Policy Areas Archives

News Brief: The Costs of Counterfeiting

Published on February 4, 2011

A new ICC report predicts the cost of intellectual property rights abuses worldwide will reach $1.7 trillion by 2015 and put 2.5 million legitimate jobs at risk each year.  Launched at the 6th Global Congress on Combating Counterfeiting and Piracy, which took place in Paris in early February, the ICC report updates a groundbreaking 2008 OECD study that showed more than $250 billion in counterfeit and pirated goods move through international trade alone.  The revealing ICC study not only brings the estimates up to date but also examines additional impacts not quantified in the OECD report.  These include the value of domestically produced and consumed counterfeit products, the value of digital piracy, and the negative impacts on society, governments and consumers.

Staff contact: Caitlin Martin

More on ICC’s BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and Piracy) initiative

Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database Launch

Published on January 31, 2011

The business community moves forward with initiative to make trade information in the Asia-Pacific region more widely available.

Washington, D.C., January 31, 2011 –The National Center for APEC (NCAPEC) and the United States Council for International Business (USCIB) are pleased to announce the official launch of the pilot phase of the Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database.The Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database provides business in the Asia-Pacific region with a tool to make cost-saving sourcing decisions based on up-to-date tariff information.

“This database will save Levi Strauss & Co. time and money by organizing information from many of our key trading partners in an easily searchable manner.  Access to accurate and up-to-date information allows us to remain competitive in the global business economy,” noted Laurie Goldman, senior manager of worldwide government affairs and public policy with Levi Strauss & Co.

In 2009 APEC economies agreed to make their customs and tariff information more transparent and available to the public. Members of the business community expressed interest in taking that important progress one step further by creating a robust trade database that would be fully searchable based on Harmonized System classification numbers.

This long-term initiative supported by NCAPEC and USCIB, aims to draw attention to the lack of publicly available information on tariffs and preferential rules of origin which have made it difficult for companies to take full advantage of the many free trade agreements negotiated in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The APEC economies account for 58 percent of all U.S. exports, while our direct investment in the region totals some $820 billion,” said USCIB Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg.  “As we seek to increase our competitiveness, create good-paying jobs at home and achieve President Obama’s goal of doubling U.S. exports within five years, companies will need access to new sources of information and market intelligence. This database is an important step in that direction.”

The pilot phase of the Asia-Pacific-wide tariff database is expected to test the concept of the database and obtain feedback and input from participating companies including 3M, Levi Strauss & Co. and Pfizer. The pilot will be active for a period of about six months and is expected to fully launch during the U.S. hosting of APEC in 2011.

“The Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database will improve customs transparency, support export growth and make it easier for companies large and small to do business in the Asia-Pacific region.  It is a concrete example of the work being done in APEC to facilitate trade and to advance economic integration in this dynamic part of the world,” stated Monica Whaley, president of the National Center for APEC.

Integration Point, a global trade compliance solution provider, supplies the platform powering the Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database. As part of the platform, the Integration Point Global Trade Content team maintains up-to-date tariff information such as applied tariff rates, rules of origin, preferential trade treatment and scheduled future tariff rates among other vital sourcing information.

If your company has interest in learning more about how to participate in the pilot phase of the Asia-Pacific Interactive Tariff Database, please contact the following staff at NCAPEC and/or USCIB:

Contacts:

Robert Fiddick, NCAPEC, Program Associate
206-441-9022 or rfiddick@ncapec.org

Justine Badimon, USCIB, Manager, Asia-Pacific, China and EU Affairs
212-703-5062 or jbadimon@uscib.org

 

About NCAPEC
NCAPEC is the only U.S. business association focused exclusively on facilitating American private sector input into the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) process. The National Center functions as a conduit for U.S. businesses into APEC by serving as the Secretariat for the three U.S. executives who are appointed members of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC).

About USCIB
USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and prudent regulation.  Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms.  With a global network encompassing leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide.

About Integration Point
A leading provider of global trade compliance solutions, Integration Point assists international companies by providing import and export visibility globally, delivering up-to-date global regulatory information and facilitating connectivity to supply chain partners and government agencies around the globe.

www.IntegrationPoint.com or 704-576-3678.

BIAC Hosts International Green Economy Dialogue Conference

Published on January 10, 2011
BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami (second from right) and USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (far right) at the Paris Green Economies Dialogue.
BIAC Secretary General Tadahiro Asami (second from right) and USCIB’s Norine Kennedy (far right) at the Paris Green Economies Dialogue.

On November 14, BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, part of USCIB’s global network, welcomed nearly 100 experts from business, governments, OECD, UNEP and key academics to an International Business Green Economies Dialogue conference at the OECD headquarters.

The Paris conference was organized as the second part of a business-led series of discussions in North America, Europe, Asia and South America, in the run-up to the Rio+20 Earth Summit this June. The first conference took place in Washington in October, and two further conferences will be organized during the first half of 2012, one in Japan and one in Brazil, with the active participation of BIAC.

OECD Environment Ministerial to Contribute to Rio+20 Conference

On March 29-30, 2012 OECD environment ministers will discuss the outcome of the OECD Green Growth Strategy by supporting national and international efforts to achieve green growth. Environment ministers will be looking at what green growth means for environmental policy making.

A key part of the meeting will discuss how the Green Growth Strategy can be used by countries with different resource endowments, environmental pressures and states of development. As the OECD Environment Ministerial will take place ahead of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in June, the OECD Ministerial will present an excellent opportunity for ministers to make a positive contribution to Rio+20.

The new OECD Environmental Outlook to 2050 will be an important input to the ministerial meeting, to which BIAC has actively contributed. BIAC participated in the Global Forum on the Environmental Outlook and submitted comments on four areas identified including climate change, biodiversity, water and the health impacts of pollution, highlighting key business considerations and the proactive contribution that business can make to address these challenges.

BIAC will play an active role at the March 2012 Environment Ministerial and provide direct business input to the discussions.

The Green Economy Dialogue project launched by USCIB, the United States Council Foundation (USCF) and BIAC with support from a range of sponsors and partners, aims to promote a productive approach to greener growth, intending to increase dialogue with governments in the run-up to Rio+20 and to share business views. In addition, the project involves commissioning a number of peer-reviewed, academic papers on various aspects of green growth and green economy to inform the debate leading up to Rio+20 and going forward after the event.

The Paris conference focused on green growth carried out by the OECD including specific sessions on green growth for development and job creation, policy instruments, energy and resource efficiency. Sessions included presentations of key academics, followed by reactions from experts from business, national governments and international organizations. It was highlighted that green growth policies should help maximize growth across the economy, with necessary investments to progress it further.

Many governments highlighted the importance of flexible bottom-up approaches and partnerships as a way forward.

Staff Contact: Norine Kennedy

More on USCIB’s Environment Committee

Implementation of the Updated OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Published on January 9, 2011

4223_image002With the 2011 update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, an important instrument for corporate responsibility has been strengthened with input from the business community via BIAC, the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD, part of USCIB’s global network.

The Guidelines are the most comprehensive non-binding code of responsible business conduct, and cover the areas of disclosure, human rights, employment and industrial relations, environment, bribery, consumer interest, science and technology, competition and taxation. The success of the update will depend on shifting the Guidelines process away from an almost exclusive focus on its complaint mechanism to a more solution-oriented approach modeled on multi-stakeholder initiatives.

The Confederation of German Employers and the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers, both BIAC members, developed a brochure in order to familiarize enterprises with the Guidelines’ recommendations and the National Contact Point procedure.

The brochure addresses major issues, including due diligence and avoiding adverse impacts, in Q&A format and can be downloaded from the BIAC website at www.biac.org/mne_guidelines.htm.

The German and Dutch federations also co-organized and hosted a Conference on Responsible Business Conduct in a Global Context in The Hague on December 12, 2011. The conference focused on two significant developments in the field of corporate responsibility, namely the OECD MNE Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The success of the Guidelines will also depend on their ability to contribute to a global level playing field for business. BIAC and USCIB will continue to urge OECD to undertake determined efforts to encourage emerging markets to adhere to the Guidelines.

Staff Contact: Adam Greene

State Department Flyer: OECD MNE Guidelines and U.S. National Contact Point

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

Global Challenges Face Consumer Products Manufacturers

Published on December 15, 2010

Helen Medina, USCIB’s director of life sciences and product policy, participated in the Consumer Specialty Products Association 7th Annual International Affairs Conference — Global Challenges, Trends and Outlook, December 4 and 5 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The CSPA program covered three areas: a downstream user’s perspective on compliance with the European Union’s REACH program to regulate use of chemicals; new regional product stewardship and trade developments impacting market access in Latin America; and developments at the global level.

The later topic area covered multilateral discussions of the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals, environmental and product sustainability, and consumer product safety.  It included an in-depth panel discussion featuring Ms. Medina on global product strategy and product stewardship in the consumer products industry, and throughout the production chain.

Ms. Medina’s presentation demonstrated how international high-level discussions can impact chemical companies.  Chemicals – and more specifically chemicals in products, and how they can impact human health and the environment – are high on the international agenda, she said.  Although international negotiations may take years to conclude, eventually the outcomes of the talks make their way into national law and regulation.

Consumers, governments and NGOs are increasingly vigilant in requesting that companies disclose information concerning formulations, ingredients and chemicals used in products, Ms. Medina said.  She cited the UN’s SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management) as just one of many ongoing discussions related to chemicals and emphasized the importance of becoming involved in the UN’s preparations for the Rio+ 20 conference, which takes place in 2012 and will mark the 20th anniversary of the watershed 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

The main themes of Rio + 20, said Ms. Medina, are the green economy and governance for sustainable development, both of which will undoubtedly touch upon how chemicals are managed. These discussions are extremely important because the conference’s expected final document will most likely be a political one, while possible outcomes range from potential treaty negotiating mandates to institutional changes to promote greater scrutiny of chemicals worldwide.  Additional expectations for business and other non-government actors are a given, she said.

The panel was moderated by John Phillips of Cardno ENTRIX.  Other panelists included Greg Skelton of the American Chemistry Council and Patricia Barone of Unilever.

Staff contact: Helen Medina

More on USCIB’s Product Policy Working Group

EU Audit Policy Proposals Stir Concern

Published on December 15, 2010

In a move that will have a broad impact on companies operating globally, the European Commission recently published a Green Paper on “Audit Policy: Lessons from the Crisis,” launching a consultation process which could lead to new European legislation on statutory audit and related matters in 2011-2012.  The Commission explicitly stated its intention to assume international leadership on these matters in the context of the G20.

The Commission’s proposals, if enacted into law, would affect not only European-based companies, but also U.S. companies with investments in Europe.  U.S. subsidiaries subject to statutory audit requirements in Europe would be directly affected, and US parent companies would be affected by the indirect impacts on the audit of consolidated financial statements.

The Green Paper is important because it suggests, among other things, audit policy changes and related actions that could:

  • Disenfranchise audit committees of the board and shareholders with respect to the appointment, oversight and remuneration of external auditors and the provision of non-audit services;
  • Impose new costs and increased audit complexity on companies by requiring mandatory rotation of audit firms and/or mandatory retendering of the audit on a fixed schedule;
  • Impose new corporate reporting, communication and audit requirements in areas such as social and environmental responsibility;
  • Expand communications between the auditor and the audit committee of the Board, as well as external stakeholders;
  • Address issues of competition and choice in the audit market; and
  • Substitute regulation for management and market-based decision-making.

This month, USCIB submitted comments on the Green Paper.  We have also addressed some of these issues through our work on corporate governance, capital markets and investment in BIAC and ICC.  While new legislation may be inevitable, it is important that business work at these early stages in the EU’s process to help assure that the outcome is cost-effective, protects shareholder rights, preserves audit quality, and does not unduly burden international companies.

Staff contacts: Justine Bareford-Badimon and Stephen Canner

USCIB comments on the EU Green Paper on Audit Policy

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

More on USCIB’s European Union Committee

Whither the Alien Tort Statute

Published on November 12, 2010

4020_image001USCIB Senior Advisor Timothy Deal participated in a panel discussion on November 10 organized by the DC Bar Association in Washington on “Whither the Alien Tort Statute?”

The ATS, adopted in 1789, gives federal courts civil jurisdiction over non-U.S. citizens for acts in violation of “the law of nations” or a U.S. treaty, such as piracy or attacks on ambassadors.  Since 1980, a number of suits brought by foreign plaintiffs against foreign governments and multinational corporations have stretched the interpretation of the statute and the meaning of “the law of nations” to include human rights abuses and anti-union violence, among other things.

The meeting followed a recent ruling by a U.S. Second Circuit panel in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum that the ATS gives U.S. courts jurisdictions over alleged violations of international law by individuals, but not by corporations.  Joining Mr. Deal on the panel were: John Bellinger, a partner at Arnold & Porter and the former State Department legal advisor; Terry Collingsworth, a partner at Conrad & Scherer; and Professor Ralph Steinhardt of the George Washington University Law Center.  Professor Edward Swaine, also from the GWU Law Center, moderated the discussion.

In his prepared remarks, Mr. Deal outlined continued U.S. business community concerns over the proliferation of ATS lawsuits, which principally target U.S. multinationals.  According to Mr. Deal, a major problem with the legislation is that global companies often “find themselves entangled in litigation brought by non-U.S. plaintiffs alleging wrongs committed outside the U.S., not by companies, but by the plaintiffs’ own government or agents of those governments, over which they have no control.”  He noted that ATS suits increase the risk, uncertainty, and cost of overseas operations and investments.  They can also “expose American companies to costly and protracted smear campaigns.”

While the panelists debated the pros and cons of ATS litigation from varying points of view, all agreed that the Second Circuit’s decision could ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court, given the importance of the issues addressed and differing views among lower courts throughout the nation about the appropriateness of ATS lawsuits against corporations.

To read Mr. Deal’s remarks in full, click here.

More on USCIB’s Corporate Responsibility Committee

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee

 

USCIB Contributes to ICANN Leadership Selections

Published on September 9, 2010
ICANN manages the Internet’s domain name system
ICANN manages the Internet’s domain name system

Since its creation, the multi-stakeholder Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which oversees the Internet domain name system, or DNS, has forged close links with private sector groups including USCIB.  This partnership has most recently included our participation in the nominating committee for new ICANN board members and other leadership positions.

The NomCom, as it is known, has announced its selection of seven new appointees.  These include three new ICANN board members: Cherine Chalaby of Egypt, currently chairman of Rasmala Investment Bank and former managing partner with Accenture; Bertrand de la Chapelle of France, currently special envoy for the information society in the French Foreign Ministry; and Erika Mann of Germany, executive vice president with the Computer and Communications Industry Association and a former European parliamentarian.

“These new leaders bring strong board governance, and international business and political experience, to ICANN’s leadership at an important time in ICANN’s evolution,” according to Chris Martin, USCIB’s manager for DNS policy, who served on the 2010 NomCom.

ICANN faces a number of challenges, according to Mr. Martin.  “It must wisely develop and implement important current initiatives, such as the potential rollout of new top-level domains like .eco or .music,” he observed.  “More broadly, the private sector-led and multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance embodied by organizations like ICANN is facing renewed pressure from some stakeholders, who seek to increase government involvement.”

Mr. Martin expressed confidence that the new leaders appreciate the important role that ICANN plays, and can help it successfully navigate these challenges not only as strategic decision-makers within the organization, but also as advocates for ICANN’s private-sector model and its central role in coordinating the Internet’s DNS.

The NomCom is charged with ensuring that ICANN’s leadership is diverse in geography, culture, skills, experience and perspective.  It evaluated over 80 candidates in the last round.  View the full announcement and list of selections by clicking here.

Staff contact: Barbara Wanner

ICANN website

More on USCIB’s Information, Communications and Technology Committee

USCIB Members Meet With EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner

Published on September 9, 2010
L-R: Peter Schwaiger of the EU Delegation to the United Nations, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, and Brian Fix, Chair of USCIB’s European Union Committee.
L-R: Peter Schwaiger of the EU Delegation to the United Nations, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn, and Brian Fix, Chair of USCIB’s European Union Committee.

On August 24 in New York, USCIB held a business roundtable with European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn at the EU Delegation to the United Nations. The discussion offered members a unique perspective on how Europe is overcoming the economic crisis, and the outlook going forward.

Brian Fix (Salans LLP), chair of USCIB’s European Union Committee, introduced Commissioner Rehn and highlighted some of the issues that USCIB member companies are focusing on in the EU economic policy area.

Commissioner Rehn said the EU’s recovery is occurring at an uneven pace, with Germany leading the pack, and expressed optimism for future growth.  He outlined how the European Union has strived to reinforce fiscal confidence and contain further instability in the eurozone, praising the efforts of many EU members to impose harsh short-term monetary measures so as to achieve long-term stability.  He also discussed the European Union’s legislative work on financial reform, with proposals expected by the end of September.

Commissioner Rehn emphasized the EU’s need to vigilantly maintain its “fire-fighting” abilities, while acknowledging that it is now “time for the architects to step in.”

USCIB members raised topics ranging from influencing exchange rates and the weakening of the euro, requirements for new member states under new economic models in the wake of the Greek debt crisis, EU enlargement policies, and stability in the eurozone with the European Financial Stability Facility.

The same day as the USCIB briefing, Commissioner Rehn published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal on the state of the Greek economy.

More on USCIB’s European Union Committee

New Study Demonstrates Trades Positive Impact on US Jobs

Published on July 22, 2010

The Business Roundtable has released an update of a study from Trade Partnership Worldwide, LLC, entitled “Trade and American Jobs.”  Coupled with a recently revised study published by USCIB and the Roundtable on the positive net employment and other economic effects of outbound investment by U.S. firms, this newly revised report helps convincingly demonstrate how international economic engagement provides major benefits for the U.S. economy.

The BRT study’s major findings are:

  • U.S. trade continues to expand, and with it, domestic employment.  More than 38 million U.S. jobs depend on trade.  That means that more than one in every five jobs is linked to exports and/or imports of goods and services.
  • Service-sector jobs figure prominently among trade-dependent jobs in the United States.  In addition, contrary to popular belief, the net impact of trade on the overall number of U.S. manufacturing jobs is positive.
  • Trade-dependent jobs have grown at a faster pace than U.S. employment as a whole.

Click here to download the study.

Staff contact: Stephen Canner

More on USCIB’s Trade and Investment Committee