International

Organisations for Trade

Overview
International Trade Organizations
International Organizations And
Professional Groups

• International Chamber Of Commerce

(ICC)
• UN Commission on International Trade
Law (UNCITRAL)
• UN Conference On Trade and
Development (UNCTAD)

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Standard Setters As Part Of Multilateral
Agreements
 International Union of Credit and Investment
Insurers (Berne Union)
 Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD)
 Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC)
 World Customs Organization (WCO)
 World Trade Organization (WTO)

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Standard Setting, Coordinating And
Monitoring Agencies •
 International Monetary Fund (IMF)

 World Bank Group

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KEY DISTINCTIONS b/w The IMF & The
WORLD BANK
 The IMF oversees the world's monetary system's
stability, while the World Bank aims to reduce
poverty by offering assistance to middle-income and
low-income countries. 
 To maintain its mission, the IMF monitors economic
activity, offers members policymaking tools and
analysis, and also provides loans to member countries.
 The World Bank accomplishes its goals through
technical and financial support available to countries.

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Role of UNCITRAL
 Coordinating the work of organizations active and
encouraging cooperation among them.
 Promoting wider participation in existing international
conventions and wider acceptance of existing model and
uniform laws.
 Preparing or promoting the adoption of new international
conventions, model laws and uniform laws and promoting
the codification and wider acceptance of international
trade terms, provisions, customs and practice, in
collaboration, where appropriate, with the organizations
operating in this field.

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 Promoting ways and means of ensuring a uniform
interpretation and application of international conventions
and uniform laws in the field of the law of international
trade.
 Collecting and disseminating information on national
legislation and modern legal developments, including case
law, in the field of the law of international trade.
 Establishing and maintaining a close collaboration with
the UN Conference on Trade and development.
 Maintaining liaison with other UN organs and specialized
agencies concerned with international trade

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International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC)
 Founded in 1919

 Objective: To serve world business by promoting trade

and investment, open markets for goods and services, and
the free flow of capital
 Headquarter- Paris,.

 The organization's international secretariat was established

in Paris and the ICC's International Court of
Arbitration was created in 1923.

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 The International Chamber of Commerce was founded to
serve world business by promoting trade and investment,
open markets for goods and services, and the free flow of
capital.
 The ICC is the largest, most representative business
organization in the world.
  Its hundreds of thousands of member companies in over
130 countries have interests spanning every sector of
private enterprise.

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Organs of the ICC
 Regional offices in 140 countries in the ICC network
About 6.5 million companies Staff members About 200,
representing more than 30 nationalities

 Governing bodies
 • World Council • Executive Board • International
Secretariat • National Committees • Finance Committee

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Role of ICC – key activites
 Rule setting : ICC has unrivalled authority in making
rules that govern the conduct of business across
borders. (Although these rules are voluntary, they are observed in
countless transactions every day and have become part of international
trade.)

 Dispute resolution: ICC‘s administered dispute

resolution services help solve difficulties in
international business.

 Policy advocacy: ICC policies, rules and standards

are prepared by specialized working bodies.
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Membership
 There are two ways to become a member of the
ICC:
 1. Through affiliation with an ICC national
committee or group.
 2. By direct membership with the ICC
International Secretariat when a national
committee/group has not yet been established
in the country/territory.

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FUNCTIONS OF THE ICC
 1.Dispute Resolution Services
 ICC's administered dispute resolution services help solve
difficulties in international business. ICC Arbitration is a
private procedure that leads to a binding and enforceable
decision.
 The International Court of Arbitration of the International
Chamber of Commerce steers ICC Arbitration and has
received over 21,000 cases since its inception in 1923. 
 Over the past decade, the Court's workload has
considerably expanded.

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 ICC Dispute Resolution Services exist in many forms:
 Arbitration is a flexible and efficient dispute resolution
procedure leading to binding and final decisions subject to
enforcement worldwide.
 Mediation is a flexible technique, conducted privately and
confidentially, in which a neutral facilitator helps parties
to seek a negotiated settlement of their dispute.
 Dispute boards are independent bodies designed to help
resolve disagreements arising during the course of a
contract.

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 Expertise is a way of finding the right person to make an
independent assessment on any subject relevant to
business operations.
 Documentary Instruments Dispute Resolution Expertise
(DOCDEX)provides expert decisions to resolve disputes
related to documentary credits, collections and demand
guarantees, incorporating ICC banking rules.

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2. Policy and business practices
 ICC policies, rules and standards are prepared by
specialized working bodies. Normal procedure
requires policy statements first to be adopted by a
commission, in consultation with national committees,
and then approved by the Executive Board, before
they can be regarded as official and public ICC
positions.

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 Commissions examine major policy issues of interest to world
business. Each National Committee (NC) or group may appoint
delegates to represent it at meetings. Officers are appointed by
the Chairman and Secretary General in consultation with NCs.
Meetings of commissions are normally held twice a year.
 Task forces are constituted under the various commissions for
a limited period to undertake specific projects and report back
to their parent commission. Some task forces may include
representatives of more than one commission.

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3. ICC Commercial Crime Services
 ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) provides the
world business community with a centralized commercial
crime-fighting body. It draws on the worldwide resources
of its members in the fight against commercial crime on
many fronts.
 From its base in London, and comprising three distinct
bureaux, CCS operates according to two basic principles:
 to prevent commercial crime and
 to investigate and help prosecute criminals involved in
commercial crime.

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The specialized divisions of CCS are:
 International Maritime Bureau
 Financial Investigation Bureau
 Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau
 Fraud Net

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 ICC Governing Bodies

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Gov.Bodies…
 World Council
 ICC's supreme governing body is the World Council,
consisting of representatives of national committees. The
World Council elects ICC’s highest officers, including the
Chairman and the Vice-Chairman, each of whom serves a
two-year term. The Chairman, Vice-Chairman and the
Honorary Chairman (the immediate past Chairman)
provide the organization with high-level world
leadership.They play an important role in ICC section.

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 Executive Board
 Strategic direction for ICC is provided by its Executive
Board, consisting of up to 30 business leaders and ex-
officio members. It is elected by the World Council on the
recommendation of the Chairman.

 Meeting three times a year, the Executive Board oversees

the establishment of ICC’s strategic priorities and the
implementation of its policies.

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 International Secretariat
 The ICC International Secretariat, based in Paris, is the
operational arm of ICC. It develops and carries out ICC’s
work programme, feeding business views into
intergovernmental organizations on issues that directly
affect business operations.

 The International Secretariat is led by the Secretary

General, who is appointed by the World Council.

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 National Committees
 In 92 of the world’s nations, members have established
formal ICC structures called national committees. In
countries where there is no national committee, companies
and organizations such as chambers of commerce and
professional associations can become direct members.

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 Finance Committee
 The Finance Committee advises the Executive Board on
all financial matters. On behalf of the Executive Board, it
prepares the budget and regularly reports to the board. It
reviews the financial implications of ICC activities and
supervises the flow of revenues and expenses of the
organization.

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 ICC supports the work of the United Nations, the World
Trade Organization, and many other intergovernmental
bodies, both international and regional, such as G20 on
behalf of international business.

 ICC was the first organization granted general

consultative status with the United Nations Economic and
Social Council

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Something more on DOCDEX
 Parties may file a Request for a DOCDEX Decision for
any dispute relating to:
 a documentary credit;
 a standby letter of credit;
 a bank-to-bank reimbursement;
 a collection;
 a demand guarantee or counter-guarantee;
 a bank payment obligation (BPO); or
 any other trade finance-related instrument, undertaking or
agreement.

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 DOCDEX is a preferred dispute resolution method
because of litigations unlimited costs.
 You can feel confident that you receive a thorough
analysis and well-considered conclusion with DOCDEX.
Cases are decided by a panel of three impartial experts
having extensive experience in, and knowledge of, trade
finance transactions. These experts are specially selected
from a list maintained by our ICC Banking Commission.

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 A Technical Adviser nominated by the Commission then
personally reviews each decision to certify that it is in line
with ICC Banking Rules and/or international trade finance
practice standards. The entire process usually takes
between two and three months, compared to years with
court proceedings.

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 DOCDEX Decisions are kept private and rendered in
English. They are not binding unless the parties have
otherwise agreed and are not arbitral awards.

 However, anonymous DOCDEX Decisions are widely

distributed to enable practitioners to avoid common errors
leading to disputes while at the same time preserving
confidentiality.

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 Thank You

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