The EU has an extensive dual-use industry that brings together thousands of small, medium, and large-sized companies that provide highly valued jobs and know-how, including significant R&D work. According to the European Commission, dual-use items are often high-tech products and have ramifications across a wide range of key sectors of the EU economy; they include leading edge technologies that are crucial to the EU's drive towards innovation and competitiveness. In 2014, the total value of controlled dual-use exports reached EUR 59 billion, representing 3.4% of total EU exports to third countries. Few exports were actually denied, representing a negligible portion of total EU exports.

The field of global trade compliance requires a combination of centralized reporting and distributed execution. This allows organizations to benefit from unified policies, control, and measurement while maintaining agility to implement compliance activities and processes that vary greatly across different geographies and product domains. 

Last month, Amber Road’s Global Trade Academy broadcasted a webinar WCO 2017 HS Changes: Is your Company Prepared? Our presenters, Kristine Bols, Director of Global Trade Content at Amber Road and Suzanne Richer, Director of Amber Road’s Trade Advisory Practice, received several questions throughout the webinar. Unfortunately they did not have time to address them all during the live broadcast. We have compiled their answers into a Q&A document - here is a preview:

As you have heard by now, the British public voted in favor of Brexit. Of the British electorate, 51.9% casted their vote in favor of Brexit, with a higher-than-expected overall turnout of 72.2%.

So what does this mean for the future of the UK, EU and global trade?

The World Customs Organization (WCO) has announced significant updates to the Harmonized System (HS), which will go into effect in 2017. These changes could have a major impact on your company’s global trade processes and international supply chain. Are you prepared?

A majority of executives are not investing in trade compliance training, despite potential fines, substantial penalties, and jail time, according to survey results released today from Amber Road's Global Trade Academy.

The survey of 300 U.S.-based global companies across a range of revenues and industries found that 56 percent of executives at the companies surveyed are not investing in trade compliance training, even though 28 percent of those companies had already been fined or warned by government agencies for noncompliance.

And while the vast majority (73 percent) have a stated trade compliance plan, 46 percent of surveyed companies didn’t require any training for employees and 28 percent require less than 11 hours of training – leaving a gap between having a plan and the ability to act on it. Furthermore, 55 percent had not standardized their global compliance training and 33 percent do not have a budget for trade compliance training, which opens the door to noncompliance risks as a result of untrained staff.

Amber Road is partnering with the UK Government’s Exporting is GREAT initiative to help small and medium sized businesses in the UK jumpstart and expand their success in overseas markets.

Exporting Is GREAT aims to significantly increase the number of UK businesses selling internationally by providing support throughout all stages of the exporting process, from identifying opportunities through to winning international contracts. The initiative is part of the international GREAT Britain campaign and is scheduled to run through 2020.

As the prime GTM partner to join the initiative, Amber Road will provide key trade related content, Global Knowledge, for participating companies. Working with UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the government department that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy, Amber Road is collaborating on a dedicated interface for trade management information, guidance and critical information. Amber Road aims to enable companies to quickly and easily evaluate the trade regulation aspects of an export opportunity, including the destination import customs requirements and potential beneficial trade programs, and guide them on the documentation requirements.

The recent lifting of some Iran sanctions has created considerable interest in the global trading community. However, while there is optimism and hope that a closed market with big investment and opportunity will open to worldwide trade soon, there is also uncertainty. When is the right time for getting back into trading with Iran? Now? Or should we wait a little longer? The messages sent from governments are, at best, mixed. Since mid-January, the EU and the US have formally lifted important elements of their previously enforced strict sanctions. Trade promotion authorities have started setting up trade missions and we read reports about mega-deals being signed. 

In an era of heightened security, determining whether individuals, companies or organizations are restricted from conducting trade is essential. Exporters are responsible for ensuring that they are compliant with government regulations and that their goods are not being sold to undesirable entities.

To safeguard against these risks, Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche SpA has selected Amber Road's Restricted Party Screening solution to support the company's enterprise-wide global trade compliance initiative.

Danieli & C. Officine Meccaniche SpA is the parent company of Danieli Group, which ranks among the three largest suppliers of equipment and plants for the metals industry worldwide. Headquartered in North-Eastern Italy, Danieli Group includes more than 40 subsidiaries globally, with workshops and implementation projects across the world.

Seeking more comprehensive coverage to support current operations and future growth, Danieli decided to further enhance its compliance controls by implementing a state-of-the-art solution. The company chose Amber Road’s Restricted Party Screening solution, part of the comprehensive Export On-Demand solution that also includes product classification, export controls and export license management as standard modules.

In March, Amber Road broadcasted a webinar entitled New EU Union Customs Code - What's at Stake for US Companies? Our presenters, Marianne Rowden, President & CEO, AAEI and Arne Mielken, Senior Trade Specialist, Content (EU), Amber Road received several questions throughout the webinar that they were unable to address during the live broadcast. We have compiled the answers into a Q&A document – here is a preview: