News

June 20, 2018

Key takeaway from the Andean Community Sustainable Trade workshop

The 2-day intensive workshop held in Lima, Peru between 5th-6th June 2018, on ‘Sustainable Trade between Peru and the EU‘ was organized at the request of the Andean Community to support mainly the Peruvian SMEs exporters and policy makers to be able to gain deeper knowledge and the potentiality of accessing the lucrative European Sustainable Development’s “Green” market. Details and agenda of the workshop can be found here. There were over 50 participants at the workshop, of which the majority of

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June 5, 2018

UNIDO – SECO Event | 20 June 2018: Good Governance In Developing Modern Quality Infrastructure Systems

To integrate successfully in the global trading system, countries need to comply with international quality requirements for goods and services. Quality Infrastructure (QI) helps domestic and global producers and consumers fulfil their mutual quality goals. It also stimulates industrial development, trade competitiveness, innovation and efficient use of resources, while ensuring protection of the environment. In the framework of UNIDO’s trade capacity-building activities, a side event will be held on setting the good governance foundations for a modern quality infrastructure system for

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May 25, 2018

Andean Community Sustainable Trade Workshop in Lima, Peru on 5-6 June 2018

In recent years, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) had an increasing influence over export opportunities for developing countries to access the international markets. The fast-changing landscape matters to everyone: consumers, buyers, traders, producers, and policymakers, given its pertinence in the global trends, market access conditions and the standards used at all levels of the supply chains. In 2016, Andean Community exports to the EU reached US $13,718 million, with agri-food products exports representing 43% between these two partners, making EU the

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December 15, 2017

Mexico Towards Sustainable Development Workshop 2017

Ministry of Economy, Mexico DF, DECEMBER 14-15 2017 The aim is to gather state representatives, coalitions of non-governmental actors, industry and academia to discuss the actual context of Mexico´s Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and have a dialogue around ‘How can sustainability standards take better account of the special needs of developing countries?’ This workshop is organized by the Dirección General de Normas, Secretaria de Economia, México and the German Development Institute (DIE). The workshop will have several conferences from experts, from the

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October 31, 2017

Outcome Report of the Expert Meeting on VSS, Market Access and Trade-Led Sustainable Development

The VSS discussions on September 27 had a twofold objective viz., to, firstly, have a policy discussion on the need for global governance in dealing with the multiplicity of VSS and harnessing them as tools to achieve sustainable growth through trade in producing countries; and, secondly, the emergence of multi-stakeholder approach at the national level in the form of national VSS platforms in several emerging countries and sharing the lessons learn in holistically discussing strategic approaches to VSS.

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October 2, 2017

Targeting Training in Jiangsu helps Textile Companies Improve Sustainability Along Value Chains

12-13 September 2017, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China — The Environment and Trade Hub, under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), and in collaboration with the Research Institute for Global Value Chains, International Trade Centre (ITC) and Suzhou Bureau of Commerce, organized a two-day training in Suzhou, on Sustainable Textile Trade and Global Value Chains. Final PAGE Textile Training Agenda The training targeted local textile producers and exporters, as well

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September 8, 2017

VSS, Market Access, and Trade-led Sustainable Development, 27 September 2017, Palais des Nations

Expert meeting organized by UNCTAD, with the supported of the United Nations Forum on Sustainable Standards (UNFSS) and the German Development Institute (DIE), on 27 September 2017, at Room XXV, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland. Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) may be catalytic to achieve win-win-win outcomes for trade-induced economic growth, environmental sustainability and social development. However, small producers and businesses in developing countries and theirs government are not always technically, financially or institutionally capable to reap the developmental benefits arising out

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July 6, 2017

Training on Sustainable Trade & Resource Efficiency in Supply Chains in the People’s Republic of China

The International Trade Centre (ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in collaboration with the China Association for Standardization (CAS) and the Qingdao Institute of Standardization, organized a two day training workshop (29-30 September, 2017) for experts and practitioners from private and public organizations, to learn about a portfolio of market analysis tools to increase resource efficiency and sustainability in supply chains. The training delivered expertise to companies that wish to develop their business operations and

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June 22, 2017

Launch of the China Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) National Platform, Qingdao, China on June 27 2017

  The Government of China, with the support of UN Forum on Sustainability Standards (UNFSS), will launch its National Multi-Stakeholders Platform on Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) on June 27, 2017. This event is taking place as the Sub-Forum 1 of the 2017 Qingdao Forum on International Standards. The ceremony will be led by  Mr. Tian Shihong, Administrator,  Standardization Administration of China (SAC), Mr. Liu Yuhua, Director-General, International Trade,  Mininstry of Commerce (MOFCOM), Mr. Ji Zhengkun, President, China Association of Standardization (CAS) and

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