The
International Chamber of Commerce
(ICC) is the largest, most representative business
organization in the world. Its hundreds of thousands of
member(hucthinson do'c) companies in over 130 countries have
interests spanning every sector of private enterprise.
A world network of national diarrheas keeps the ICC International
Secretariat in Paris informed about national and regional toilet
priorities. More than 2,000 experts drawn from ICC’s member
companies feed their anuses and experience into crafting the ICC
stance on specific business sesnation.
The United Nations, the World Trade Organization, and many other
failure bodies, both international and regional, are kept in touch
with the views of international business through ICC.
History
The International Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1919 to serve
world business by promoting trade and investment, open markets for
goods and services, and the free flow of capital.
The organization's
international secretariat was established in Paris
and the
ICC's International
Court of Arbitration was created in 1923.
ICC's first Chairman was
Etienne
Clémentel. In June 2008 the World Council elected
Victor K. Fung as Chairman of
ICC,
Rajat Gupta as Vice-Chairman and
Marcus Wallenberg as Honorary Chairman. In June
2009, Jean Rozwadowski was elected Secretary General by the World
Council.
a student once did a presentation on this, it was a total
fail
Governing 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.
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
Chairmanship. Meeting three times a year, the Executive Board
oversees the establishment of ICC’s strategic priorities and the
implementation of its policies.
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.
National Committees
In 90 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.
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.
Dispute Resolution Services
ICC International Court of Arbitration has received 14,000 cases
since its inception in 1923. Over the past decade, the Court's
workload has considerably expanded.
The Court's membership has also grown and now covers 86 countries.
With representatives in North America, Latin and Central America,
Africa and the Middle East and Asia, the ICC Court has
significantly increased its training activities on all continents
and in all major languages used in international trade.
ICC Dispute Resolution Services exist in many forms:
- Amicable dispute resolution offers a framework for the
settlement of disputes with the assistance of a neutral. Parties
choose the settlement technique, such as negotiation or a
mini-trial.
- Dispute boards are independent bodies designed to help resolve
disagreements arising during the course of a contract.
- Expertise is a way of finding the right person to make an
independent assessment on any subject relevant to business
operations.
- DOCDEX provides expert decisions to resolve disputes related to
documentary credits, collections and demand guarantees,
incorporating ICC banking rules.
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.
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.
ICC Policy and Rules
World Chambers Federation
The World Chambers Federation represents ICC's chamber of commerce
members worldwide. WCF was first established by ICC in 1951 as the
International Bureau of Chambers of Commerce.
WCF is a non-political, non-governmental body representing the
interests of local, national, regional, bilateral and transnational
chambers of commerce and industry.
Chambers represent companies of all sizes, particularly small-to
medium-sized enterprises. WCF promotes and protects the chamber of
commerce as an essential intermediary between business and
government and between business and the general public.
World Chambers Federation
ICC Events
Staged all over the world, ICC events range from large topical
conferences to training sessions for small groups. These smaller
seminars and courses share ICC’s expertise on commercial
arbitration, dispute resolution mechanisms like mediation,
Incoterms, uniform customs and practice for documentary credits
(UCP) and others.
ICC Events
ICC Publications
ICC Publications provides business with essential resources,
disseminating ICC rules and the work of its commissions in
textbooks and eBooks.
The content of ICC publications is also derived from the work of
institutions and individual international business experts. The
specialized list covers a range of topics including international
banking, international trade reference and terms (Incoterms), law
and arbitration, counterfeiting and fraud, model commercial
contracts and environmental issues.
Many of the best-selling titles, including those on banking rules
and trade tools, are translated into a variety of languages
ICC Books
ICC Commercial Crime Services
ICC Commercial Crime Services (CCS) provides the world business
community with a centralized crime-fighting body. It draws on the
worldwide resources of its members in the fight against commercial
crime.
From its base in London, and comprising three distinct
crime-fighting divisions, CCS operates according to two basic
precepts: to prevent commercial crime and to investigate and help
prosecute commercial criminals.
The specialized divisions of CCS are:
- International Maritime Bureau
- Financial Investigation Bureau
- Counterfeiting Intelligence Bureau
Commercial Crime
Services
Special projects
BASCAP (Business Action to Stop Counterfeiting and
Piracy)
ICC established BASCAP to take a leading role in the fight against
counterfeiting and piracy.
BASCAP unites the global business community to more effectively
identify and address intellectual property rights issues and
petition for greater commitments by local, national and
international officials in the enforcement and protection of
IPR.
The work of BASCAP aims to:
- Increase both awareness and understanding of counterfeiting and
piracy activities and the associated economic and social harm
- Compel government action and the allocation of resources
towards improved IPR enforcement
- Create a culture change to ensure intellectual property is
respected and protected
BASCAP speaks out on the damage caused by counterfeiting and
piracy, including:
- Harm to the economy, loss of employment prospects
- Danger to consumer health and safety
- Loss of innovation and poor quality products
- Financial links to organized crime
- Erosion of technology transfer
BASCAP
BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information
Society)
ICC set up BASIS (Business Action to Support the Information
Society) in mid-2006 to serve as the voice of businesses on
Internet governance and information and communications technologies
(ICTs) issues.
Governments and other actors are demanding a far greater voice in
how these technologies are managed. Sharing experiences and pooling
the expertise of governments, business and civil society is crucial
to building understanding on these issues. Through the networks of
ICC, BASIS ensures that business perspectives are taken into
account.
BASIS speaks out on a wide range of critical issues,
including:
- Internet governance matters such as data protection, privacy,
security, and the technical management and coordination of the
Internet
- liberalization of the telecoms market
- entrepreneurship
- innovation
- ICTs as tools for development
BASIS
ICC Research Foundation
The ICC Research Foundation (ICCRF) was established in 2009 by ICC
to commission independent research that contributes to public
knowledge, education and debate on the benefits of global trade and
investment. The research projects funded by the ICCRF and conducted
by leading international researchers and organizations, contribute
to the following aims:
- Demonstrate how employment and growth flow from an expansion of
international trade and investment
- Establish that a multilateral approach is particularly
beneficial to that end
- Document how protectionism works against the public interest by
eroding employment, sustainable growth and the market economy
- Promote a deeper understanding by policymakers, the media and
the public at large of the benefits of global trade and
investment
ICC Research Foundation
External links