Trade and Markets

Remaining agile in a dynamic marketplace The Internet offers fishermen and retail shops ways to sell their catches that were unheard of a decade ago. Young (and older) consumers have quickly understood the benefits of online shopping, and vendors must keep pace with the latest, continually changing developments.  Sellers enjoy superior visibility, allowing smaller concerns to compete with larger businesses, with 24/7 exposure to a wider national, even global, audience. They also benefit from enhanced business management. By tracking data about customer purchases, sellers learn their customers’ preferences and are able to target those groups with specific offers. An Internet presence allows businesses to remain agile in a dynamic marketplace. Two businesses, while maintaining their physical stores in Vigo, Spain, have embraced the new technology. La Pescadería de mi Barrio (My Neighbourhood Fishmonger) is a business-to-business (B2B) concern. Delmaralplato is both B2B and business to customer, selling to restaurants and consumers.

GlobalG.A.P. is one of the world’s most important certification standards for food safety. Initially, it acted as a business-to-business standard,…

Deal to reduce consumer prices and boost trade On 21 September 2017, the long-awaited free trade agreement between the EU and Canada, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement which the EU Parliament approved on 15 February 2017, provisionally came into force after more than eight years of arduous, detailed negotiations. The EU-Canada trade agreement CETA, as it is known, eliminates virtually all tariffs on imports between the two economies, harmonizes and reduces trade regulations and related structural barriers, and provides a mechanism to resolve disputes concerning, trade, investment, and other economic matters. The provisional nature of CETA means that certain parts have not yet been completely agreed; these parts relate to investment protection and the Investment Court System. The rest of the agreement, including tariff reduction and removal, has entered into force.

Finding the right niche for cold water prawns  Organized by NASF,…