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Members area

International Trade

In addition to the WTO's multilateral negotiations, the EU concludes bilateral agreements with third countries and regional areas. These cover not only reduction of tariffs and trade barriers, but also foreign direct investments and establishment of retail services in emerging markets. The FTA closely follows the relevant ongoing negotiations to inform our members of the commercial opportunities these could bring. We also provide the European Commision with input on the priorities of the European retailers and importers.

REACH is a European regulation on chemicals having a major impact on international trade: it concerns the vast majority of consumer goods, and imposes obligations on retailers and importers. We advise our member on this complex regulation and organize regular seminars for improving understanding and disseminating best practices.
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Customs

A fast customs clearing is essential for the functioning of international trade. FTA helps its members to find the right way across the customs jungle. The classification of goods, the determination of the correct customs value, the application of the various rules of origin, pre-declarations for imports, complex import procedures, granting the status of an authorized economic operator etc. - there is no field of customs FTA does not deal with. By continual lobbying vi-à-vis the European Commision FTA has achieved that the modernized customs code which will come into force in June 2013 at the latest, will be easier to apply than the present regulation.

Anti-dumping

Many of our members, and their customers, rely on imports from countries such as China. Therefore they are adversely affected when, following an investigation by the European Commission, anti-dumping measures (duties) are imposed on those imports. We deal intimately with individual investigations by representing our members in the course of those investigations, providing advice and progress reports, and lobbying the Commission and EU Member States; all in an effort to prevent punitive duties being imposed. As a result, we are well-known by officials responsible for anti-dumping at the Commission and in Member States thanks to our continued close contact with those institutions. Finally, but by no means least, we continue to campaign to have the current anti-dumping system improved and up-dated. Useful Resources: