethical considerations.

The study also draws on in-depth interviews conducted with Ed Potter, director of global workplace rights at The Coca-Cola Company and chair of USCIB’s Labor and Employment Committee; John Ruggie, former UN Secretary-General’s special representative on business and human rights; Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom and other experts from civil society, human rights and business organizations.

 

IOE: EU Development Should Support the Private Sector

Published on March 17, 2015
L-R: Phil O’Reilly (BIAC), Frederick Muia (IOE) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)
L-R: Phil O’Reilly (BIAC), Frederick Muia (IOE) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)

A high-level delegation from the International Organization of Employers (IOE) participated in an EU workshop in Brussels prior to an EU Development Policy Forum. This workshop is the second the IOE has attended in the past six months in efforts to inform EU policy discussions with business perspectives and recommendations.

Ronnie Goldberg, USCIB’s senior counsel and IOE vice president for North America, shared the opening session with Klaus Rudischhauser, deputy director general for international cooperation development.  She underscored the IOE’s strong commitment to building partnerships with the European Commission in light of many shared goals.

Acknowledging that EU support lifts millions of people out of poverty and contributes to a solid foundation on which private enterprises could be created and developed, Goldberg thanked the hosts for creating the space for deeper private-sector engagement, adding, “The IOE places great importance on building partnerships with the European Commission for the joint promotion of an enabling environment for growth and sustainable development.”

She reiterated the IOE’s key inputs to consultations on the post-2015 Development Goals over the past two years, which could equally frame EU-private sector dialogue. These included putting sustainability at the core of the agenda; ensuring that growth was inclusive to boost productive employment. Open and accountable institutions also had to be enabled.

Goldberg added that it is essential that EU commission funding support investment in infrastructure projects, such as road, rail, electricity, renewable energies and ICT; the protection and enforcement of property rights and the rule of law; effective financial services, particularly for SMEs; improvements in education and training for the delivery of work-ready young people, as well as more open markets and regional integration.

B20 Sets Priorities for World Trade Agenda

Published on March 14, 2015

4977_image002The Business-20 (B20) Trade Task Force has committed to work toward ratification of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by year’s end and to work with WTO and its members to ensure quick and effective implementation. The Task Force agreed to the strategy as it met to set business priorities for G20 governments, which also includes a call on the G20 to roll back protectionist measures implemented since the 2008 financial crisis.

B20 is the premier dialogue platform for engaging global business leaders with G20 governments and leaders. B20 Turkey is chaired by Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the president of the Union of Chambers of Commerce of Turkey.

The Turkey B20 Trade Task Force held its second meeting in Istanbul on March 10. The Task Force consists of 76 company senior representatives from around the globe and is co-chaired by ICC and USCIB Chairman Terry McGraw and Guler Sabancı, chairman of Turkey’s Sabancı Holding.

The B20 group of companies unanimously agreed that the first priority is to call on all WTO countries to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which over time could contribute an additional US$1 trillion to world GDP and 21 million jobs, 18 million of which will be in developing countries. The task force outlined plans to work at the country level to convey the economic and job growth benefits of the agreement and to press for ratification and implementation.

“Governments, particularly those in the G20, must now ensure that the TFA is ratified by their national legislatures by mid-December,” McGraw said. “So far, the US is the only G20 country to ratify; and the remaining 19 must fulfill the commitments they made in Brisbane and demonstrate the leadership that comes with being part of the G20.”

The B20 Trade Task Force also agreed that the second key priority is to stop protectionism and is calling on governments to move forward to remove trade restrictive measures.

The 2015 G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in Antalya on November 15 and 16.

Bringing Down the Barriers: Women, Business and the Rule of Law

Published on March 13, 2015
L-R: Cindy Braddon (McGraw Hill Financial), Judit Arenas (IDLO) Pilar Ramos (MasterCard) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)
L-R: Cindy Braddon (McGraw Hill Financial) [now S&P Global], Judit Arenas (IDLO) Pilar Ramos (MasterCard) and Ronnie Goldberg (USCIB)
The global economy has much to gain from the full empowerment of women. As the world’s most underutilized resource, women are essential to increasing economic growth, establishing just societies, improving quality of life for families and communities and boosting the profitability of enterprises.

Around the world, too many laws still discriminate on the basis of gender, with dramatic consequences on women’s ability to contribute to economic growth. To address this major barrier to women’s empowerment, USCIB partnered with the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), the Global Compact, the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Bank Group to organize an event titled “Bringing Down the Barriers: Women, Business and the Rule of Law,” with the support of the permanent missions of Romania and Paraguay to the United Nations. This event was held in parallel with the UN meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women (CWS) and in support of the 2014 World Bank report on Women, Business and the Law, which evaluated the economic impacts of gender discrimination laws across the world.

USCIB’s Senior Counsel Ronnie Goldberg gave opening remarks at the breakfast event, explaining that in some countries women lack the legal status to attain an ID, establish a contract, access finance, represent themselves in legal cases, or even hold property in their own name. Such discrimination places major obstacles to economic and social development.

“There can be no development when you ignore 50 percent of the population,” Goldberg said.

Speakers and panelists came together to discuss these barriers and how governments can address them. Other speakers included:

  • Judit Arenas, director, external relations Deputy Permanent Observer, International Development Law Organization (IDLO)
  • Cindy Braddon, vice president of international affairs at McGraw Hill Financial [now S&P Global] and ICC World Businesswomen
  • Ioana Cesacu, secretary of state, Department for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, Ministry of Labor, Family, Social Protection and Elderly, Romania
  • Sarah Iqbal, program manager, Women, Business and the Law Project, World Bank Group;
  • Pilar Ramos, vice president, Global Public Policy & Regulatory Strategy Counsel, MasterCard Worldwide

The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law found that women in marriages are required to give up certain rights by law and consequently lack the ability to make their own legal decisions, limiting their economic opportunities. The report also studied the evolution of these restrictions in countries over the past 50 years. Over half these obstacles have been removed, but in 90 percent of the 143 countries surveyed, at least one legal barrier remains, so more needs to be done to achieve gender equality.

Significantly, the report provides evidence to counter the myth that expanding access to the work force for women necessarily reduces employment for men.  To the contrary, the report shows that men’s access to employment was unchanged by increases in women’s participation.

Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Digital Economy

Published on March 12, 2015
Daniel Sepulveda (U.S. Department of State) gives the keynote luncheon address on the OECD’s role in shaping the future of the digital economy.
Daniel Sepulveda (U.S. Department of State) gives the keynote luncheon address on the OECD’s role in shaping the future of the digital economy.

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) hold tremendous potential to create economic opportunity, address social challenges and include everyone in the digital economy. In just a few years, the Internet and related technologies have gone from being mere tools to supporting the foundation of the entire global economy. As an editorial in The New York Times today noted, about half of the world’s population had mobile phone service last year, while one-third of all people used mobile networks to connect to the Internet. Countries that can better leverage the Internet to serve their needs will prosper.

Everybody stands to benefit from the Internet. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has pioneered the multi-stakeholder model for Internet governance, ensuring that governments, businesses, members of the technical community and civil society are engaged in dialogues about how the Internet is managed. It is crucial that policymakers understand the role the OECD plays as a forum for building consensus around principles in the ICT space, helping to inform policies that both tap the transformational potential of the Internet for economic growth while ensuring that the benefits of that growth are distributed deeply into society.

To that end, USCIB partnered with the OECD and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD (BIAC) to host the ICT conference “Promoting Inclusive Growth in the Digital Economy: The Evidence and Practice Base,” to highlight the OECD’s role in framing policy discussions about the future of the Internet. During this day-long conference, sessions focused on why the ICT sector warrants engagement with all stakeholders, how to enable the benefits of digital innovation across all sectors and what the best ways are to promote trade, inclusion and trust in the digital ecosystem.

“Never has a strong business role in this area been more important than now,” said USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson in his opening remarks. “It’s important for business executives and government officials to recognize the unique role OECD plays to involve all stakeholders to tap the potential of the Internet.”

Many speakers weighed in on the OECD’s role in shaping the digital economy, including Andrew Wyckoff, the director of the OECD Directorate for Science and Technology, Christopher Painter, U.S. Department of State coordinator for cyber issues and Houlin Zhao, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union.

Over 100 representatives from government, business, the technical community and the OECD attended the conference. Keynote addresses included an overview of Mexico’s national plan to scale up its ICT infrastructure by Raul Rendon Montemayor, director general for innovation, services and domestic commerce at Mexico’s Ministry of Economy, as well as a review of U.S. efforts to protect privacy and data security in an increasingly connected world by U.S. Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill.

“Basic consumer protection principles apply to exciting new technologies,” Brill concluded. “We need to keep consumers front and center.”

Ensuring multi-stakeholder engagement

The OECD stands at the precipice of a global conversation about connectivity that has brought 3 billion people together. During the conference keynote luncheon discussion, deputy assistant secretary of state Daniel Sepulveda, who will serve as vice chair of the OECD steering group for the 2016 Digital Economy Ministerial in Cancun, Mexico, talked about how to ensure that this new connectivity fosters innovation, lifts people out of poverty, increases the productivity of workers, raises wages, and supports the interconnectivity of supply chains.

Sepulveda reiterated that the multi-stakeholder Internet governance model pioneered by the OECD is necessary because it produces better outcomes. He also warned that there is no guarantee that the Internet will evolve in a way that will allow all stakeholders to use it safely and equally. To achieve the twin goals of fairness and safety, governments must embrace the OECD’s principles on digital inclusion and data privacy so as to maximize the benefits of the digital economy.

Participants agreed that private sector opportunities to invest, good infrastructure and cross-border data flows are essential for leveraging the Internet’s transformational power to address economic challenges and raise living standards. The OECD’s multi-stakeholder model has much to be admired, and even though key challenges remain – such as how to properly organize the participation of stakeholders to tap their particular expertise – the best defense of the multi-stakeholder governance model lies in the current resilience and dynamism of the Internet.

The conference ended with a warning about the dangers of forced localization requirements as they relate to the flow of information from one country to another.

“Leveraging the benefits of the cloud doesn’t mean it has to be in your country,” said Joseph Alhadeff, vice president of global public policy at Oracle and chair of BIAC’s Committee on Digital Economy Policy. “The utility of the technology is worth more than its physical location.”

View conference photos (Flickr)

G20 High-Level Conference to Tackle Corruption

Published on March 4, 2015

A strong BIAC delegation will participate in the Fifth Annual High-Level Anti-Corruption Conference, which is being jointly organized by the Turkish Presidency of the G20 and the OECD and which will take place in Istanbul on March 6. The conference will bring together a wide range of senior experts from the OECD and other international organizations, business community, public institutions and civil society in G20 countries and beyond. The participants will discuss a wide range of issues on the anti-corruption agenda, including compliance versus non-compliance; risks and best practices for fast-growing companies in regional hubs; promoting a safer environment for business at home; emerging issues and innovative solutions. The discussions at the conference will also inform the implementation of the 2015-2016 Anti-Corruption Action Plan and the B20 efforts to fight corruption.  Corinne Lagache, Vice Chair of the BIAC Anti-Bribery/Corruption Task Force, will chair the panel on promoting a safer environment for business at home.

USCIB Fights for Investment Agreements and Protections at the OECD and UNCTAD

Published on March 3, 2015
USCIB’s Shaun Donnelly represents American business at UNCTAD on February 25, 2015.
USCIB’s Shaun Donnelly represents American business at UNCTAD on February 25, 2015.

As the contentious global dialogue concerning investment protection and international investment agreements (IIAs) continues, USCIB remains on the front lines fighting for adequate protections for investors in a world increasingly reliant on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  USCIB Vice President, Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly spent the week of February 22-27, 2015 in Brussels, Belgium leading a delegation of business experts at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stakeholder consultation on the review of the Policy Framework for Investment (PFI); and in Geneva, Switzerland, leading a small but vocal business contingent at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Experts Group on International Investment Agreements.

At the OECD session, which was co-hosted by the European Commission, USCIB argued for pro-investment, pro-business policies and dispelled concerns about the adverse impacts of investment and the need for greater government involvement. USCIB is working closely with the Business and Industry Advisory Committee (BIAC) to the OECD to provide comprehensive and detailed comments on the PFI revision; a final version of the PFI is expected from the OECD following the March 16-20, 2015 meeting of the Investment Committee in Paris.

During the Experts Group on International Investment Agreements at UNCTAD, Donnelly lead a small team of USCIB’s international partners (BDI, VNO of Netherlands, MEDEF of France, and Business Europe) in defending the current system and model for IIAs, as well as specific measures included in investment protections, particularly investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) protections.

“We in business are the real users of International Investment Agreements; we invest,” Donnelly said in his remarks to the Experts Group. “IIAs mitigate and reduce risk, which is, of course, the real challenge to investment and specifically to foreign direct investment, and we believe that IIAs work well to do just that.”

USCIB will represent members at the March 15-20, 2015 meeting of the OECD Investment Committee and the corresponding meeting of the BIAC Investment Committee.

 

 

Coming Soon: 2015 Annual Review of International Banking Law & Practice

Published on February 28, 2015

212_2015AnnualBookCoverThe USCIB International Bookstore will soon carry the 2015 Annual Review of International Banking Law & Practice.

At over 500 pages, this title is the field’s definitive record of Letter of Credit & Guarantee activity.  The 2015 Annual Review includes the key articles and industry reports on LC practice of the past year, as well as over 90 summaries of court cases from around the world. The annual review is available in both print and electronic versions.

Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law & Practice Conference

Sign up today for the Annual Survey of Letter of Credit Law & Practice Conference in Tampa, FL on March 12-13. The conference is hosted by the Institute of International Banking Law & Practice (IIBLP), a partner of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB).

The Annual Survey is the premier LC event of the year. It is the only truly global forum dedicated to LC. The Annual Survey offers an unsurpassed networking opportunity by placing you face-to-face with over 100 of the leading LC professionals from banks, law firms, corporations and universities throughout the world.

Current problems and issues are openly aired in a direct exchange between industry leaders, offering analysis and educational opportunities through this intimate format.

For more information or to register, please click here.

USCIB Cautions Against WHO Motion to Ban Chemicals

Published on February 27, 2015

chemicals_globe_lo-resThe World Health Organization recently urged the United Nations Commission on Narcotic drugs to ban two chemical substances commonly found in electronics, telecommunications and other products following findings that these substances can be used for illicit purposes.

USCIB and its membership appreciate the WHO’s concern regarding the misuse of these two chemicals, 1,4-butanedio (BDO) and gamma-butyrolactone (GBL). However, in a submission last week to the Federal Register Notice to help inform the U.S. government on the issue, USCIB urged the FDA to consider the potential adverse economic impact of banning the use or restricting the manufacturing of those substances.

“GBL and BDO are high-volume industrial chemicals with multiple uses that touch nearly every part of the economy,” USCIB wrote in a statement. “The chemical industry takes significant steps to educate its customers and coordinate with regulators and law enforcement authorities to help prevent diversion and misuse of its products.”

Furthermore, the industries that manufacture and use BDO and GBL have adopted product stewardship programs that supplement the requirements of existing laws.

Banning these substances entirely would hurt a wide range of U.S. industries. Given the critical importance of GBL and BDO to the U.S. economy, the product stewardship programs that are in place to help prevent the misuses of these substances and the potentially devastating impacts of listing under the Psychotropic Convention, USCIB urges the U.S. Government to oppose listing these chemicals under the Convention.

 

B20 Leaders Call for Action on Trade and Infrastructure

Published on February 27, 2015

g20Representatives from USCIB’s global network participated in B20 policy consultations and called for greater emphasis on reducing trade barriers and improving conditions for infrastructure investment, particularly in the energy sector.

CEOs from the International Chamber of Commerce G20 Advisory Group attended the Saudi Arabia Regional Consultation Forum on February 26 in Jeddah, organized by B20 Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu. This event was the first of 11 meetings set to take place this year to gauge business priorities to be fed into the B20 policy recommendations made to the Turkish G20.

“Trade must be put at the top of the G20/B20 agenda,” said Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan. “We must find ways to grow global trade to deliver economic growth and employment.”

And in Antalya, Turkey, International Organization of Employers President Daniel Funes de Rioja, said that the B20 is fully committed to contributing to the success of the Turkish G20 presidency. He noted that the discussions to take place during the upcoming 2015 International Labor Conference will focus on Informality and SMEs, areas of concern that are shared by the G20 employment process.

The 2015 G20 Leaders’ Summit will be held in Antalya on November 15-16.