Raw materials for the production of gluten-free products investigation

The food allergy and allergen control are important for global health concerns. Latent allergens are a paramount problem in the specialized food products. Cross-contact and post-cleaning contamination are the main sources of these problems. According to the norms of the Technical Regulation Custom Union N 027/2012 and the Codex Stan 118-79 standard, the gluten content in food products should not exceed 20 mg / kg of the product. The purpose of this study was to analyze raw materials for the gluten-free food products manufacture to justify the HACCP system implementation. The samples of gluten-free flours were selected as research objects to assess the cleanliness of storage, transportation and production facilities in factories producing gluten-free products. In this study, we analyzed the samples of gluten-free flours to assess the cleanliness of storage conditions, transportation and industrial premises in gluten-free factories. The results showed that when using raw materials stored under improper conditions an increase in the gluten content in the final product is observed. We concluded that the gluten-free flours storage conditions in a room with gluten-containing raw materials are unacceptable, because the final product will have high gluten content. Thus, this product cannot be marketed as gluten-free. In addition, we analyzed the washes from the equipment after baking cookies from these flours. We found that in order to comply with regulations, it was necessary to conduct 3 consecutive washing

The Effect of “Brexit” Uncertainty on The FTSE 100 Index and The UK Pound

We investigate the impact of the uncertainty surrounding the United Kingdom’s proposed departure from the European Community (“Brexit”) on financial assets. We conduct an event study around the November 14th 2018 draft withdrawal agreement. Our motivation was that the economic impact of the various political permutations that persisted throughout the negotiation period were both measurable and distinct. The probability of each Brexit scenario that was discussed varied over the political discourse. Using opinion poll data we investigate the event impact on both the FTSE 100 and the UK Pound. We found that, in accordance with existing academic evidence, asset prices discounted the weighted probabilistic economic impact of likely outcomes. We observe, however, that this impact was not as immediate as theory suggests. Interestingly, currency markets had the greater sensitivity. Our conclusions have important implications for the pricing of country risk premia in general and the European Union in particular. Key takeaways: 1) Asset prices were slow to discount the weighted probabilistic economic impact of Brexit risk. 2) Currency markets had the greater sensitivity to changes in Brexit risk. 3) Country risk premia can be impacted by perceived changes in custom union.

The Influence of East African Community’s Cargo Clearance Procedures on Trade Facilitation in Rwanda

Trade facilitation is any process involved in the reduction in trading costs associated with enforcement, regulation, and administration of trade policies. This process intended to lower the related transaction costs for firms in global commerce thereby enabling continued growth in cross border trade in goods and service. Trade facilitation is a diverse and challenging subject with potential benefits for both private business people and governments at national, regional and international levels. Governments initiated a trade facilitation reform programme following complaints about widespread corruption and poor administrative practices. The reform programme included the implementation of single-point clearance and mechanism, the introduction of risk assessment procedures and the publication of customs nights and responsibilities in export clearance. The empirical literature indicates that, none of the study has been conducted in Rwanda to assess how the EAC custom union procedures improved the trade facilitation in Rwanda. To conduct this kind of study is very important because it helped to describe the extent at which cargo clearance procedures, tariff charges and other institution factors influence the trade facilitation in Rwanda. Rwanda is a land-locked country, facing tremendous difficulties in accessing major markets in the regional as well as in the rest of the world. These difficulties emanated from high transport costs owing to the fact that she has no direct access to the sea. Rwanda has been continually showing deficit in export and imports compared to other neighbouring partner states in EAC. Since there is no data about the procedures and systems applied by the individual partner around the boarders/Customs in Rwanda, the study therefore intended to analyze the influence of customs union on trade facilitation for Rwanda resulted from regional integration signed by the East Africa community. The results from the survey show that 0.83% strongly disagreed, 2.51% disagreed, 0.83% was not sure, and 42.3% agreed that they appreciate the cargo clearance procedures at the customs and 53.53% strongly agreed. The results from the survey revealed that majority of the respondents appreciate the cargo clearance procedures. The results further revealed that, the few cases where there is delay in the clearance originates mainly on the description on the rules of the origin. This is because to some products it becomes hard to determine the proportion of imported material in the mixture of the manufactured products. The results from the survey revealed that before EAC, each country used different clearance documents with different way of clearing the goods and description of the goods, but ever since the establishment of the EAC, all countries use the documents and same description of the goods. This helps in simplifying the clearance procedures of the goods since every trader knows what is required. The Partner States agree to simplify their trade documentation and procedures in order to facilitate trade in goods within the Community. The results from the survey revealed that the level of bureaucracy in the clearance of goods is low as evidenced by the majority of the respondents. This helps in reducing the time traders spends at customs during clearing and hence enhancing trade within the member state.

The Birth of the Soviet School of European Integration Studies. Part 2

The first part of the article shows that in the mid-1960s some Soviet researchers of the European integration problems concluded that integration did not correspond to the Leninist-Stalinist theory of the general crisis of capitalism. On the contrary, it corresponded to some Western concepts of the custom union, the common market, and economic integration. A new approach to the European integration studies was offered by the Institute of World Economy and International Relation (IMEMO), established in 1956. For many decades IMEMO was serving as the focal point for the European integration studies, and was providing the Soviet leadership with analytical information. The number of inquiries from authorities increased significantly. Firstly, it can be explained by the achievements of integration. Secondly, it was due to the growth of economic cooperation between the USSR and the EEC. Thirdly, Moscow defined new foreign policy priorities towards Western countries including Europe. There were two turning-points of bilateral relations: with France – in 1966, and with Germany – in 1969. The Organization for security and cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was established during final session of the top-level Conference of European States in Helsinki in August 1975. Fourthly, experience of the EEC was relevant for the COMECON

Bilateral trade and tourism relations between the EU and BSEC countries

The European Union and the Black Sea Economics Cooperation countries are geographical neighbors and important trade partners. Greece, Bulgaria and Romania have a cross-membership in both organizations. The paper analyzes trends and structure of trade relations of the EU and BSEC countries. The EU trade with the 12 BSEC countries is about 640 billion dollars. The BSEC countries with the EU membership or a custom union with the EU have more intra-industry trade with the EU than other BSEC countries. International tourism is an important component of the trade in services between the regions. Following the review of the factors of international tourism demand, a gravity model for tourism arrivals is presented. The model considers demand in the country of origin, international tourism capacities in destination countries and distance. The analysis helps to determine under-traded and competitive destinations in the BSEC countries for the EU travelers. Greece is the most efficient in attracting the EU tourists. Finally, country-specific differences in demand factors are considered.

Türkiye İçin Gümrük Birliği’ne Alternatif Bir Pazar: İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı / An Alternative Market to European Union for Turkey: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation

<p><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p>Increasing competition in the world by the help of globalization has directed countries to cooperation with other countries and interregional organizations. Nowadays competition in foreign trade is becoming more and more challenging due to globalization process and countries use the most important alternatives, economic integrations to export and import. The new idea of creating new regional alternatives to increase foreign trade for Turkey is becoming more important day by day. Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) which is being created under the leadership of Turkey has an important share on Turkish foreign trade after G20, OECD and Customs Union. Though OIC has occupied an important place in Turkish foreign trade it is least known and this study searches whether OIC can become an alternative in future. In order to answer this question, the performance analysis of foreign trade was conducted with the help of macroeconomic indicators while the analysis of foreign trade compliance was held with the help of international foreign trade indices. As a result of foreign trade compliance analysis it is concluded that importance of Organization of Islamic Cooperation is increasing every day. Though foreign trade between Turkey and Customs Union reduced, foreign trade between Turkey and OIC increased and that result shows that Turkey turns his face to markets of OIC. However foreign trade between Turkey and OIC can just be alternative to Custom union in further years.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Öz</strong></p><p>Küreselleşmeyle birlikte dünyada artan rekabet ortamı 2008 küresel ekonomik krizinden sonra dünya ülkelerini ülkeler ve bölgeler arası işbirliğine doğru yöneltmiştir. Küreselleşme sürecinde dış ticarette rekabetin her geçen gün zorlaştığı bir dönemde bugün ülkeler, dış ticareti gerçekleştirmek için en önemli seçenekleri olan ülkeler ve bölgesel arası ekonomik bütünleşmeleri kullanmaktadırlar. Yeni yeni bölgesel ekonomik bütünleşmelerle dış ticareti arttırmak için alternatifler oluşturma düşüncesi, Türkiye için önemli hale gelmektedir. Türkiye’nin öncülüğünde oluşturulan İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı (İİT) Türkiye’nin dış ticaretinde G-20, OECD ve Gümrük Birliği (GB) ile dış ticaretinden sonra en önemli paya sahiptir. Bu çalışmada Türkiye’nin dış ticaret payında önemli sırada yer almasına rağmen az bilinen uluslararası ekonomik kuruluşlardan İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı’nın zamanla Gümrük Birliğine alternatif olup olmayacağı sorusuna cevap aranmıştır. Bu soruya cevap verebilmek için çalışmada dış ticaretin performansı analizi makroekonomik göstergeler ve dış ticaretin uyum analizi ise uluslararası dış ticaret endeksleri yardımıyla yapılmıştır. Dış ticaretin performans analizi ve dış ticaretin uyum analizi sonucunda Türkiye için İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı’nın önemi her geçen gün artmaktadır. Türkiye’nin Gümrük Birliğiyle olan dış ticaretinin azalmasının aksine İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı ile dış ticaretinin artması Türkiye’nin İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı alternatif pazarına yöneldiğini göstermektedir. Fakat Türkiye ile İslam İşbirliği Teşkilatı arasındaki dış ticaret ancak zamanla Gümrük Birliğine iyi bir alternatif olarak değerlendirilebilir.</p>

INVESTMENTS IN AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND ITS EFFICIENCY IN UKRAINE

One of the major conditions of effective agriculture production is sufficient farm mechanization. However, the unstable economic situation in Ukraine, combined with bureaucratic problems, an unstable currency exchange rate, and sharply changed trade routes (which has caused major losses to a number of farms and traders working with the Custom Union) created significant obstacles for investing in machinery in Ukraine. It is especially topical for small and medium farms that usually function in poor economic conditions without any adequate access to the credit market. Consequently, Ukrainian agriculture producers often have an inadequate mechanization rate. As a result, the productivity of Ukrainian farms is significantly lower as compared to other countries that have similar natural conditions in terms of temperatures, precipitation and quality of agricultural lands.A no less important problem is the lack of awareness of small and medium farms, which may not realize the effect that investment has in agriculture machinery. Thus, in order to provide specific numbers for potential investors and prove the efficiency of this fund placement, an expected direct economic effect from machinery investment (as an increased profit from higher yield) was estimated. The first step was to define those types of agricultural machinery that have significant impact on the yield and productivity levels for each of the most important crop types: grain, oil crops, vegetables, fruits, etc. Then, an impact of additional investment in various machinery means on crops yield was estimated. Finally, based on fixed prices and a discount rate, an expected additional profit generated by newly purchased machinery on an average farm was estimated. The model proved especially high profitability of investment in such machinery as ploughs, fertilizers spreaders, harvesters, tractors, and machines for irrigation – most of them are paid off (on a land parcel with area around 2000 ha) in three years or less.