The Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA), in force since 2015, has by now become a familiar fixture in the compliance landscape of Canada’s mining, oil, and gas industries. But if the legislation’s first years were marked by firms simply finding their feet with its basic requirements, 2020 brought a noticeable shift in both tone […]
There’s a tendency, even among seasoned economists, to treat ISIC codes as though they exist in a vacuum—neatly separating sectors, sorting economic activity into convenient boxes. But in reality, the landscape of industry is far more layered. Businesses come in all shapes and sizes, wrapped in a range of legal structures that, if we’re honest, […]
The International Trade Council announces that the European Union has formally adjusted its trade relationship with Cambodia, moving away from its preferential trade programme, the Everything but Arms (EBA) agreement. The decision, resulting from Cambodia’s persisting systemic human rights violations, reinstates custom duties on a significant proportion of Cambodia’s exports to the EU. Under the […]
Foreign direct investment (FDI) is fiercely competitive. Every country wants its share of new factories, technology parks, or corporate headquarters. Yet success rarely comes from simply lowering taxes or launching glossy ad campaigns. Instead, the most effective investment promotion agencies (IPAs) have learned to speak the language of both global investors and local economic realities. […]
The shock of early 2020 hit the restaurant industry with a speed and force that left analysts scrambling for answers almost as fast as owners scrambled to survive. Streets that once buzzed with activity fell silent. Headlines told part of the story, but policymakers and researchers needed something firmer than anecdotes: actual numbers, mapped in […]
The U.K. Environment Bill’s interruption in 2019 left many manufacturers and policymakers in a curious state of limbo. When the Bill was prorogued in September of that year, expectations had already been set. Draft texts, consultations, and government statements had outlined what was to come. The broad strokes of the anticipated waste and resource-efficiency provisions […]
The International Trade Council (ITC) is concerned by the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to strike down the EU-US Privacy Shield, which governed the transfer of EU citizens’ data to the United States. The ITC recognizes the potential negative consequences of this decision on transatlantic trade worth $7.1 trillion ( £5.6tn), and […]
When Canada’s federal government launched its consultation on the proposed Modern Slavery Act in January 2020, few expected the volume—or the complexity—of feedback that would pour in from corporate actors, industry groups, and civil society. The submissions portal, opened with the goal of soliciting practical views on due-diligence thresholds and reporting requirements, quickly became a […]
The June 2020 adoption of the EU Taxonomy Delegated Acts marked a subtle but decisive shift in how biodiversity considerations are expected to integrate into supply-chain management across sectors. For many agribusinesses in particular, this new regulatory architecture introduces complexities that go beyond carbon footprints or energy efficiency metrics. The biodiversity objective now requires firms […]
The imposition of Section 301 Phase 3 tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports, which took effect in September 2019, triggered what can only be described as one of the most dramatic—and, in some cases, hasty—supply chain reconfigurations in recent history. Electronics manufacturers and apparel brands, already grappling with thin margins and competitive pressures, […]
The arrival of the pandemic in early 2020 didn’t just clear the streets; it emptied classrooms. For weeks and months, pre-primary and primary schools that had been reliable anchors for families suddenly became symbols of disruption. To understand the scale—and the unevenness—of these educational shocks, policymakers and researchers leaned on more than headlines or ministry […]
The International Trade Council (ITC) welcomes the start of post-Brexit trade talks between the United Kingdom and Japan, which are set to begin on Tuesday. The negotiations aim to reach agreement on a new trade deal to replace the current agreement Britain has with Japan through the European Union. Without a new deal by […]
When the U.S. Task Force on Supply Chain Resilience released its initial report in June 2020, just a few months after its hurried formation in February of that year, the urgency of its mandate was clear. The pandemic had exposed painful gaps in the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, and while the […]
With the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation set to take effect on January 1, 2021, the preparatory period leading up to that date became a critical phase for electronics original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and their supply-chain compliance teams. This was not the first time manufacturers had faced such regulatory obligations, of course, but the EU’s approach—with […]
In the wake of the pandemic, questions about where—and how—healthcare money is spent became urgent. It wasn’t just a matter of how much funding was available, but how well budgets translated into real care. For policymakers and analysts, ISIC codes once again provided a structured window into the tangle of public and private healthcare spending, […]
The launch of the U.K. Slavery and Human Trafficking (SHT) Transparency Register in April 2020 marked a new phase in the country’s efforts to promote corporate accountability in addressing modern slavery risks. For many retailers and manufacturers, this development was long anticipated, but the reality of interacting with a live, public-facing portal brought with it […]