Negotiations will resume this week in Brussels over Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU). Since the last round of talks in July, the United Kingdom (UK) has published a series of position papers on various Brexit issues, including the future customs cooperation with the EU (Open for Business: Customs at the Forefront of the UK’s New Special Partnership with the EU). There is also talk of a transition for the immediate period after Brexit. Real chances of discussing these issues are not dependent on Great Britain alone, but on what transpires at an EU October summit authorizing the start of trade negotiations.

Although Big Ben has been taken out of commission for the next four years while it is being refurbished, the UK is making sure commerce and trade will be running after its departure from the European Union (EU). The story is well-known by everyone in the trade industry; the United Kingdom-European Union membership referendum vote held on 23 June 2016 resulted in 51.9% of voters voting in favor of leaving the EU. The government initiated the official EU withdrawal process on 29 March 2017, putting the UK on-course to complete the withdrawal process by 30 March 2019.

Amber Road has regularly kept our customers and trade professionals in the know about Brexit’s impact on trade. The blog post on 15 June 2016 and a full corporate press release. We also held a special webinar on the “The British Vote Brexit: How Will This Impact Global Trade in EU and US Companies?” which is available on-demand and issued a Q&A paper.

Following months of speculation regarding the UK’s position on various aspects of global trade – positions that are now subject to serious scrutiny as the government negotiates the departure from the EU - an official paper was just released to clarify the government’s plans...

In today’s global marketplace, internal data can no longer sustain enterprise operations. With the universal complexity of trade laws and regulations, external content has transformed from a supplement to a vital component of global trade management (GTM).

Global supply chains have been pulled tight, contracted, and at times broken during 2016. As we move into 2017, global trade management executives need to brace against disrupters that have the potential to send your supply chain into a tailspin: What will US trade policy look like? How can my supply chain handle new security risks? What, if anything, will happen to the TPP?

Join Amber Road's Global Trade Academy for our webinar, 2017: Bracing for Instability in Global Trade, on Wednesday, December 7, at 2PM EST to hear thought leaders answer a few of these questions.

Continued from Chapter 6: Trade Compliance

Organizations buying or selling goods globally are overwhelmed with the mountain of legalese and red-tape required to establish and maintain compliance with government regulations. Language barriers and rapidly changing information add to the existing complexity of global trade.

Global business-to-consumer e-commerce is growing in leaps and bounds, not only in emerging markets where consumers can find it hard to access coveted and trending products locally, but also as a replacement to brick-and mortar shopping. However, global sales opportunities also present a challenge: to deliver a positive customer experience while combating high shipping fees, hidden costs, inaccurate duties, import and export regulations, and product restrictions.

At FDRA's Footwear Traffic and Distribution Conference in Huntington Beach, CA, next week, don't miss two great presentations by Gary Barraco, Director of Global Product Marketing at Amber Road.

On July 13, 2016, the EU added new import controls on invasive alien species (IAS) to its TARIC database with the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1141, adopting a list of invasive alien species of EU concern pursuant to EU Regulation No. 1143/2014. Amber Road's EU Trade Content team has captured these new import controls and updated our global trade content.

The scope and capabilities of global supply chains and the tools for managing them have evolved significantly over the past two decades, from simple desktop applications focused on generating and printing export documents, to cloud-based, enterprise-class solutions focused on a broad spectrum of import and export processes.    

During the great industrial age, companies focused on improving relatively simple, but very labor-intensive processes. In contrast, global supply chain engineering today allows manufacturers to manage extraordinarily complex international networks.

"I'm just a bill. Yes I’m only a bill. And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill."

Over 40 years ago, a Saturday morning TV show called Schoolhouse Rock uniquely taught children (and adults) how the US government passes new laws and legislation in a lyrical cartoon with a catchy tune. Even in this animated lesson, the tremendous complexity of laws, regulations and directives is obvious.  Yet most of us are challenged daily to negotiate mountains of legalese in order to conduct business.

In a new benchmark report produced by USFIA and Dr. Sheng Lu of the University of Delaware, executives ranked  compliance with trade regulations among their top three concerns as they finish out 2016 and prepare for next year - an increase from the 2015 survey. 

With countries like China, India and Brazil experiencing growing middle classes who are interested in buying international products, the growth in global eCommerce is expected to boom.

Cross-border eCommerce is gaining traction with nearly 40 percent of consumers buying goods online from another country.