Market research

Sodium hydroxide (caustic soda); potassium hydroxide

(caustic potash); peroxides of sodium or potassium
Product Code: 2815

Belgium

February 2014

The Free-Expoort report is only available in English. Additionally we offer the 6-Digits
report that is available with the following languages: French, German, Italian and Spanish.
The 6-Digits report offers improvements that can be found on the following link www.expoort.com
Index

1. Overview of Belgium.........................................................3
1.1. Economic Information......................................................4
1.2. Policy and country risk Information.......................................6
1.3. Demographic Information...................................................7
2. Demand Information .............................9
2.1 Potential demand for the HS 2815 product.............................10
3. Supply information .............................12
3.1. Business directories and emarketplaces .............................12
3.2. Trade fairs and shows .............................13
4. Market access .............................14
4.1. Tariffs and taxes .............................14
4.2. Customs documentation .............................14
4.3. Commercial and trade laws .............................15
4.4. Patents and trademarks .............................15
5. Other countries with opportunity for the HS 2815 product.............................15

Disclaimer:
Expoort Free by Think About Export S.L. is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.expoort.com

“This Report is supported on data and information supplied by third parties. Consequently Think
About Export, S.L. does not guarantee such an information to be true and accurate. The contents
of this Report shall be considered as merely informative, therefore, Think About Export, S.L. shall
not undertake under any circumstances any liability resulting from either the use or decisions made
by yourself on the basis of this Report”.

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1. Overview of Belgium
Sources used in this section: Cia FactBook - www.cia.gov | World Bank Group - www.worldbank.org | International Monetary Fund - www.imf.org | US
Census Bureau - www.census.gov| Google Search - www.google.com| And personal compilation.

In the search for new markets, a company needs to get information of the country and sector,
such as the environment (location, size, climate, demography ...), the economic structure
(macro and micro data) and political and religious factors.

Belgium

Geography
Area total: 30,528 sq km
Climate:
temperate; mild winters, cool summers; rainy, humid, cloudy
People
Population: 10,444,268 (July 2013 est.)
Capital: BRUSSELS 1.892 million
-Major cities population: - Antwerp 961,000 (2009)
Lenguages: Dutch (official) 60%, French (official) 40%,
German (official) less than 1%, legally bilingual (Dutch and
French)
Life expentancy at birth:
-Male: 76.62 years
-Female: 83.08 years (2013 est.)
Government
Executive branch:
-King PHILIPPE (since 21 August 2013); Heir Apparent Princess
ELISABETH, daughter of the monarch
Type: federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional
monarchy
Administrative divisions:
-3 regions (French: regions, singular - region; Dutch: gewesten,
singular - gewest); Brussels-Capital Region, also known as
Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (Dutch), Region de
Bruxelles-Capitale (French long form), Bruxelles-Capitale (French
short form); Flemish Region (Flanders), also known as Vlaams
Gewest (Dutch long form), Vlaanderen (Dutch short form), Region
Flamande (French long form), Flandre (French short form);
Walloon Region (Wallonia), also known as Region Wallone
(French long form), Wallonie (French short form), Waals Gewest
(Dutch long form), Wallonie (Dutch short form)
Source: CIA FactBook

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1.1. Economic Information

Economy
Money: euros (EUR) per US dollar 0.7778 (2012 est.)
GDP (official rate): $484.7 billion (2012 est.)
GDP - by sector:
-Agriculture: 0.7%
-Industry: 22.3%
-Services: 77% (2012 est.)
Imports: $322 billion (2012 est.)
-Partners: Netherlands 20.9%, Germany 14.2%, France 10.6%, US
6.1%, UK 5.5%, Ireland 4.4% (2012)
-Commodities: raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemicals,
raw diamonds, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, transportation
equipment, oil products
Exports: $315.4 billion (2012 est.)
-Partners: Germany 18%, France 16.1%, Netherlands 13%, UK
7.3%, US 5.3%, Italy 4.4% (2012)
-Commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, finished
diamonds, metals and metal products, foodstuffs
Source: CIA FactBook

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

2010 2011 2012 2013

GDP growth (%) 1.8 -0.1 -0.1 1

Evolution GDP
GDP growth (%)

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Media
Media in Belgium
The Press

Het Nieuwsblad - Het Nieuwsblad - Dutch-language daily...

Het Laatste Nieuws - Het Laatste Nieuws - Dutch-language daily...

Le Soir - Le Soir - French-language daily...

De Standaard - De Standaard - Dutch-language daily...

De Tijd - De Tijd - business daily...

Television

RTBF - RTBF - French-language public broadcaster...

VRT - VRT - Dutch-language public broadcaster...

VTM - VTM - Dutch-language commercial broadcaster...

VT4 - VT4 - Dutch-language commercial broadcaster...

RTL - RTL - French-language commercial broadcaster...

Radio

RTBF - RTBF - French-language public broadcaster; stations include La Premiere, ...

VRT - VRT - Dutch-language public broadcaster; stations include Radio 1, Studio ...

Belgischer Rundfunk (BRF) - Belgischer Rundfunk (BRF) - German-language broadcas...

Source: BBC

Documents
Other financial documents on Belgium

BELGIUM International Reserves/Foreign Currency Liquidity - IMF

Belgium: Financial System Stability Assessment; IMF Country Report ...

Belgium: Detailed Assessment of Observance of Insurance ... - IMF

note:PDF linkable

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 1.2. Policy and country risk Information
Changes in the political environment may be important factors in the development of
international trade.

Policy
Political parties and leaders:
- Christian Democratic and Flemish or CD&V [Wouter BEKE] - Flemish Liberals and Democrats or Open
VLD [Gwendolyn RUTTEN] - Groen! [Wouter VAN BESIEN] (formerly AGALEV, Flemish Greens) -
Libertarian, Direct, Democratic or LDD (formerly Dedecker's List) [Jean-Marie DEDECKER] - New
Flemish Alliance or N-VA [Bart DE WEVER] - Social Progressive Alternative or SP.A [Bruno TOBBACK] -
Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) or VB [Gerolf ANNEMANS] - Ecolo (Francophone Greens) [Olivier
DELEUZE, Emily HOYOS] - Humanist and Democratic Center or CDH [Benoit LUTGEN] - Popular Party
or PP [ Mischael MODRIKAMEN] - Reform Movement or MR [Charles MICHEL] - Socialist Party or PS
[Paul MAGNETTE] - other minor parties
Political pressure groups and leaders: Federation of Belgian Industries
Disputes - international:
none
Source: CIA FactBook

Country Risk assessment:

Country risk is the degree of "danger" or collection of risks associated with political risk,
economic risk, exchange rate risk, sovereign risk, and other factors about related to foreign
investment.

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Agreements between governments favour certain exchanges of interest for both signing
countries. It is locate threats and opportunities derive from the political situation.

Political information Documents on Belgium:

Documents
Other policy documents on Belgium

Politics of Belgium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Category:Politics of Belgium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Politics of Belgium
note:linkable

1.3. Demographic Information

Population, evolution of the age pyramid, economic index as a GNP or GDP, or any interesting
features that conditions our product and / or service in the destination country.
Age Pyramid:
People
Population growth rate: 0.05% (2013 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth:1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years:1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years:1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years:1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years:0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over:0.72 male(s)/female
total population:0.96 male(s)/female (2013 est.)
Source: CIA FactBook

Graph

Male Female
Population in milions Source: US Census Bureau

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Sociological aspects:
Culture conditions habits and consumer behaviour. Language, education, attitudes, values,
religion, ethnicity are variables that must be taken into account in our internationalization
strategy.

Religion
Ethnic groups:
- Fleming 58%, Walloon 31%, mixed or other 11%
Religions:
- Roman Catholic 75%, other (includes Protestant) 25%
Literacy:
definition:age 15 and over can read and write
total population:99%
male:99%
female:99% (2003 est.)
Source: CIA FactBook

Other demographic documents on Belgium:

Documents
Demographic documents on Belgium

Demographics of Belgium - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Belgium Demographics Profile 2013 - Mundi

A statistical overview of the Belgian population - About Belgium ...

Belgium | Data - The World Bank

note:linkable

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2. Demand Information
Sources used in this section: UN Comtrade - comtrade.un.org | European Commission - Trade Wesites - trade.ec.europa.eu | International Monetary Fund
- www.imf.org | Google Search - www.google.com| And personal compilation.

Much of the information in this report, is based on Combined Nomenclature, of the Common
Customs Tariff and Integrated Tariff of the European Communities (Taric)
The Combined Nomenclature (CN) is the tariff and statistical nomenclature of the Customs
Union. The Common Customs Tariff is the external tariff applied to products imported into the
European Union (EU). The Integrated Tariff of the European Communities is referred to as
Taric.

Taric incorporates all EU and trade measures applied to goods imported into and exported out
of the EU. It is managed by the Commission, which publishes a daily updated version on the
official Taric website.

Each CN subheading has an eight digit code number. The first four and six digits refer to the
harmonised system (HS) headings and subheadings. The seventh and eighth digits represent
the CN subheadings. The ninth and tenth digits represent Taric subheadings.
The more digits have a CN, the product is more specific.

For example:

SECTION XI TEXTILES AND TEXTILE ARTICLES

CHAPTER 61 ARTICLES OF APPAREL AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES, KNITTED OR CROCHETED
6105 Men's or boys' shirts, knitted or crocheted
6105 10 -Of cotton
6105 20 -Of man-made fibres
6105 20 10 - -Of synthetic fibres
6105 20 90 - -Of artificial fibres
6105 90 -Of other textile materials
6105 90 10 - -Of wool or fine animal hair
6105 90 90 - -Of other textile materials

The heading 6105 (Men's or boys' shirts, knitted or crocheted ), this 4 digits, includes a group of
products containing the subheadings...10, 20,90...

However, a subheading like a 610510 (of cotton), six digits, refers only to a specific product
(Men's or boys' shirts, knitted or crocheted of cotton)

For more information, access: TARIC EU

The Free-Expoort report does not show information about competitors.

The 6-Digits report analyzes the main countries where your competition exports.
For more information about the 6-Digits report, visit the following link
www.expoort.com or check the table at the end of the document.

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2.1 Potential demand for the HS 2815 product
It seeks to establish the import capacity of the country, through the imports and exports
statistics. How much HS.2815 product Belgium import?

Period Trade Value Trade Quantity

2006 $156,190,761 965,375,454

2007 $181,155,999 824,196,125
2008 $217,532,265 855,852,157
2009 $201,807,135 450,464,124
2010 $142,454,686 409,655,090
2011 $188,115,647 No Data
2012 $144,948,740 390,418,350
* Estimated quantity shown in italics Source: UN Comtrade

Evolution imports
in milions

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 Top 10 countries from with Belgium imports the HS 2815 product:

Partner Trade Value Trade Quantity

Germany $74,908,778 195,253,668

Graph
Netherlands $25,009,296 116,807,902
France $21,756,286 38,676,210
USA $11,767,827 15,941,435
United Kingdom $5,099,293 13,226,610
Italy $2,412,248 3,557,982
Poland $2,200,472 4,241,427
Spain $817,973 1,370,736
Other Asia, nes $454,757 806,400
Finland $144,565 173,397
Source: UN Comtrade

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3. Supply information
Sources used in this section: eMarket Services - www.emarketservices.com | LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com | Doing Business World Bank Group -
www.doingbusiness.org| TSNN - www.tsnn.com| Bvents - www.bvents.com| Google Search - www.google.com| And personal compilation.

Next, it is necessary to study the global supply of the destination country, such as company
research, competitors, suppliers and potential customers.

Highlights to consider:

3.1. Business directories and emarketplaces

Emarketplaces and directories

Belgium business directories

GoTranslators - MAIN ASP ....

IHB - MAIN ASP ....

Bobex - MAIN ASP ....

PEFA.com (Pan European Fish Auctions) - MAIN ASP ....

Docu-AIS - MAIN ASP ....

Golden Pages (Yellow Pages) Belgium

Belgium Yellow Pages - YP.com

White Pages Phone Book - Address search and search people in ...
note:linkable

In the 6-Digits report you could found a list of companies about your export destination country.
These companies may be potential customers, distributors, wholesalers, importers, partners, etc.
For more information about 6-Digits report, visit the following link www.expoort.com
or check the table at the end of the document.

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3.2. Trade fairs and shows

Trade Shows
Events in Belgium

SOLIDS Processing and Handling

27.03.2013 - 28.03.2013 - every two years
Antwerp Expo (Bouwcentrum), Antwerp, Belgium
www.easyfairs.be

Health Care
01.10.2014 - 03.10.2014 - every two years
Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium
www.health-care.be

Brussels Innova
14.11.2013 - 16.11.2013 - every year
Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium
www.brussels-innova.com

ENERGIES+
15.11.2013 - 17.11.2013 - every year
WEX (Wallonie Expo), Marche en Famenne, Belgium
www.energieplus.be

RENEXPO® Bioenergy Europe

29.06.2011 - 30.06.2011 - every year
Albert Hall Complex, Brussels, Belgium
www.renexpo-bioenergy.eu

RENEXPO® BIOENERGY EUROPE EXHIBITION

29.06.2011 - 30.06.2011 - every year
Albert Hall Complex, Brussels, Belgium
www.renexpo-bioenergy.eu

EWEA (formerly EWEC)

10.03.2014 - 13.03.2014 (Barcelona) - every year; set rotation pattern in Europe
Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium
www.ewec2011.info/

ESTETIKA
08.10.2011 - 10.10.2011 - two times every year
Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium
www.estetika.be
Source: TSNN,Auma, others and personal compilation

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4. Market access
Sources used in this section: European Commission - Trade Wesites - trade.ec.europa.eu | Doing Business World Bank Group - www.doingbusiness.org |
Google Search - www.google.com| And personal compilation.

This is another key point in reaching new markets, especially in third countries (outside the
EU). Some variables to be consider:
- Harmonized system (HS):
It is the harmonized product identification number.
- Duties and taxes:
Tariffs are levied on goods imports and exports, well as other derivative taxes. To locate this
information, you need to have the HS product.
- Customs documentation:
Centered on necessary documents that accompany the product in an import and / or export,
and that relates to approvals and legislative aspects.

4.1. Tariffs and taxes

In our 6-Digits report will find an analysis of market accessibility:

tariffs, taxes and specific documentation. For more information about 6-Digits report,
visit the following link www.expoort.com or check the table at the end of the document.

4.2. Customs documentation

Export Documents Import Documents

- Bill of lading - Bill of lading
- Commercial invoice - Commercial invoice
- Customs export declaration - Customs import declaration
- Packing list - Packing list
Source: Doing Business World Bank Group

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 4.3. Trade barriers
Market barriers for countries outside the EU:
4.3. Commercial and trade laws
Trade Barriers
Economy
Title Laws
/ Sector / Last Update
Comercial and trade Laws

Commercial and Company Laws

Loi du 19 décembre 2006 transformant le Code des taxes assimilées au timb...

Arrêté ministériel du 12 septembre 2005 portant exécution des articles ...

Wet van 14 juli 1991 betreffende de handelspraktijken en de voorlichting en...

MORE LAWS
note:linkable Source: Doing Business World Bank Group

4.4. Patents and trademarks

Contact Information
National IP offices

Legal Information Statistics

Joined WIPO in 1975
National IP laws and regulations (WIPO Lex)
Membership of WIPO treaties and Treaties notifi...
Membership of WIPO bodies
IP statistical profile: (patents, utility models, t...
Number of domain name disputes:Complainant | Resp...
Cooperation
Technical assistance activities: Beneficiary | Host
WIPO meetings

* Source: World Intellectual Property Organitzation (WIPO)

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5. Other countries with opportunity for the HS 2815
product
Sources used in this section: UN Comtrade - comtrade.un.org | Google Search - www.google.com| And personal compilation.

Top 10 countries that import HS 2815 product, in the last three years:

Partner Trade Value Trade Quantity

Australia $1,818,330,694 9,136,058,419
Brazil $1,306,460,658 6,928,265,280
USA $793,436,650 2,048,013,311
Canada $468,297,992 951,963,258
Netherlands $452,721,182 2,588,229,048
France $393,628,492 472,452,392
Finland $353,412,767 1,583,717,186
Belgium $333,064,387 390,418,350
Sweden $297,002,506 690,734,899
Italy $289,377,570 844,666,361
Source: UN Comtrade

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Evolution in millions of dollars of the leading importers , of the HS 2815 product, in the last
years:

Evolution top country dollars imports

in milion $

Evolution quantity imports of the leading importers, of the HS 2815 product, in the last years:

Evolution top country quantity imports

number of units

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