The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) is a forum comprised of 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade and economic cooperation throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In the lead-up to APEC’s November meetings in Beijing, which will close out China’s host year, USCIB welcomes the committed partnerships that APEC sustained with the private sector to address the region’s complex economic challenges.
Throughout 2014, USCIB advanced a wide range of policy discussions through APEC to promote a pro-business agenda on chemicals regulation, advertising self-regulation, data privacy, customs, women in the economy and local content requirements.
USCIB engaged in several APEC working groups, including the Chemical Dialogue, Customs Business Dialogue and the Electronic Commerce Steering Group, to encourage discussions between governments and the private sector on topics of interest to business.
Next week, USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson will attend the APEC CEO Summit in Beijing, China from November 8 to 10 as a business delegate and representative of the U.S. APEC Business Coalition along with Helen Medina, USCIB senior director of product policy and innovation, and USCIB member company CEOs and executives. Robinson and Medina will discuss USCIB’s work and members’ APEC priorities, and will join with other coalition partners to pursue common business objectives.
The APEC forum is a valuable space for business to engage with the region’s political leaders, and USCIB has assumed a leadership role in APEC on behalf of our members. At the CEO Summit this year, USCIB will organize a breakfast event on November 10 through the U.S. APEC Business Coalition to discuss the role of global value chains (GVCs) in strengthening economic integration across Pacific Rim countries. The event will feature private sector representatives and APEC government officials who will offer their perspectives on how policies and regulations impact investment decisions, supply-chain routing, cost efficiency, and key ingredients for climbing the GVC-ladder. Please find the current draft agenda here.
USCIB has also consulted with members engaged in APEC’s work to develop top-level messaging for the CEO Summit and related meetings in Beijing, as well as an APEC priorities document ahead of the 2015 APEC Summit to be hosted by the Philippines.
On October 14, the USCIB APEC Working Group met with Ed Brzytwa, Director for APEC Affairs, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and Bob Wang, U.S. Senior Official for APEC, U.S. Department of State, where members voiced their thoughts on priority areas including:
- the integration of global value chains throughout the APEC region;
- the importance of digital trade in economic development and issues regarding local content;
- alignment to international best practices in advertising and the promotion of self-regulatory bodies (see below);
- intellectual property rights enforcement and capacity building;
- rule of law and ethical business practices in supply chains (child labor and human trafficking); and
- the importance of energy security and strategic infrastructure to sustainable development.
Additionally, USCIB plans to meet with Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews to discuss USCIB’s APEC work and priorities.
More information on USCIB’s APEC activities will be available after the summit concludes next week.
Staff contact: Rachel Spence and Helen Medina
More on USCIB’s APEC Working Group
Boost for APEC Agenda on Marketing
Earlier this month, USCIB and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) convened a well-attended roundtable in Washington, DC, on moving forward with the promotion of marketing and advertising standards work in APEC. There are strong signals that the Chinese government (this year’s APEC host) is pushing for leaders at the November APEC summit in Beijing to endorse the APEC action agenda on advertising standards, which was agreed by ministers at the August senior officials meeting.
Among other things, the action agenda calls for APEC economies to develop principles to use in constructing their ad standards regimes, as well as an advertising regulatory checklist of key elements in a regulatory (including self-regulatory) framework. USCIB and GMA members discussed with U.S. government representatives what industry would like to see next. They agreed to send a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman laying out the case for additional APEC work in this area in order to facilitate cross-border trade and investment in the APEC region.
Staff contact: Jonathan Huneke
