Trade Councils & Associations

AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area) - It is an agreement made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members in 1992 to introduce common effective preferential tariff and lower non-tariff barriers for the intra-group trade.

Arab Cooperation Council (ACC) - It was established in 1989 to promote economic cooperation and integration among the member countries i.e. Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and North Yemen. It partly intended as a counterpart to Gulf Cooperation Council and was created one day subsequent to the establishment.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) - An informal grouping of Asia Pacific countries, established in November 1989, it provides a forum for Ministerial level discussion of a broad range of economic issues. It includes the six ASEAN countries.

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) - It is a regional organization to promote economic, political, and social cooperation among the member countries. It was established in 1967.

Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union (BLEU) - It is the union of Belgium and Luxembourg into a single customs unit having common tariff and excise tax schedules, freedom from internal tariff barriers, joint foreign trade system, mutual acceptance of local currencies, division of customs and excise receipts on the basis of population, single balance of payments, common exchange controls, and a combined foreign trade statistics.

Benelux Economic Union - It is a cooperative economic and trade effort among Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

Business Council for International Understanding - Founded in 1955, initially it focused on supporting the US business interests abroad by facilitating to bring together the member company executives and the newly confirmed US Ambassadors to discuss the problems facing operations in the constituent markets. Presently, it operates programs in New York, Washington, D.C., Houston, London, and some other major cities.

CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) - Earlier it was known as 'Caribbean Free Trade Association.' It is an organization of Caribbean countries, which has been established to promote the regional development coordination.

Caribbean Free Trade Association - The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) have succeeded it. [also check CARICOM]

Central African Customs and Economic Union (UDEAC - Union Douaniere et Economique de l'Afrique Centrale) - It is an organization of the African countries to foster closer cooperation, economic integration among the member countries, and the eventual formation of a common market and monetary union.

Central American Common Market (CACM) - It is an organization established to liberalize intra-regional trade and to set a free-trade area and a customs union.

Central European Free Trade Association (CEFTA) - It is a regional organization aimed at eliminating duties on those items, which are traded among the members, and creating a free trade area. It was established in 1992.

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf - [check Gulf Cooperation Council]

Council of the Entente (Conseil de l'Entente) - It is an organization of the states in the former French West Africa for the purpose of coordinating members' economic and commercial policies.

Council of Economic Arab Unity (CEAU) - It fosters economic integration among the Arab nations.

Customs Cooperation Council (CCC) - It is an international organization, which consists of representatives of approximately 150 countries. It serves as a technical body which studies and seeks to resolve the various countries' customs problems by harmonizing customs operations and promoting trade. It was established in 1950 with its headquarter in Brussels, Belgium.

Customs Cooperation Council Nomenclature (CCCN) - It is a custom tariff nomenclature which was formerly used by many countries, including most European nations but excluding the US. Now it has been superseded by the Harmonized System Nomenclature to which most of the major trading countries, including the US, adhere.

Economic Community of Central African States (Communaute Economique des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale, CEEAC) - It is a regional organization established by the Central African Customs and Economic Union in order to promote economic cooperation, to eliminate barriers to intra-community trade, set up a common external tariff, and moves towards a common market.

Economic Community of the Great Lake Countries - It is an organization, which has been established to foster economic cooperation and integration. The member countries include Burundi, Rwanda, and Zaire.

Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) - It is an organization established to promote trade, cooperation, and self-reliance in West Africa. It provides the free movement of people, services, and capital. It also promotes harmonization of agricultural policies, common monetary policies, and joint development of the economic and industrial policies.

Economic Policy Council (EPC) - Established by Executive Order in 1985 to address the major trade policy issues in a single forum as means of reducing the tensions between different groups, like the Trade Policy Committee and the Senior Inter-agency Group. It was modified in the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988. The membership includes Treasury, State, Agriculture, Commerce, Labor, Transportation, the OMB, the US Trade Representative, Council of Economic Advisers, and the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology.

Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) - It is a commission designed by the United Nations to provide the only intergovernmental forum for Asia and the Pacific and also to execute the development programs through technical assistance, advisory services to governments, research, training, and information.

European Free Trade Association (EFTA) - It is a regional trade organization, which aims to bring free trade in industrial goods and to expand the trade in agricultural goods between the member countries and to contribute to the liberalization and expansion of world trade.

Foreign Credit Insurance Association (FCIA) - It is an association of some of the top private insurance companies in the US, which underwrites the risk of Exim Bank.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - It is an organization, which provides the means for coordination, integration, and cooperation in economic, social, and cultural affairs among the members. It is also known as the 'Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf.'

International Chamber of Commerce - It is an organization established to promote free trade and private enterprise, and to represent business interests at both national as well as international level. It is composed of national councils from more than 60 countries.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) - It is a financial institution, which is created to promote international monetary harmony, to monitor exchange rate and monetary policies of the member states. It also provides credit for member states, which experience temporary balance of payments deficits.

ISTA - It stands for International Safe Transit Association. It is a non-profit organization, which develops effective packaging, methods, and logistics systems in order to prevent or to reduce the transit and handling damage to a shipment.

International Standards Organization (ISO) - It is a worldwide non-governmental federation of national standards groups, which is concerned with the standardization in every field, excluding electrical and electronic engineering that is handled by the International Electrotechnical Commission.

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) - It administers the export programs of the Japanese Government independently. It is legally under the aegis of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). MITI subsidizes approximately 60% of JETRO's total annual expenditures and has final decision-making authority over the management of programs of JETRO. Apart from assisting the Japanese firms export, as it was originally established for, it also helps American companies that seeks to export to Japan and promotes Japanese direct investment in the US and vice versa.

Korea Foreign Trade Association (KFTA) - It is a non-profit private business organization of the Korean companies, which provides information and services that concerns trade for members and also for the foreign businesses. Its headquarter is in Seoul.

Korea Trade Promotion Corporation (KOTRA) - It is a non-profit organization to promote foreign trade, serves as an import promotion center, which facilitates a variety of free services in trade, investment, and international cooperation. It was established in 1962 with its headquarters in Seoul.

Latin American Association of Development Financing Institutions - This association, established in January 1968 and headquartered in Lima (Peru), promotes the cooperation among its members in ways which support the integration of Latin American economies, including the efforts to improve the flow of information among the members and to encourage studies of problems of common interest. The member countries include 24 Latin American countries and several other countries of Europe and North America.

Latin America Free Trade Association (LAFTA) - It has been replaced by 'Latin American Integration Association.'

Latin American Integration Association (LAIA) - It is an association, which concentrates on the economic and regional tariff preferences. Previously it was known as 'Latin American Free Trade Association.'

Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) - It is a part of the World Bank Group to encourage equity investment and other direct investment flows to developing countries through the mitigation of non-commercial investment barriers. It was established in April 1988. The agency also offers the investors guarantees against non-commercial risks, advises the developing member governments on the design and implementation of policies, programs, and procedures related to the foreign investments, and also to sponsor a dialogue between the international business community and host governments on investment issues.

Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) - It is a private sector group established in 1967 to promote regional trade and investment. At present it includes about 1,000 corporations and 14 national membership committees.

Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) - Founded in 1980, it is a non-governmental organization, which aims to promote cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The members are drawn from 20 countries and territories, namely Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and the US.

PEFCO - It stands for Private Export Funding Corporation. It is a corporation, which lends to foreign buyers in order to finance exports from the US.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) - It is a regional group, which promotes economic, technical, scientific, and social cooperation among member countries.

Southern African Customs Union (SACU) - It is an agreement among Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland in order to maintain a common external tariff, to share customs revenues, and to allow the free trade of exchange of goods within the area.

Southern African Development Community (SADCA) - It is a regional group, which seeks to harmonize economic policy among the members. It mobilizes resources, shares technology, and eventually creates a common market.

Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) - The former name of the Southern African Development Community.

West African Economic Community (CEAO) - Headquartered in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, it operates as a free trade area for agro products and raw materials and for approved industrial products, as a preferential trading area. Here, import duties has been replaced by a regional cooperation tax (TCR). It also encourages trade among members, envisions eventual creation of a customs union and coordination of fiscal policies.

World Trade Organization (WTO) - It is an international organization of comparable stature to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It was established under the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). It is expected to facilitate the implementation of trade agreements reached in the Uruguay Round by bringing them under a single institutional umbrella, required of full participation of all the countries in one new trading system, and providing a permanent forum to discuss new issues facing the international trading system.