Smart Tools
Get updated market information and intelligence about export markets, about international buyers and about your competitors. Use globally bench-marked tools, methodologies and business models, and reliable sources of information. Use these Smart tools in preparing your entry or expansion into the world markets.
Market Research
International Trade Center
- Market information surveys.
- Listing of countries based on degrees of market and political risk.
- More than 100 country profiles compiled by the World Bank
- Country profiles for more than 230 countries. Compiled by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Reports on industries and economics in Germany. In both English and German
- Country descriptions of geography, people, economy, government, export, import and transport. Also resources for export finance and credit insurance, global logistics and supply chain, management, customs, international law and trade law, international marketing and business travel
- Profiles of markets for many countries and industries
- Canada’s Department of Agriculture’s market reports of various regions
- A business portal for accessing all types of business information
- Source for international market research and market data. Fee for reports
- Information about more than 350,000 companies worldwide. Search by company name, stock ticker symbol, industry, or location
- Market research reports for the following industries: Finance, Telecoms, Media & Technology, Maritime & Law, Agribusiness & Commodities, Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare
- ESOMAR is the World Association of Opinion and Marketing Research Professionals which unites over 4000 members in 100 countries, both users and providers of research
- Resources for international market research. Includes country profiles, documentation guidelines, shipping guidelines, links and other resources
- BBC site providing full profiles including history, politics and economic background of countries
- A searchable online catalogue of printed and electronic publications on products, sectors, countries and themes of interest for exporters, importers, researchers, trade support institutions and academia.
Starting to export and import.
- World Bank site that provides detailed information on the time, costs, and procedures required for trading and doing business in 175 countries.
- Business management information and training for small businesses and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The subjects covered are: Accounting and Finance, Business Planning, Human Resources (HR), Marketing and Sales, Operations, and Information Technology (IT).
- Video course for starting and expanding an export business.
- Free export webinars for international business professionals at different experience levels.
- Website with training facilities.
International Trade Barriers
- ITC’s tool providing updated information about customs tariffs (including tariff preferences) applied by 197 countries and faced by 239 countries and territories
- The WTO is the only international body dealing with the rules of trade between nations. At its heart are the WTO agreements, the legal ground-rules for international commerce and for trade policy.
- The WTO’s members agreement on the type of “safeguard” action (i.e., restrict imports of a product temporarily) to protect a specific domestic industry from an increase in imports of any product which is causing, or which is threatening to cause, serious injury to the industry.
- The Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade tries to ensure that regulations, standards, testing and certification procedures by member countries do not create unnecessary obstacles to the importation of goods and products.
Trade Glosaries
- A glossary of terms used in international trade
- USDA listing of agricultural terms used in international trade.
- Glossary of maritime transportation terms.
- Website providing a list of acronyms (abbreviations constructed mostly from the initial letters of the words of a phrase), gathered from many network sources and submitted by users.
Statistics
- ITC’s world trade statistics database with data from 220 countries and territories and 5300 products of the Harmonized System. Trade data is also available at the tariff line level for more than 120 countries and on a quarterly and monthly basis for more than 50 countries.
- Major international trade and tariffs data compilations: UN COMTRADE (Commodity Trade) database maintained by the United Nations Statistical Division (UNSD); TRAINS (Trade Analysis Information System) maintained by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); IDB (Integrated Data Base) and CTS (Consolidated Tariff Schedule) databases maintained by the World Trade Organization (WTO).
- SourceOECD is the online library of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. It offers access to the full text of the books, periodicals and statistical.
- Statistical database maintained by the Statistical Division of the UNECE Secretariat. It provides detailed statistical information on countries in Europe, North America and Central Asia. Data are organized by domains and subject or policy areas.
- Links to national statsics websites of most major United Nations members. Prepared by the United Nations Statistics Division.
- Comparative information on the potential and performance of 25 emerging economies as locations for global sourcing and production.
- Provider of economic intelligence for Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas (+70 countries). FocusEconomics is based in Barcelona, Spain, and is supported by an extensive global network of analysts.
Tariff and Customs
- The WCO is an independent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of Customs administrations
- Publication of customs duty & tax information for all customs areas worldwide.
- Tariffs and landed costs in over 100 countries, Federal Register Notices and Broker Power Archives.
- ITC’s tool providing updated information about customs tariffs (including tariff preferences) and non-tariff barriers applied by 197 countries and faced by 239 countries and territories.
Documentation
- Automated customs, export, and shipping documents.
- Software that automatically completes more than 15 standard export forms, including the pro forma and commercial invoices, packing list, shipper’s letter of instruction, Shipper’s Export Declaration (SED), inland and ocean bills of lading, dock receipt, NAFTA Certificate, generic certificate of origin, Canada Customs Invoice, and bank draft/transmittal letter.
- Suite of applications offers end-to-end Internet Trade Logistics (iTL) functionality that enables enterprises to access real-time information, manage shipping requirements of electronic commerce, generate multi-lingual trade documents, and maintain compliance with international trade regulations.
Trade Fairs
- Dates on exhibitions worldwide with detailed exhibition particulars, including organisers and exhibition and congress centres.
- Trade fairs in Germany with links to trade associations and other trade fair sites.
- Trade fairs with dates updated on a monthly basis.
- News and reviews on trade fairs, including e-Newsletter.
- The association of trade show organisers, fairground owners, national and international associations of the exhibition industry and its partners.
Global Business Directories
- Business directories for 70 countries. 1.9 Million Companies, 23 Million key product references, 3.5 Million executives names and 750,000 trade and brand names.
- Links to major Web sites of use to international business executives.
- Directory of German and other companies looking for partnerships and investment. Enables both German and foreign companies to publicize their products and services on Internet and to inquire about the products and services they need.
- “Wer liefert was?” which translated means “Who supplies what?” (WLW) is a European information provider on companies, products and services. Lists of companies in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Finland, UK, Italy, Slovenia, and Sweden.
- Directories of importers, exporters. Also geographic and industry specific directories. Fee to purchase.
- Directory of manufacturers and suppliers worldwide.
- Telephone directories from around the world on-line including white, yellow and fax pages from more than 184 countries.
- Worldwide trade leads and business directory.
Trade Software
- Supports trade processing between buyers and sellers who are unknown to one another by bringing together all parties involved in an international trade transaction including financial institutions, carriers, freight forwarder, surveyor, on the same electronic page.
- Global trade software solutions integrating compliance, export control and supply chain management.
- An open platform that enables paper less trading between buyers, sellers, logistics, banks, agencies and regulatory authorities anywhere in the world, delivering transaction visibility, predictability, speed, accuracy and security.
- Software that manages supply chain.
- Complete intergrated system for managing the complete supply chain.
- Software for management of all aspects of supply chain management.
International Taxation
- Website of the US Internal Revenue Service that explains taxation for foreign businesses doing business in the US and US businesses doing business abroad.
- ommission devoted to reform and coordination of Customs and taxation throughout the European Union.
- Links to information about taxes worldwide.
Intellectual Property
- Access to various intellectual property data and support. Fully searchable information retrieval and display by users on demand.
- The World Trade Organization’s listing of documents, agreements and position on Intellectual Property Gateway.
- World Trade Organization’s agreement to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights, and to ensure that intellectual property rights do not themselves become barriers to legitimate trade.
- Website offering links to organizations and resources on intellectual property compiled by patent attorney Ralph Beier.
Cultural Issues
- Site that describes how to behave in international business situations in more than 30 countries.
- Database of global business practices, cognitive styles, cultural overviews, medical & political information, contacts, religious & societal influences on business, protocol, Cultural I.Q. Quizzes, and more for international travellers.
- Information about language, useful phrases, the society, culture, business and social etiquette in more than 45 countries.
E-learning Opportunities
- A series of online courses and access to educational material on a range of trade-related topics. The Academy provides access to pragmatic, topical online courses and learning materials to support skills development in Export Development and Trade Related Technical Assistance.
- The WTO E-CAMPUS is part of WTO technical assistance and outreach programmes. Online interactive courses on a variety of international trade matters are available.