The report forecasts global economic growth to 2.6% in 2024, barely above the 2.5% threshold commonly associated with a recessionary phase. The report says the prevailing focus on inflation overshadows urgent issues like trade disruptions, climate change and rising inequalities. It advocates for structural reforms and coordinated global efforts, proposing …
In accordance with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision for augmenting people’s participation and transparency in the governance, Ministry of Shipping has issued the draft of Coastal Shipping Bill, 2020 for suggestions from the stakeholders and general public. As the shipping sector grows and evolves in the country, a need …
Millions of used cars, vans and minibuses exported from Europe, the United States and Japan to the developing world are of poor quality, contributing significantly to air pollution and hindering efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The …
Agri-food production remains vital to the economies in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Food systems are rapidly changing and are driven by income growth, (urban) population growth, shifts in dietary preferences, and agricultural productivity growth. Food systems are also under threat from disrupters like climate change and distorting policies …
Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region, the center of gravity …
The high prevalence of aflatoxins in maize and other staple foods in the EAC has become an important obstacle to domestic and regional food trade. While EAC Member States have made good progress in promulgating regionally harmonized standards that include mandatory upper limits on aflatoxins, the high cost and complexity …
An Act to provide for the creation of an ecosystem where the farmers and traders enjoy the freedom of choice relating to sale and purchase of farmers’ produce which facilitates remunerative prices through competitive alternative trading channels; to promote efficient, transparent and barrier-free inter-State and intra-State trade and commerce of …
The publication titled, ‘Trade and Development Report 2020: From Global Pandemic to Prosperity for All: Avoiding Another Lost Decade,’ finds that the global economy will contract by over 4%, trade will shrink by approximately one-fifth, foreign direct investment will contract up to 40%, and remittances will decrease by over USD …
This report is the third in the “Trade Finance in Africa” research series. It uses a standardized survey of commercial banks to provide a comprehensive study of the trade finance landscape in Africa for the nine years leading up to 2019. The aim is to provide data that set a …
With trade recognized as a means of implementation under Agenda 2030, policy-makers will need to ensure that trade, and policies affecting trade and markets, are taken into consideration as part of their efforts to achieve SDG 2. The five targets that set out the level and ambition of SDG 2 …
Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of Amit Jain Vs Union of India & Others dated 10/09/2020. The issue for consideration was the remedial action against cheap waste paper and the road sweep waste import for firing of brick kilns. According to the applicant, 900,000 tons of …
The 2020 Africa Agriculture Trade Monitor, the third in this series of flagship reports, presents an overview of trade in agriculture products in Africa and highlights the main impediments that affect intra- and extra-African trade. This year’s report includes chapters focusing on intra-Africa trade integration for agricultural products, including the …
International trade in goods is expected to continue its nosedive in the coming months as economies struggle to recover from lockdown measures used to slow the COVID-19 outbreak. New UNCTAD data published on 11 June show that merchandise trade fell by 5% in the first quarter of the year and …
In 2019 and the early months of 2020, global trade faced two major albeit very different shocks, namely the United States-China trade war and the cascading response of the countries around the world to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the former situation involved a pair of centrally-placed trading partners introducing tariffs …
As countries adopt radical measures to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control, international trade and transport systems are under tremendous stress. Early evidence shows that international trade is collapsing, threatening access to goods and critical supplies. In response, a new UNCTAD policy brief outlines a ten-point action plan to help …
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought considerable attention to trade in medical products, and specifically trade in products for prevention, testing and treatment.
The recent outbreak of COVID-19 has brought the link between zoonotic diseases – those transmitted from animals to humans – and wildlife markets into sharp focus. An online survey conducted by GlobeScan in March among 5,000 participants from Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam found that 82 per …
As governments and businesses grapple with the effects of COVID-19, other global challenges remain. Once the immediate crisis abates, countries must intensify environmental action to tackle climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, even while restarting their economies. Trade policy has a vital role to play. This briefing paper by the …
It is claimed that the world food supplies are more stable than the domestic supplies, and therefore free trade should achieve a higher degree of stability in prices and consumption than autarkic policies. The risk sharing implicit in such an argument, has, however never been formally examined. In this paper, …
The global economy has suffered a significant slowdown amid prolonged trade disputes and wide-ranging policy uncertainties. While a slight uptick in economic activity is forecast for 2020, the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2020 warns that economic risks remain strongly tilted to the downside, aggravated by deepening political polarization and …
Escalating environmental degradation and the risk of climate change are attracting growing attention from both policy makers and the public. For Asian countries, decades of remarkable economic growth have had mixed results in terms of environmental implications. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of various aspects of the environment and …
