New free web-based tool offers easy access to information about tariffs and trade agreements for companies and countries seeking new export markets
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) launched a new version of the INTrade portal, with an enhanced design and user-friendly structure for easy access to content that will help companies and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean navigate through complex trade agreements to find new markets for their products.
INTrade is a free web-based tool that combines information on integration agreements in the region, trade statistics, and indicators that measure the export performance of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“In today’s globalized world, access to markets heavily depends on information. The limited international reach of small and medium-sized companies in our region has prompted the IDB to create INTrade, which enables companies to access information in real time to make the most of trading opportunities,” said Antoni Estevadeordal, the IDB’s Integration and Trade Sector Manager.
INTrade provides detailed information, at the maximum level of disaggregation, about trade agreement texts, preferential and non-preferential tariffs, tariff-rate-quotas, rules of origin, sanitary regulations, export and import flows, and indicators of economic integration. Access to the databases is given through tools adapted to the needs of different users, such as businesses seeking information on free-trade agreements (FTAs), government officials preparing for new negotiations, or analysts following the latest trade trends.
New report: Trade and Integration Monitor
In addition to the new version of the INtrade, the IDB is also unveiling the Trade and Integration Monitor 2012, a new annual publication that analyses trade trends of the Bank’s 26 borrowing member countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In this first issue, the study concludes that the expansionary export cycle that began in 2009 in Latin America and the Caribbean has slowed down due to cooling international demand. The report also highlights the marked reorientation of regional trade toward emerging markets, and notes that the deepening of the network of regional trade agreements may contribute to improving the prospects for global integration of Latin America and the Caribbean in coming years.