Category: Global Trade

Focus on the major trade agreements and policies that impact the food and beverage industry globally. This subcategory covers the latest developments in trade negotiations, tariffs, and regulations that affect the import and export of food products. Understand how agreements like USMCA, the European Union’s trade policies, and WTO regulations shape the global food market.

ABN AMRO Bank implements CBA’s IBAS transaction due diligence software, for trade finance compliance


Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

ABN AMRO Bank, the third-largest Dutch bank, has gone live using Commercial Banking Applications AS (CBA)’s IBAS transaction due diligence functionality, to help combat financial crime and ensure full regulatory compliance.

The platform underpinning this implementation is CBA’s IBAS GBF (Global Banking Factory), a software solution designed to streamline and automate end-to-end banking processes. The ABN AMRO Bank worked with CBA to apply this software across its global trade finance operations.

To enhance the bank’s capability to combat financial crime, satisfy internal and external audit requirements, and ensure regulatory compliance, the software includes:

  • Automatic monitoring: Tracks all trade finance transactions for suspicious activity.
  • Customisable rules: Allows banks to design and optimise due diligence structures.
  • Regulatory compliance: Meets both local and international regulatory requirements.
  • Audit trail: Provides a complete record of all due diligence activities.
  • Flexibility: Can be used alongside various IBAS banking products.

Frans Westdorp, Product Owner of Trade Finance at ABN AMRO Bank, said, “There are lots of new requirements and demands on the trade finance industry for which we have relied on our close partnership with CBA in evolving IBAS. 

“By automatically monitoring all trade finance transactions for consistency against historical information, we can quickly flag up anything suspicious that requires investigation and show a complete audit trail.”

The implementation follows a five-year agreement signed between CBA and ABN AMRO Bank in 2023, reflecting the bank’s attempts towards innovation in trade finance.

This partnership between ABN AMRO Bank and CBA represents a significant step towards enhancing compliance and risk management in the trade finance sector, setting a precedent for other financial institutions facing similar regulatory challenges.

Rolf Hauge, CEO of CBA, said, “Transaction due diligence is something every bank will need in the future as requirements from domestic and international regulators increase. ABN AMRO Bank is forward-thinking in using IBAS to automate the transaction monitoring and compliance process.”



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USMEF targets Indonesia for its ‘strong potential’ for pork growth



DENVER — Following a trip to Indonesia supported by the National Pork Board, the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF) reported strong potential for growing demand for US pork in the country.

With Indonesia being a primarily Muslim country, a large portion of the population does not eat pork. However, USMEF Chair Randy Spronk still sees a significant market for pork in the nation.

He estimated the population size to total 275 to 280 million people, of which approximately 85-87% are Muslim. The remaining percentage equates to around 35 to 36 million people.

“That’s Canada,” Spronk said, noting the size of the market for potential pork consumers. “And so, there’s still a lot of opportunity.”

Spronk views Indonesia as a long-term growth market.

“I think we were 1.13 kg per capita consumption,” he said. “It reminds me of Colombia, where you were low teens per capita consumption, where you actually came in and doubled the consumption over a 10-year period. I think it’s got great opportunities to be able to do that.”

There is currently no free trade agreement with Indonesia and a 5% tariff rate.

Finding success in the Indonesian market are Indiana soy growers, who have built strong relationships for providing protein in the market. Spronk believes this could be beneficial for US pork producers.

“Talking to the importer of the soybeans, they already have the logistics there to distribute soybeans to a multitude of islands to be able to have them process daily on each one of these items,” Spronk said. “That company was actually looking to get their beef import licenses, so I think that firm there has the logistics, has the infrastructure there.”

Though current volumes of US pork exports to Indonesia are negligible, USMEF reported an increase of market share from 11.5% in 2023 to 38.5% in 2024, largely due to reduced supply from the European Union.



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