The Tax Information Exchange Agreement between Hong Kong and Greenland entered into force on 17 February 2016.
The Agreement generally applies from 1 April 2016 in Hong Kong and from 1 January 2017 in Greenland.
The Agreement was signed on 22 August 2014.
The Tax Information Exchange Agreement between Jersey and Romania entered into force on 5 February 2016.
The agreement generally applies from 5 February 2016 for criminal tax matters and from 1 January 2017 for other tax matters.
New Zealand’s Trade Minister, Todd McClay, has welcomed the support of the European Parliament to commence negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand.
McClay said that the resolution won the support of 479 Members of the European Parliament, 77 percent of the 619 who voted.
“The importance of completing an FTA with the EU cannot be understated,” McClay said. “It has progressively expanded its own FTA network and our exporters have become increasingly disadvantaged – for example, manufactured products face tariffs of up to 39 percent.”
He added that New Zealand’s agricultural exporters face average tariff rates into the EU of 31.3 percent, while competitors from countries like Chile, Singapore, South Africa, Argentina, Vietnam, and Korea enter the EU tariff-free.
“The European Union is the notable missing link in our network of FTAs with our major trading partners and it is a big missing link, with total GDP of more than NZD20 trillion (USD13.25 trillion),” the Trade Minister said. “The EU is also one of New Zealand’s most significant trading partners with current goods and services trade valued at NZD19.6bn.”
The Minister also noted that the EU is New Zealand’s second-largest source and third-largest destination for foreign direct investment and is its largest research and development partner.
“I look forward to the commencement of negotiations and congratulate the European Parliament on this resolution,” he said.
Lawmakers from the European Free Trade Association met with the European Union Trade Commissioner to discuss the two blocs’ priorities in the area of free trade.
EFTA’s Parliamentary Committee met with Commissioner Cecilia Malmström on February 23, in one of a series of meetings with high-level personnel. They discussed the Commission’s new trade strategy, “Trade for All,” which aims to make the EU’s trade policy more effective at delivering new economic opportunities, and more transparent, in terms of opening up negotiations to more public scrutiny. Instead of focusing on the EU’s interest, trade policies will uphold the EU’s values.
Participants discussed the ongoing negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and investor-to-state dispute settlement, which has been high on the political agenda in Europe lately.
The Committee also met with several Members of the European Parliament, including Viviane Reding MEP, the rapporteur for the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA). Meeting with Christofer Fjellner MEP, members of the Committee learned more about how the European Parliament engages in international trade agreement negotiations.
The EFTA states are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland.
Canada and the European Union (EU) have agreed to the inclusion in their proposed free trade agreement of a new approach to investment protection and dispute resolution.
Negotiations toward an EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) were concluded in 2014. The text of the agreement included clearly defined standards of protection, and provided for full transparency of proceedings, a ban on forum shopping, governmental control of interpretation of the agreement, a strict code of conduct, early dismissal of unfounded claims, and a “loser pays” principle.
Following the required legal review of the text, which has yet to enter into force, the main elements of the EU’s new approach on investment have been incorporated into CETA. This approach was previously outlined in the investment protection package presented by the EU to the US in September as part of their ongoing Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. In that case, the EU proposed the creation of an international Investment Court System, with an appeal mechanism based on clearly defined rules, qualified judges, and transparent proceedings.
According to the European Commission, the revisions to CETA represent a clear break from the old Investor to State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) approach. Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström said: “CETA takes on board our new approach on investment and its dispute settlement. By making the system work like an international court, these changes will ensure that citizens can trust it to deliver fair and objective judgements.”
The revised CETA establishes a permanent Tribunal of 15 members that will be competent to hear claims for violation of the investment protection standards established in the agreement. It also provides for the creation, upon the agreement’s entry into force, of an Appellate Tribunal.
Canada and the EU have committed to join efforts with other trading partners to set up a permanent multilateral investment court with a standing appellate mechanism. The revised text recognizes that a court of this nature will come to replace the bilateral mechanism established in CETA.
In a joint statement with Canada’s International Trade Minister, Chrystia Freeland, Malmström said: “With these modifications, Canada and the EU will strengthen the provisions on governments’ right to regulate; move to a permanent, transparent, and institutionalized dispute settlement tribunal; revise the process for the selection of tribunal members, who will adjudicate investor claims; set out more detailed commitments on ethics for all tribunal members; and agree to an appeal system.”
Canada and the European Commission will now complete the translation and review of the text. Malmström and Freeland said that they will then “focus on the swift ratification of CETA so that individuals and businesses, both large and small, are able to benefit from the opportunities offered by this gold standard agreement.”
“We are confident that CETA will be signed in 2016 and enter into force in 2017,” they said.
Once the deal is fully implemented, 99 percent of the EU’s tariff lines will be duty-free, including 100 percent of non-agricultural tariff lines and 95 percent of agricultural tariff lines. Nearly 92 percent of EU agricultural and food products will be exported to Canada duty-free.
On 12 February 2016, Belize and the Czech Republic signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement.
On 10 February 2016, Luxembourg and Senegal signed an Income Tax Treaty.
The Treaty will come into force after the two countries exchange ratification instruments. The provisions of the treaty will have effect from 1 January of the calendar year next following that in which the agreement enters into force.
In accordance with the Treaty, the following withholding taxes will apply:
Dividends:
Interest: 10%.
Royalties:
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The Income Tax Treaty between Ireland and Botswana entered into force on 3 February 2016.
Its provisions will take effect from 4 March 2016 in Botswana and from 1 January 2017 in Ireland.
In accordance with the treaty, the following withholding taxes will apply:
Dividends: 5%.
Interest: 7.5%.
Royalties:
On 5 February 2016, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement.
Further details will be reported once the text of the Agreement becomes available.
On 8 February 2016, Kenya signed the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
Kenya is the 12th African country to sign the Convention and the 94th jurisdiction to join it.
The agreement is designed to facilitate international co-operation among tax authorities to improve their ability to tackle tax evasion and avoidance.
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