May 2000 Edition
GROWTH
Strong growth in industrial countries, an "exceptional recovery" in world trade and higher commodity prices will help boost average growth rates for developing countries to 4.6 percent this year and slightly higher in 2001, according to a new Global Development Finance report from the World Bank. The developing countries that are expected to grow the fastest are those that rely more heavily on trade, have more diversified economies, are attracting foreign direct investment and have achieved recent gains in competitiveness.
TOBACCO
There is growing evidence that many pharmacy owners and operators are uncomfortable with selling tobacco, and a growing number of stores in the U.S. are dropping tobacco products. Nonetheless, officials at retail drugstore companies say cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products are still stocked because the public wants them. They cite data indicating that between 20 and 25% of Americans still smoke. They also cite cases in which a drugstore has dropped tobacco, only to find that its overall sales have declined. Tobacco, they contend, is a traffic builder.
LAWYERS
According to the 1996 census, there were 57,680 lawyers in Canada, 30 per cent of which are women.
BANANAS
A WTO dispute arbitrator has ruled that Ecuador - the world's largest Banana exporter - could request over US$200 million in retaliatory sanctions against the EU for the EU's failure to comply with a 1999 ruling against its banana import regime. Subsequent EU attempts at compliance have yet to satisfy Ecuador or the other parties in the dispute who argue that the EU proposals continue to discriminate against its exports.
JAPAN
Japan's reluctance to open its economy to foreigners diminished a bit in 1999, according to figures from Japan's central bank. Foreign direct investment in Japan was, at Yen 1.4 trillion (US$12.3 billion), almost three-and-a-half times higher than in 1998.
FAKE
Organizers of a Europe-wide campaign to label counterfeit goods as "uncool" are asking industry and consumer groups to support the venture that will target the youth market. The 'Don't fake it' campaign to be co-ordinated by AIM, the European Brands Association, together with the Paris-based, Global Anti-Counterfeiting Group (GAGC), seeks to curb demand for counterfeit goods by highlighting the unethical side of product piracy. The campaign organizers hope to launch the campaign in five European countries - France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK.
HEALTH CARE
Canadians spent $18.1 billion on health and personal care products in 1999, up 9.4% from 1998. Health and personal care products include cosmetics, drugs (prescription and over-the-counter), vitamins, eyewear, and other toiletries. Although drugstores capture the majority of the market for these products, in 1999, consumers bought $3.2 billion of health and personal care products at food stores, 23.7% more than they did in 1998. Another $2.8 billion was bought at general merchandise stores, 16.0% more than in 1998. As a result, the food store share of the health and personal care product market grew by 2.0 percentage points to 17.8%, and general merchandise stores reached 15.5%.
ICE CREAM
A Washington ice cream maker has been targeting Asian American tastes with flavours like green tea, ginger, sour plum, mango, sesame, lichee, taro and green bean. Durian is a favourite among a small clientele but the maker will only sell this foul smelling flavour by the quart.
FREE-TRADE
Japan has a long-held policy of shunning bilateral accords in favour of multilateral agreements, but is reportedly looking at bilateral accords as a way to build momentum for the stalled multilateral trade process. Free-trade talks with Singapore offer the most promising prospects, both in terms of being achievable and with regard to the benefits such an accord would deliver. Singapore, a member with Japan in the Asia Pacific Economic Co- operation (APEC) forum, is expected to sign a free trade agreement with New Zealand later this year, and is expected to launch talks with Chile and Mexico.
ASSISTANCE
According to its annual report, the Canadian government's Export Development Corp. served a record 5,182 customers in 1999, up 16 per cent from a year earlier. The EDC supported more than $40 billion in sales and foreign investments in 1999, up 15 per cent from 1998 and the agency earned a profit of $118 million.
TRADE
According to the latest WTO figures, the U.S. was the top exporter last year with foreign sales of $695 billion, 12.4 per cent of world exports. America exported more goods than any other single country, but the EU, with exports of $799 billion, took a bigger share (18.9 per cent) of world trade. World exports grew by 3 per cent in 1999 to $5,610 billion.
PROFITS
A London Internet consulting firm forecasts that U.K. supermarkets will lose more than $159 million U.S. this year on costly and inefficient online home delivery services. While consumer willingness to buy groceries online will grow this year, vendors' operating losses will too. Grocery products are currently moved around twice as many times as they should be to get them from warehouse to kitchen after an Internet order. Retailers may end up with little to show for heavy outlays now being made on poorly focused advertising of online services and on computer technology infrastructure.
NEW ZEALAND
After enthusiastically embracing free trade for a number of years, the new Government of New Zealand has announced that the proposed tariff reductions, to come into effect on 1st July, will be scrapped. The government is also moving to repeal a 1998 law, the Tariff (Zero Duty) Amendment Act, which would have phased out all tariffs by 2006.
ANTS
Fire ants were probably introduced into the U.S. 70-80 years ago and now cover the south-eastern U.S. from Texas to Virginia. In the west, inadvertent transport by humans has helped them reach California. Besides sending 30,000 people to hospital each year, fire ants are hurting the economy. They damage the nursery and sod-growing industry which in South Carolina is worth $200 million a year. They love electrical wiring and can put appliances out of action. They costs South Carolinians $80 per household per year and cost Texans even more
FAIR TRADE
Sales of products carrying the Max Havelaar fair trade label rose 29 percent between 1998 and 1999, increasing to about US$40 million from US$28 million. The label is carried on a range of products: coffee, tea, cocoa, honey, sugar, orange juice and bananas. Max Havelaar products are certified for fair trade standards by the Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International (FLO), which encourages the development of a fair market through setting minimum prices that cover the costs of production of each good and cutting intermediaries from the trading scheme.
PARTNERS
Thirteen of the world's leading retailers have announced they will form a collaborative partnership to establish the WorldWide Retail Exchange. The exchange is a web-based marketplace, enabling transactions between retailers operating in the food, general merchandise and drugstore sectors. The new business-to-business exchange is expected to begin operating mid-2000. It is designed to facilitate and simplify trading between retailers and over 100,000 suppliers, partners and distributors. Together, the group operates over 30,000 stores and had 1999 combined sales of over US$345 billion.
WTO
At a recent meeting in Hawaii, representatives from 1,100 businesses in 20 Asian countries called on World Trade Organization Members to review their positions outstanding from the failed WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle and demonstrate flexibility necessary to bridge remaining gaps and move forward expeditiously on negotiations aimed at launching a new global round. The WTO Director General has also warned that a new round will not take place until WTO Members take more flexible positions in key negotiating areas.
CARGO
A new Internet portal has been launched in Singapore for the buying and selling of surplus cargo space. CargoExchange.net is a neutral business-to-business exchange for the on-line trading of surplus global container cargo space. The exchange allows buyers and sellers to post bids and, after the bids are closed, negotiate the price anonymously. Their identities are revealed once the brokerage payment has been made.
NAFTA
In the sixth anniversary year of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), each country welcomed the spectacular success of the Agreement and the benefits it has brought to the people and economies of the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Trade between the three countries has grown by 96% since the NAFTA came into force. From less than US$289 billion in 1993, trilateral trade has now surpassed US$567 billion. Investment among the three economies has also increased significantly, with more than US$189 billion invested in each other's economies in 1997.
ATMs
The first cash dispenser was opened in 1967 in the Enfield branch of Barclays Bank in England. The maximum single withdrawal was 10 pounds ($25.00).
FOOD
According to Statistics Canada, Canadians spent a higher proportion of their food dollars on meals outside the home during the 1990s than in the 1980s. Of every $100 spent on food in 1998, an average of $34.60 went to meals outside the home, mostly in restaurants, up from $32.70 in 1989. This increase may have been due to several factors: economic expansion and improved consumer confidence in the mid- to late 1990s; greater time constraints for consumers; more single-person households; and rapid growth in the number of food service establishments. Personal expenditures on meals purchased outside the home increased 42.2% from 1989 to 1998.
WINE
U.S. wine exports, about 95 percent from California, edged up two percent to $548 million in 1999, representing a 300 percent increase from a decade ago in 1990. By volume, wine exports posted a gain of five percent over the previous year to 75.4 million gallons.
In Canada, wine-makers are demanding that the government protest EU policies to the WTO. The EU has banned all Canadian ice wine on the grounds that its sugar content is too high. The EU also bans all but $500,000 worth of regular Canadian wine because Canadian wine-making processes are different from those in Europe.
PAPER
Moose droppings have been used by a Swedish manufacturer to make elegant grey paper. The company makes paper out of all sorts of things including old jeans, wasp nests, nettles and egg cartons.
NAMES
Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda was the creation of Charles Griggs from Missouri, who introduced the lemon-lime drink in 1929. Four years later he renamed it 7-Up. Sales increased significantly.
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