Amcor Limited: Legal Aspect of International Trade Essay

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Regulatory Frameworks
Impact on Products and Services of Amcor Limited
Reference List

Introduction

In this paper, one of the Australian leaders in the sphere of packaging, the company Amcor, will be discussed. Amcor has a long history. Samuel Ramsden founded Amcor in the 1860s. The company’s employees and leaders did a great amount of work. In several decades, Amcor became one of the well-known multinational companies that succeeded in the packaging industry and served as a good example of how the combination of flexible and rigid segments should look like. Nowadays, it operates in Australian, New Zealand, some regions of North America and Western Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania (Amcor: about us 2016).

The company proves that packaging plays an integral role in everyday life and performs the function of a significant component of supply chains, a protector, and a safe marketing product (Amcor: sustainability considerations 2016). Nowadays, people cannot imagine their lives without packages: their products are packed in special containers, much food, and all beverages are packed in special containers even in supermarkets, and even their clothes could have containers. Packages become an integral part of many human lives, and Amcor makes everything possible to make this part of life easier, safer, and diverse.

The company also supports the development of such core values like safety, integrity, teamwork, innovations, and social responsibility (Amcor 2015 GRI report 2015). One of the most powerful aspects of the company is the fact that every employee believes in what they do. The packaging industry is changing all the time, and Amcor has to take several steps to consider the differences, use the sources available, and meet the expectations of customers and suppliers.

Amcor proves that the packaging industry should not touch upon the questions of quality and professional standards only. There are such issues as ethics, honesty, safety, and motivation that help the company to be one of the best representatives in the chosen sphere of business. Amcor has already implemented such materials as fiber polymers, metals, and ink in the development of its products (Amcor 2015 GRI report 2015).

Amcor provides people with several opportunities and promotes a safe and motivating working environment for more than 29,000 employees worldwide. To be more exact, in 2016, the number of staff globally includes 29,788 co-workers (Amcor: our workplace 2016). Today, it is hard to find a concrete number of people, who work at Australian offices. Still, it is said that more than 80% of all people, who are connected with Amcor, are the employees, who live and work in Australia at the moment.

The headquarters of Amcor is located in one of the suburbs of Melbourne, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia (Amcor: about us 2016). Still, the company also develops its services and relations with suppliers in more than 40 countries around the whole world. The movement of its headquarters to another country is not convenient for the company for several reasons including tax politics of different countries and the inability to develop trustful relations with suppliers that have already been properly developed in Australia.

Regulatory Frameworks

Amcor is the company that spends much time and pays much attention to the development of a sustainability framework that affects its work and the relations that could be developed globally. Regulatory frameworks play an important role in different spheres of business because they help to create the measurements according to which a company could develop its services, demonstrate respect to its country, and the rules citizens have to live under and correspond with legal and regulatory expectations set.

In the report, the impact of certain regulatory frameworks on the work of Amcor will be discussed to understand if operating in Australia is beneficial for the company. For example, the latest changes in Australian regulatory frameworks for packaging include the necessity to improve recycling and reduce litter volumes (Packaging impacts decision regulation impact statement 2014).

Amcor has all chances to benefit from such regulation because it could be introduced as a powerful and environmentally friendly organization with an ability to control its activities, manufacturing activities, and distributing operations. The regulatory approaches also include a fee on the companies in the packaging industry with the help of which the foundation of initiatives could be possible. Amcor should be very careful with fees and tax questions because the development of such issues could be the reason for some financial incentives and the necessity to introduce new designs, use appropriate materials, and stay recyclable under any conditions. Strong regulatory frameworks may serve a positive measure and help to promote the required resources of high quality.

Corporate tax issues are also important for Amcor as a multinational company in Australia. The point is that multinational tax avoidance remains to be one of the main problems for the Australian society, it is still legal in comparison to tax evasion that is defined as a crime (Keane 2014). Therefore, companies have to be careful with the line that separates avoidance from evasion to continue offering their services and developing their business. Still, in general, in Australia, multinational companies have to pay 30% corporate tax (but it can be reduced to a certain kind of a treaty) (Doing business in Australia n.d.).

The impact of tax issues cannot be ignored in Amcor. The point is that Amcor introduces its services and products in more than 40 countries in the whole world. The tax systems vary considerably from 10% to 40% (Amcor: FAQs 2016). The company has a specially developed Tax Risk Management Program with the help of which Amcor could mitigate the risks, ensure compliance, and meet all tax requirements.

Amcor focuses on meeting all standards that have been established in its native country as well as in the countries the company tries to establish its services. Products and services are usually checked to make sure that all regulatory requirements and standards are taken into consideration. Finally, Amcor does not neglect such regulatory frameworks as land tenure and collection capacity.

In general, the changes in the numbers of some of these frameworks could influence the company considerably the way the increase in cost could influence Amcor. The company knows about the possible threats and takes the necessary steps to avoid complications and get benefits from the activities made, services offered, and products sold.

Impact on Products and Services of Amcor Limited

In Australia, there are many trade agreements, conventions, and treaties with the help of which companies and governments could develop relations, establish rules and standards, and define the conditions under which profits and incomes could be possible for both parties. Several documents and conventions could influence the development of multinational companies and the promotion of their services and products in Australia. For example, free trade agreements and treaties help to create opportunities for businesses developed in Australia.

Investments and global support motivate companies and attract the attention of many people. Finally, developing covenants should also inspire people and make them competitive and enthusiastic in the chosen industry. In this report, five different agreements will be discussed to understand their possible connection with Amcor and its impact on the products and services offered by the company.

Amcor is a company that is located in Australia but develops business relations in different parts of the world. Still, New Zealand remains to be one of the closest and friendly countries for Australia. Closer Economic Relations (CER) is one of the well-known agreements between New Zealand and Australia within the frames of which the economic relations of these two countries are defined as the closest and mutually compatible (NZ-Australia closer economic relations 2016). This trade agreement provides Amcor with an opportunity to establish good partnership relations with several New Zealand companies and find customers, who appreciate quality, honesty, and trust (NZ-Australia closer economic relations 2016).

In addition to New Zealand, Australia has already established free trade relations with the United States (AUSFTA) in 2005 and with China (ChAFTA) in 2015 (Burnett & Bath 2009). The peculiar feature of these agreements is not only the possibility to sell and buy products and offer services with a minimum of losses but also proves that international sales of goods and services are possible on trustful and fair relations between a seller and a buyer. Contracts are signed, prices are fixed, and all parties can establish the conditions that are favorable for all of them.

As soon as Amcor sign contracts with different countries, it becomes a part of an agreement and gets the right to conclude sales satisfactorily. Amcor is free to buy the material from different countries and use the opportunities offered. At the same time, Amcor could be a seller of its products and services, provide its services and goods under its conditions, and choose the affordable prices. Such free trade agreements may become a serious issue that should be considered. The same ways of trading relations could be developed by other companies in Australia. Amcor is not the only company that can get benefits with contracts and agreements. There are no doubts that Amcor gets several opportunities with international agreements and treaties.

Therefore, the company should be competitive indeed to make sure that other companies could not offer some better conditions or services for the chosen countries. Amcor should motivate its people to introduce new and interesting ideas to attract the attention of other countries. Besides, Amcor’s employees have to investigate the markets of other countries thoroughly to find appropriate suppliers and save their money. In other words, free trade agreements may have double effects on the company: on the one hand, new opportunities and choices, and, on the other hand, new competitors and the importance of research.

In addition to trade agreements, there are such covenants as International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Australian Packaging Covenant. These two initiatives could also influence the products and services that Amcor offers in Australia and promotes them in other countries. For example, the ICCPR states that all people should be free from slavery or forced or compulsory work (Australian treaty series 1998). Such issues are highly appreciated by the leaders and managers of the company.

Besides, the ICCPR proclaims the importance to protect human rights and the possibilities of recognition everywhere. Such issues help people to protect their liberties and rights in any part of the world. Amcor is a global organization located in Australia, and the fact that the Australian government supports the ideas of freedoms and human rights proves that the company and all its representatives appreciate the rights of each other and the rights of people, who want to buy or use the services offered.

At the same time, suppliers and other potential stakeholders should understand how faithful and trustful the relations with Amcor could be developed. Potential workers should not be afraid to search for more working places at Amcor. Anyway, the ICCPR has several positive aspects of the services and products offered by Amcor because of the possibility to touch upon ethical issues and human rights.

Finally, there is the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC). It is a kind of initiative with the help of which the Australian packaging business could be improved and developed in a variety of ways. This document identifies the norms according to which recycling rates and litter issues are identified and discussed. People get interested in the ideas introduced in the document because it covers the agreement between the industry of packaging and the Australian government.

Amcor is a leading packaging company, and it cannot neglect the points discussed in the Covenant including efficient and recyclable resources, recovery sources, and the reduction of litter. Amcor should be an example for other companies on how to develop packaging business and respect the environmental, human, and even design rights.

The benefits of this document are evident for the company. Its employees and leaders learn what they can introduce, how they can improve their products, and what services could be offered to people. The company identifies the possible expectations of their customers, investigates what potential workers want to get with the company, and clarifies what could be expected from workers and customers.

All the above-mentioned treaties, agreements, and conventions help to understand one simple thing: the Australian government takes care of the quality of products as well as of the ethical aspects of the relations that could be developed between a company and its customers. Sustainability framework and legal regulations play an important role in the company. Amcor cannot just ignore regulatory regulations and stay ethically correct at the same time.

Therefore, such treaties, regulations, agreements, and other documents that create the norms for people and companies to be followed make such multinational organizations as Amcor competitive and stable. Amcor knows what should be done, what opportunities could be used, and legal rules and expectations of the country that should be followed by a company that works locally and globally. Australian business is stable indeed. Australian companies appear, develop, get improved, and continue offering their services or fall into pieces and disappear. Amcor is an example of how one person could create an idea and develop it through the ages following all obligations and meeting all expectations.