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June 2022 Volume II

As summer approaches in the Northern hemisphere, we continue our business advocacy and active engagement across July, with two major briefings we will organize for our stakeholders, including one on OECD accession on 6 July for our business constituents and another one on food security on 13 July. More details on these events follow below, and we also invite you to stay up to date with our latest activities and forthcoming events that we present to you in our Update below. 
Business participation in the Fourth Ministerial Summit on Productivity of the OECD Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Program
 
Through our Brazilian observer organization, the  Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI), business was represented in the Ministerial Summit on Productivity that was jointly organised between the OECD and the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 23-24 June. CNI headed our delegation ensuring that business is represented in the discussions at Ministerial level on how to boost productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Additionally, Vivo (Telefônica Brasil) Director of Institutional Relations Tiago Machado, participated in the panel on productivity in the post-COVID world: upgrading human capital and adapting to telework, showcasing the global reach of Business at OECD.
 
 
At the June 2022 Ministerial Council Meeting, OECD member countries adopted Roadmaps for the future accession of 5 applicant countries – Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Peru and Romania. In this context, we are pleased to invite our business members to join our 'Business Briefing on OECD Accession: Leveraging pro-market reform in prospective member countries.'
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This virtual session, taking place on Wednesday 6 July, will explore how the global business community can provide comprehensive and constructive private sector input through Business at OECD.
 

Working Party of the OECD Trade Committee
 
Earlier this month, business representatives from our Trade committee participated in a session of the OECD Working Party of the Trade Committee, which took place in a hybrid format on 16-17 June 2022. The event included an update on recent trade developments, including the effects of the Ukraine crisis, and discussed new work on export restrictions affecting the availability of critical raw materials for the green transition. Additional items addressed the sectorial expansion of the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index sector, trade facilitation, and the reorganization of Global Value Chains in light of global economic shocks, among others.

Upcoming: Peace for Food - Virtual Stakeholder Dialogue
 
Responding to shocks for food security, demand and supply by multi-layered crises, we are pleased to invite you to join us virtually on 13 July, 15:00-16:15 pm Paris time, for a virtual stakeholder dialogue to address the challenges and private sector solutions for global food security.
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This first introduction event of our project titled “Peace for Food” will aim to involve all stakeholders in the search for solutions to the compounding crises threatening the stability of global food markets. It will also serve as a scene-setter for our upcoming Business at OECD high-level Roundtable event on global agricultural markets in early October.
 
Contact: Rokas Morkūnas
Register now

Business delegation attends nanotechnology meetings
 
This week, a delegation of our Nanotechnology Expert Group led by Chair Karin Wiench (BASF) is participating in the session of the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials in Paris and virtually. The meeting features exchanges on the recent development of new nanotechnologies, exposure management and mitigation, risk assessment and regulatory programs, as well as relevant OECD Test Guidelines, among other topics.

In this context, our delegation will also join International NanoHarmony & NANOMET Workshop taking place at the OECD on 29-30 June.
 
 
Business considerations on the follow-up to the stocktaking exercise of the OECD MNE Guidelines

Earlier this week, we participated in a number of dedicated consultations with the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct. The meetings addressed options for follow-up to the recent stocktaking of the OECD MNE Guidelines, including targeted updates of the instrument, and ways to improve the promotional activity of National Contact Points, which are supporting the implementation of the Guidelines.

Our comments underlined the importance of ensuring that any potential changes have clear added value, are proportionate to the potential impact that they may create, do not generate unintended consequences and are workable, realistic and implementable for multinational enterprises of all sizes on the ground.
 
Contact: Ina Sandler
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Business engagement in the OECD June Competition Week
 
Last week, members of the Business at OECD Competition Bureau participated in the annual June Competition meetings. Our Committee chair, John Taladay, headed our delegation and business was represented in all roundtables that discussed relevant topics such as Market Power in the Digital Economy,  Disentangling Consummated Mergers, Regulation in the Provision of Local Transportation Services, Interim Measures in Antitrust Investigations, and Integrating Consumer Behaviour Insights in Competition Enforcement.
 
Business at OECD called on governments to engage closer with the private sector in the area of competition since closer cooperation is crucial to continue promoting open market economies that boost economic growth.
 
 

OECD Work on Blockchain
 
Next month on 11 July, our Blockchain Expert Group will hold a webinar 'Overview of the OECD work on Blockchain”. We are delighted to invite interested participants to register for the webinar, which will take place virtually from 15:00 pm - 16:00 pm CEST.
 
The webinar aims to showcase recent work by the OECD on Blockchain. In the first session, we will hear from the Head of Blockchain Policy at the OECD, Oliver Garrett-Jones, about the overview of the OECD Recommendation on Blockchain and other Distributed Ledger Technologies, which was adopted earlier this month. In the second session, Mr Garrett-Jones will provide detailed information on the upcoming OECD Blockchain Forum 2022, to be held on 28-29 September at the OECD in Paris. Both sessions will be followed by Q&A.
 
Contact: Hiroki Tamura
Register now
News from our members
TDI22: Industry takes a clear stance on the geopolitical turning point
On the occasion of industry day (TDI), BDI President Russwurm emphasizes in his speech that it was wrong to accept dependencies as a price for cost advantages and economies of scale – just as wrong as the renunciation of our own investments in German defense capability: "We saved the fire brigade because we considered the fire risk to be negligible. Now it's burning brightly."
(Article in German)
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How can companies make the energy transition a success?

The Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (FEB) organised a round table discussion today on a crucial theme: the energy transition of the manufacturing industry. This transition is essential to drastically reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, which are at the root of climate change. FEB brought together various industrial actors to discuss their transition projects, but also to listen to their questions and, as far as possible, to answer them.

(Article in Dutch)

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Temperatures soared in Geneva and so did the WTO!
 
Despite a shaky start, the WTO negotiators delivered a historic trade deal on June 17. After hours of negotiations, the 164-country organization adopted the “Geneva Package” with commitments on some very difficult issues, including pandemic response, intellectual property, fisheries, food security, electronic commerce and institutional reform.
 
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Hybrid working makes the world of work better
The world of work has improved as a result of the shift to hybrid working models – almost half of people in Germany agree with this statement (44.8 percent). This is shown by a representative survey by the opinion research institute Civey on the occasion of today's #futurework22, the festival on the future of work by Microsoft Germany and the Federation of German Employers' Associations (BDA).
(Article in German)
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