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News article19 November 2020Directorate-General for Trade

EU and 10 other members suspend participation in negotiations in the International Working Group on Export Credits

The European Union together with Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States suspended their participation in technical negotiations in the International Working Group on Export Credits.

The objective of the working group has been to agree on a new set of international disciplines among the main global providers of government export credit support. The co-signatories of the statement lament the lack of meaningful progress in the negotiations so far and call for a higher level of commitment by all members of the working group to achieve consensus on certain core issues, including in particular transparency into the terms offered in export finance transactions.

The suspension is temporary and the members are willing to assess whether the conditions are right for resuming the talks within a year's time.

Read the full statement here

Background

Government export credit support (which includes loans, guarantees or insurance, for example) aim at export promotion in established markets and at opening new markets. The support aims to assist in the financing of purchases of goods and services in third countries to support export industries. While government export credits are permitted by WTO rules under strict conditions, their misuse can undermine a level playing field between exporters.

Since 2012, the International Working Group (IWG) has been negotiating a new set of rules for the provision of government export credit support (e.g. minimum interest rates, minimum premia or maximum repayment terms of the loan). The IWG includes all countries that already participate in the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits under the umbrella of the OECD as well as a number of major non-Arrangement government export finance providers, notably Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa.

Details

Publication date
19 November 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Trade
Trade topics
EU companies accessing world markets