Search

Barbados' growth strategy focusses on increasing the country's market share in the activities in which it has established its international competitiveness, namely: tourism, international business and finance, agro-processing, and green energy. The authorities envisage a growth strategy driven by the private sector, with the Government providing appropriate fiscal incentives, as well as reducing the cost of doing business.

The Code (the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code) also regulates food derived from Genetically Modified (GM) plants, animals or micro-organisms, as well as the labelling of GM foods. Imported foods using biotechnology may be sold in Australia only after assessment and approval by FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand). As at 1 July 2014, FSANZ had completed assessments of 63 (45 in November 2010) commodities produced from gene technology. A further four were withdrawn by the applicants before FSANZ completed the assessment process; by July 2014 it was assessing the safety of food from one GM commodity. FSANZ has also assessed and approved numerous enzymes sourced from GM micro-organisms. Imports of live and viable genetically modified organisms (GMOs) require authorization under the Gene Technology Act 2000, which regulates particular dealings with GMOs in addition to permissions for use in food. All dealings involving release (DIR) of a GMO into the environment must be licensed by the Gene Technology Regulator, an independent statutory office holder, unless otherwise authorized under the Act. All licence applications are subject to case by case scientific risk assessment and risk management. As at 30 June 2014, seventeen accredited organizations held the 54 DIR licences in force, of which 9 were for commercial release of GMOs (cotton, canola and a vaccine), three for vaccine trials, and 42 for limited and controlled trials of GM crop varieties.

At the end of 2012, APEC economies agreed to reduce tariffs on a list of 54 environmental goods to 5% or less by the end of 2015. The initiative built on a decade of work to open the sector within APEC and the World Trade Organization. New Zealand has fully implemented the outcome.

(...) The third Thailand SME Development Plan 2012-2016 has been focused in four major areas to: business environment enabler; capacity building to enhance competitiveness; sustainable development by region; and, capacity building for internationalization. (...)

The overall objective of the CREDD (Mali's Strategic Framework for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Development) is to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by 2030 by promoting inclusive, sustainable development that furthers a reduction in both poverty and inequalities on the basis of the country's potential and resilience, among other factors.

As part of the Responsible Resource Development Plan, the Government of Canada introduced legislation to ensure Canada's regulatory system remains competitive, efficient, and effective in the world. These changes included the implementation of the new Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012 and amendments to the Fisheries Act, the Navigation Protection Act, and the Species at Risk Act. The regulatory improvements achieved to date include: environmental reviews focused on major projects; implementation of a project list based on areas of federal jurisdiction; enabling environmental assessment substitution and equivalency measures; establishment of an authority for joint regional studies; and legislated timelines for the environmental assessment regulatory permit processes.

In order to expand export opportunities and improve the competitiveness of domestic producers in foreign markets, in 2013 the Ministry of Economy of the Kyrgyz Republic in partnership with the International Trade Centre (ITC) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) with the use of the ITC experience and methodology (which focuses on consideration of trade within the wider framework of its development, taking into account the issues of poverty reduction, strengthening the women's capacity, conservation and sustainable development of the environment and other developmental issues) has been developing the national Strategy on Export Promotion.

Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA)
CIFTA entered into force on 1 January 1997, covering trade in goods. CIFTA was modernized between 2015 and 2018 to include four updated chapters (rules of origin, dispute settlement, goods market access and administration of the agreement) and nine new chapters (trade facilitation, e-commerce, intellectual property, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, labour, environment, trade and gender, and small and medium enterprises). The modernized CIFTA was signed by Canada and Israel on 28 May 2018, in Montreal. Ratification was pending as of March 2019.

On 30 July 2007, New Zealand and the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) started negotiations for an FTA including provisions on trade and environment.

Biotechnology, (…) renewable energy are among the sectors that were included in the incentive regime for specific investments during the period under review.