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Tax Policy: How Inclusive Is The OECD's Inclusive Framework?
January 12, 2021 by theonlinetaxguy 0 Comments
A participant stands at the OECD headquarters in Paris during the presentation of the Economic … [+] Outlook at the 2013 OECD Week on May 29, 2013. AFP PHOTO ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)
Martin Hearson of the International Center for Tax and Development and Emmanuel Eze of the Nigerian Federal Inland Revenue Service discuss the role and influence of developing countries in the OECD's inclusive framework.
This post has been edited for length and clarity.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Thank you so much for joining me today on our podcast, Martin and Emmanuel. I wanted to ask Martin about your joint research paper on the inclusive framework, and then Emmanuel about his experiences with the inclusive framework as a delegate representing Nigeria.
Let me start by asking Martin: Can you please explain your paper and the title, which is "At the Table, Off the Menu? Assessing the Participation of Lower-Income Countries in Global Tax Negotiations."
Martin Hearson: It's a play on this slogan that I keep hearing at pretty much every conference on tax and development that I go to, which is if you're not at the table, you're on the menu. It's a slogan that came from the campaigners who said there should be a intergovernmental global tax body.
They said that developing countries are not at the table at the OECD. That means they're on the menu, which means they're going to get eaten, metaphorically at least, by the OECD countries.
Then what happened was a couple of years ago I noticed that OECD Center for Tax Policy and Adminstration Director Pascal Saint-Amans had co-opted the term. He was starting to say, "Well, look, we've created the inclusive framework. Developing countries are at the table now. So, we agree with what the campaigners were saying and we fixed it."
Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD centre for tax policy and administration talks during a … [+] press briefing at the OECD headquarters in Paris, on June 7, 2017,prior to the signing by more than 60 countries of the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) during the annual OECD forum and OECD ministerial meeting / AFP PHOTO / ERIC PIERMONT (Photo credit should read ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)
Yet, at the same time, you had campaigners and some critical reports coming from the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), for example, saying, "Well, there's this inclusive framework, but it is not really very inclusive." In fact, the ATAF reports that I'm thinking of from a year or two ago ran with this metaphor of "at the table, off the menu" quite extensively, discussing the ways in which the developing countries may be at the table, but the menu was still not quite inclusive enough.
We thought it would be great to inject a bit of objective research into this debate, to try and get inside a little bit what happens inside the inclusive framework. We looked at what could be done to make it work more effectively, given that I think everybody acknowledges that developing countries aren't always able to be as influential as we would like.
I would say that I think it's not that the OECD secretariat and the OECD countries don't want developing countries to be more effective. I think everybody realized for the inclusive framework to work, there's got to be a sense from the countries that are part of it that they're really getting something out of being part of it.
From an academic perspective, I feel that I listened to people talking about the OECD, saying "The OECD has done this. The OECD has announced that," in a very non-specific way. I think too often when we say that, what we're meaning is the OECD secretariat and we're not teasing out the fact that, well, is it the member states? Is it the committees and the working parties? Or is it the Center for Tax Policy and Administration in this? Or is it the secretariat as a whole? I think looking inside a bit at the way things work from academic perspective was something I've been keen to do for a while.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Emmanuel, would you like to weigh in on what this phrase means to you being on the table, off the menu? How did you feel about that phrase?
Emmanuel Eze: The phrase is an interesting one. It's a phrase which is not unpopular within the tax policy circles in Africa and the world generally. It's a phrase I'm used to. The phrase for me reflects the experiences we have had, mostly coming from developing countries and trying to negotiate tax policy reform at a global level.
It used to be the case that we were said not to be on the table, but on the menu. That metaphor, with the establishment of the inclusive framework, is maybe not 100 percent reflective of what is happening now.
We are on the table right now. We're on the table, whether as a diner or the dinner, eating in equal ration with other members of the inclusive framework, is still left to be seen. I've had the privilege of having a scan through the research and many issues raised by the research are practical reflections of the experiences we have on the field as well. It's quite an interesting topic for an interesting research paper.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Martin, tell us more about this research, how you designed it, and what your findings were. Could you just walk us through?
Martin Hearson: The design is really a 2020 design. It had to be changed a little bit. What we originally wanted to do was in order to interview people who had experience inside inclusive framework negotiations, we were going to go to Paris. The OECD secretariat were going to help us gain access to the kind of perimeter of an inclusive framework meeting and just grab people during the coffee breaks.
Then when COVID-19 happened, it changed completely the design. Actually for us, it's been this shift to a world where you just email someone and say, "Can I arrange a meeting with you next week?" They write back and say, "Sure. Do you want to use Zoom or Teams?" It has been great.
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We managed to speak with 48 people. Most of those people actually had experience directly either in international organizations or representing countries. We also had data from the OECD secretariat about the attendance at different meetings. That enabled us both to do some analysis of the numbers, but also to cross-reference with the people we wanted to talk to to know who would have been in which meeting when particular decisions were taken so that we could be more specific in the interviews.
We also relied very heavily on an important and influential source of information, Tax Notes International, which was a great source just for being able to pick up on some more detail about what was going on at the time when discussions are being undertaken.
What we wanted to do was to get away from discussions about generalities and be more specific. We identified particular cases where there were policy decisions that have been taken and it was suggested that developing countries had been actively part of that decision. For example, country-by-country reporting was adopted during the base erosion and profit-shifting project process or more recently discussions on how to value intangibles.
We identified the eight case studies that we wanted to look at. We asked our interviewees specifically, what evidence can you give us that developing countries or lower-income countries did things which changed the outcome?
One of the things that came out was that sometimes the answer is, "Well, there wasn't much." We had to say, "Well, in some of the instances that are commonly attributed to lower-income countries, when you look at it, actually it's the actions of other people that led to these outcomes which people think have been beneficial for lower-income countries." With that in mind, we then came up in the findings with these four categories of influence.
We talk about two categories in which low-income countries are quite passive. It's other agents who are acting, whether that's other countries or whether that's secretariats or individuals who've identified things they think will be to the benefit of lower-income countries. Then two mechanisms in which it's lower-income countries themselves, whether that's through coalitions that they form at state level or the actions of particular individuals who go maybe above and beyond the influence you'd expect them to have given the size of their country. The discussion in the paper is around when do those mechanisms work really well and when do they work less effectively?
In the recommendations we wanted to point out a couple of things. One is the emphasis on having a large number of countries at the table and trying to get them all participating is not necessarily the way that it's going to work best. What's going to work best is that you have a few people who are able to speak on behalf of a broader constituency. The aim should be to try and build up that small number of representative really effective negotiators, because that's how it works amongst the OECD countries, too.
The other thing is then about the formation of blocs and how we can support more collaboration amongst lower-income countries to develop an agenda that they share about what it is they'd want to see different and then to work together to try and push for that, whether that's at the OECD or the U.N. or elsewhere.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Martin, please tell me what surprised you most about your research.
Martin Hearson: There's a couple of things that I learned in the interviews that I found quite interesting. The first is about the steering group with the inclusive framework. I asked people, "How is the steering group arrived at? What determines who's on it?" For a long time at the beginning when I interviewed people who had a fair bit of experience on the steering group, I got the impression that it was basically handpicked by the secretariat and they just decided who was on there. Then someone said to me, "Oh, no. No, they're elected." It was very hard to get a clear answer from anyone as to how the steering group is composed.
But it turns out yes, they're elected. I think how it works is there's a slate that the secretariat puts together and then the vote is "yes" or "no" on that slate. But it kind of surprised me that even people who were on the steering group didn't quite know how they'd got there, and that they're there in a personal capacity.
When you actually look at the steering group of the inclusive framework and you compare it to the U.N. Tax Committee, given that the steering group is often the most intense negotiations of the inclusive framework, it's the same thing. It's 24 or 25 people in a personal capacity, not officially representing their countries when they speak. Half of them are from OECD countries, half of them not. It's very similar to what the U.N. committee looks like, even though the big distinction that's often made is that the people at the U.N. committee are there in a personal capacity and that the OECD it's the states. That whole distinction was very interesting for me.
The other thing that came up quite a bit was actually about the African bloc. Quite a few people mentioned it. Somebody said, "I'm from a developing country, but we're not in Africa. We can't expect to have the same influence that the Africans have because they work as a bloc and my region doesn't." I think that African strength is really clear.
Map of Africa with Countries on blue digital background. All source data is in the public domain: … [+] https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-cultural-vectors/
The other thing that people said about this was there have been occasions on which smaller OECD countries have been unhappy with something that's been proposed or on the table, or even agreed in the past, but they've either not been able to influence or they've actually just not spoken up. And it was the Africans who pushed on something and got something changed. Only afterwards did they find out that there was more support in the room from places they didn't really expect it to come.
My sense is that this whole discussion talking about lower-income countries as if they face unique challenges — some of the challenges they face are unique. But actually in many ways what's happened with the inclusive framework is the exacerbation of a dynamic that was already there in the OECD, which is that smaller countries with less well-resourced bureaucracies sometimes also face challenges trying to influence outcomes. That to me was quite interesting and useful to break down that developing country distinction a bit.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: That raises some questions for Emmanuel, drawing from Nigeria's experience in the inclusive framework. What has it been like for Nigeria to participate in this multilateral body? It's a new body. As you said before, it's evolving. How has your experience been?
Emmanuel Eze: It is the truth that some initiatives which are currently attributed to developing countries were not originally started off by developing countries in the level of the inclusive framework. However, some of those initiatives, which we found to be beneficial to us as developing countries, we do champion.
Take country-by-country reporting (CbCR), for instance. This year, CbCR is currently under review. Nigeria and some other developing countries are participating strongly in that review. Part of the recommendations which we are making is about how the thresholds, which have hampered most of our members from accessing CbCR, could be reduced to maximize access to the relevant information.
The CbCR initiative was originally championed by the U.K. It's nevertheless very important to us in assessing high-level BEPS risks or transfer pricing risks. We are championing that to try to level the grounds for developing countries, to try to reduce the threshold so that even when developing countries have access to the information, they have access to information that are relevant to their jurisdiction.
Because it is said that the companies, the multinational enterprise groups (MNEs) that meet that threshold of up to €750 million that operate in our jurisdiction are fewer. If the threshold, for instance, is reduced to €500 million, we have more of those companies or MNEs captured in the reports, so it is important to us.
Another point I want to briefly reply to in the context of the question you asked me is about numbers. Yes, there is a need for effective representation. But effective representation does not at all times mean the numeracy or the size of the countries that are attending a given meeting.
For instance, Europe has the G5. The G5 comes on and says, "Most of the things that I need to say are to cover the interest of not just the five countries who are G5, but most of the European countries as well." But it does not stop other countries in Europe from attending these meetings as well. Why so?
It is important because in some instances you are in these meetings and people are asked to just speak up about their views. When we're talking about speaking up, they may just be like, "I support this direction. I support this decision. I support this program." If you have two people saying, "I support this program," and then 20 people saying, "I support this other program," the practical reality is that the secretariat would definitely accord more interest to the greater number of people saying, "I want us to go in this direction," than just perhaps Nigeria and South Africa saying, "I want to go to this direction."
There is strength in numbers. That's all I'm trying to say. It's played itself out in various engagement within the level of inclusive framework.
Then there's another issue which was raised by the paper concerning our willingness as developing countries to easily adopt a U.N. initiative including Article 12 in the treaty model and also including them in our tax treaties that are adopting the CbCR. It is important to point out that from practical aspect of our reality, many African countries or developing countries do not have access to CbCR today. It's not because it is not of interest to us. The cost of putting in place the process that enables you to access CbCR is simply prohibitive. That is not to be said with Article 12 that was included by the U.N. In adopting the article, all you need is to insist that it be part of your treaty when negotiating treaties, so it doesn't come at extra cost. That is a major difference between the two approaches or attitudes to options by developing countries.
Bringing it down again to our general experience in inclusive framework, having worked alongside the Nigeria representative Mathew Olusanya Gbonjubola and having attended meetings and worked in the different papers, I would say that so far the experience is that we win some, we lose some. We have been able to move a couple of things in our favor. We have been able to hold the line sometimes where it matters most, not just for Nigeria, but for developing countries where there is still a lot of work to be done. A lot of work to be done in convincing our sister nations.
It is also important that the high-income countries recognize that it's not always about your interests as a country. It's also important to look at the bigger picture. The bigger picture being that people get their fair share of taxes, especially as it concerns international transactions and international business. That's it for us.
Do we have challenges? Yes. We have challenges. We have lots of challenges. Challenges ranging from the cost of attending those meetings — when we have to attend them physically — among other things. We think there's room for us to gain more using the platform.
Martin Hearson: Can I add a bit to what Emmanuel said about country-by-country reporting? I think it's really interesting. In the paper we contrast country-by-country reporting, which is a decision taken in the BEPS process at the OECD with the Article 12(a) adopted by the U.N. Tax Committee. The contrast isn't really about the fact that one's an OECD instrument and one's a U.N. instrument. It's about this mechanism that we call anticipation. When a reform emerges, which hasn't been put on the table by developing countries themselves but by somebody else thinking in their interests, what determines how successful it is?
New York, USA: United State Headquarters with the members flags erected on the poles.
I think what you see with country-by-country reporting is exactly as Emmanuel was saying in that there's not actually at the time it was proposed, but now that it's out there, this data exists, developing countries really want to get their hands on it. But because the delivery mechanism and the reporting mechanism was designed without them being really actively implicated in the discussions as much as they perhaps might be now, the outcome was country-by-country reporting, but it had several key elements in the design that made it significantly more difficult to access and less useful for lower-income countries.
That's why so far the uptake has been quite limited. As Emmanuel says, there's real desire to get their hands on this data and for the data to be reported in a way which is more comprehensive. I think it demonstrates that having lower-income countries involved from the beginning of a discussion and therefore setting an agenda based on the things that they are interested in pursuing is really important.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Running with the CbCR example, Emmanuel, it's encouraging to hear that that Nigeria is starting to become more actively involved with the review of the standard because it has been five years and we are in the middle of reviewing Action 13. How confident do you feel that this time around Nigeria's concerns will be taken into account when the review is finished?
Emmanuel Eze: In the inclusive framework, Stephanie, we work by concessions, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Right? Well then, the primary point to be made is that — I won't tell you specifically how the outcome will be because it's an ongoing work. But I believe that having worked and followed up with the work that the inclusive framework that the outcome would be such that it will reflect various positions for different members as agreed by these members.
We are positive that the report will be agreed by all. We are also positive that the inclusive framework will take into consideration concern from lower-income countries like Nigeria and the rest.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Martin, let me ask you: What recommendations then does the paper include? Seeing as the inclusive framework is still an evolving body, what can be done to increase the inclusiveness of the framework?
Martin Hearson: We kind of make three categories of recommendation and the first two categories are not specific to the inclusive framework. They are applicable equally to U.N. committee and other environments.
The first is a focus here on building the quality of negotiators rather than the quantity of participation. That means designing interventions that look at which of the countries that are really investing in the capabilities of their negotiators, Nigeria being a really good example. What can donors and international organizations and others do to help make the space for people like Emmanuel to be as active as possible in these environments? To build their own networks and skills so that they can become the most effective negotiators that they can be?
One of the things we picked up in our conversations is the fact that it's really critical that negotiators have a sustained period of time in their roles representing their countries in order to build that experience and those networks. It doesn't come overnight. In quite a lot of countries, one of the problems is the turnover of staff. People are either moved around inside the bureaucracy, or they leave to go out of the public sector.
In those situations, it can be difficult for the country to maintain consistent representation. There's a bit of work on the part of countries to be done, but also on the part of donors to support that. Not for all countries, for some of the most strategic countries, which are acting leaders within coalitions.
The second point we make is that because one of the things that we think comes across is that the most successful reforms are ones which are built on the experience of lower-income countries. If you look at the digitalization discussions, which are a really good example of this, it tends often to be that the agenda of development donors and also the broader international community starts from what's being discussed at the OECD and maybe the U.N. Rather than, what's going on in lower-income countries? What are they doing themselves, or what could they do themselves?
If you start there instead, from the bottom up, then you can start to work out what actually is going to work practically in lower-income countries. They can start to learn from each other. Then you can start to build a platform or an agenda for saying, "Well, here's how international tax rules could be changed to reflect what we already know works."
I think that's one of the things that country-by-country reporting, for example, didn't do very well. It came out of nowhere from the top down, and that's partly why the design of it in its current form doesn't really work for lower-income countries. If there'd been some experimentation in countries, first of all, you would have got to something which would look a bit more like something that is useful for countries.
So, that's what the second thing is about — getting more cross-fertilization amongst developing countries and more coalition formation. If you look what happens in trade negotiations, you have this big ecosystem of different coalitions. Some of them are long-standing blocs that have decades of experience and go beyond just trade, and some of which form around really specific things such as agriculture. We need the same thing for tax. We need this more diversity of coalitions that have formed around particular priorities.
We also make some recommendations about what could be done differently inside the inclusive framework specifically. There's kind of quite a lot there, but just a couple of things that's worth saying: I think one is not everything that is being discussed in there is either a high priority for lower-income countries or actually something which realistically they're going to be able to exert a significant influence over. There could be a better prioritization effort that's done there. When there are particular discussions that are of real significance and potential for lower-income countries, there could be a slightly different approach that has a longer timeframe that focuses on translation, which is something that comes up a lot into particularly French and Spanish, of all the documents and meetings. There's more investment in building capacity.
One of the other things that we talk about in this area is that a lot of the capacity-building work or the technical assistance that's focused on the negotiations tends to be about trying to bring everyone up to speed on the basics. You get pre-meetings and inductions, that make sure that all the representatives from developing countries who are quite new know what's going to go on in the next day's plenary session.
But what you really need is interventions, which are designed to go a bit beyond that and to help the people that already have that knowledge to go to the next level of really being able to influence, to work out together strategically what they can do and how. Whether that's the OECD secretariat's job or someone else's job is to be discussed a bit more. But I think that's the other intervention that seems like it would be a smart thing to do right now. ATAF is already doing quite a lot of that. Maybe Emmanuel can talk a bit about the way that AFAT works in the run up to working party meetings, for example.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Yes. Emmanuel, would you like to weigh in on that?
Emmanuel Eze: Actually, Martin has covered most of the grounds on why it's important to have that to make the inclusive framework more inclusive. There are two parts to it. There are duties which the developing countries themselves must do, one of which is sending in your best people, sending your best skilled person in international tax. If you do not have one, you should probably be proactive in trying to train one. It is good we get this person trained by donor agencies or by other interested international groups. But the training you give your staff, you give your representative yourself, also counts. We have to get those priorities right. That's number one.
Then number two. If they get such people on the table, those people themselves should also be able to intervene on issues. Sometimes you see people come to the proverbial table and they sit quietly. Some other times you see the working parties calling for the technical inputs by way of written procedure. People don't contribute. No matter how effective you are, no matter how trained you are, if you did not put in your contribution, it goes for naught. That is for the developing countries, in my view.
Then, for the developed countries, it is about tolerance. It's about accommodation. It's about looking at the bigger picture. I believe that the inclusive framework could be a program to achieve many, many good things both for developed and developing countries. But the parties must always be willing to give and take. That's what negotiation is all about. You give some, you take some, then you try to balance the stakes.
ATAF played important roles in our involvement in international discussion around tax policy reforms, generally as developing countries. As appointed, ATAF goes a long way in trying to aggregate views from members and the members transcend membership of the inclusive framework.
You have a situation where African countries not necessarily in the inclusive framework are able to make the issues through ATAF or representation through ATAF, CBT, and other forums. But then it's also important that the developing countries themselves participate in ATAF activities. ATAF activities include from aggregation and trying to aggregate these views to also trainings and other associated events. Again, no matter how hard ATAF tries, if the countries themselves do not avail themselves of the opportunities, I think there's not too much ATAF could achieve at the end of the day. Those are my thoughts.
Martin Hearson: I think we have a slightly different conclusion to Emmanuel about one of those points, actually, which is if you're a country that doesn't have a large technical capacity and you only have one person, I think it's a strategic question. Does it make sense to throw yourself into these global tax negotiations and to take that capacity away from your other priorities domestically?
I think one of the lessons we've felt that our research showed was that for some countries, it seems quite logical to stay outside of the big global negotiations. To work within the regional coalitions instead, and not to try and get yourself a seat at the table if you know that you're not going to be able to eat, if that's the right way to use the metaphor.
We spoke to people from some countries which are not members of the inclusive framework, where the revenue authority people very much said, "We don't think this is the right place to invest our resources right now. We've made that case to our finance ministry. We've won in that internal argument. It's not that we aren't in favor of multilateralism or not that we don't want to do international tax. Just that we aren't able to devote sufficient resource to participating in this way for it to make sense for us to join."
Emmanuel Eze: If I may, let me clarify that I don't see much difference between our two points. What I have said is if you need to send your representative to the inclusive framework, you have to send the best you can. If you don't have one, you can train one. If you cannot train one, there are other channels through which you can participate. That's the whole essence of what I have said.
I pointed out there are other venues, including ATAF. Apart from ATAF, there are other regional tax organizations. In West Africa, we have the West African Tax Administration Forum. By having the interaction in this various forums, you should be able to make your views known.
There's also a channel for bilateral engagement. For Nigeria, I know that if a neighboring country or an interested African country turns to Nigeria and says, "Nigeria, this turns out to be our view about this issue. Please, could you help us present this issue?" Nigeria will verbally do that. I believe we take that on and run with it.
Interaction with each other, interaction with the subregional and regional organizations, for those who cannot participate at global level, it's one aspect of participation and it could as well have its own influence. That's my point.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Thank you for clarifying. This conversation brings up in my mind a question about communication. Of course, because of the pandemic lockdowns, we're all on Zoom, we're all on Teams.
How have virtual communications helped or hindered multilateral negotiations and should this continue after the pandemic's over?
Emmanuel Eze: It's an interesting question because it has its pros and cons. For starters, it is good to the extent that the cost of traveling is reduced for developing countries. The cost of traveling and the cost of engagement with the various working groups in Paris is quite prohibitive. It's been pointed to as one of the reasons why most developing countries are not participating at the optimal level. That's one good aspect of it.
Then there's also the issue of sometimes, in the course of our work, you learn by participation. One of the things that I've seen when it went virtual is that more of my colleagues are able to join these meetings because the cost is practically low. You have more revenue staff or the staff who may tomorrow be in the position to actually represent countries in this were attending virtually. It may be heavy, but I tell them they get experience as to what goes on in this world. They also get experience as to what is being discussed. Some of them also get exposed to the technical papers and documents, which implies indirectly the capacity that's actually being built. That's another point to be made about that.
But then when you get down to negotiations, if you have attended physical negotiations and their virtual negotiations, you see the difference is significant. It is better to get more done looking at someone's eyes than looking through the screen. It's better to understand someone's position, like matters pointed out before. You could pull one by the side lane and try to explain your position to them rather than through writing. Most of this communication that leads to groundbreaking agreement in negotiations are done by chitchat, just explaining yourself, talking, looking at each other's eyes, and gauging the sincerity of what is being proposed.
But when you deviate from procedure, everything is secret. You send it across maybe your boss, you have to look at it, remove or add one or two things. I send it over. The other boss does the same. It's more difficult from my point of view to get things done virtually than to get them done physically.
Going forward, I'm hoping that when the COVID-19 challenge is finally over, that as next steps, they could adopt a mix of the two. You could have your head leader or head negotiators attending these meetings physically, while the subordinates and others who are supporting the work could join in virtually. With that, you get best of virtual and the best of physical. Because your head lead or the lead of the negotiators would still be the one that would make the final call. One of the other subordinates who maybe attends virtually will get the benefit of also following the work and then getting acquainted with the meetings and how it works for capacity-building purposes. That's my view.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: OK. I think you're right that we will have a hybrid. It seems to make sense since we know we are now capable of doing a lot of things virtually. You are right to point out that there are a lot of things that cannot be accomplished virtually that happen in coffee breaks and in the hallways. I mean, that's where a lot of negotiations happen, really. I think you're right that a hybrid approach will be adopted after this is all over and we meet again. Martin, what do you think?
Martin Hearson: Yeah, I think that analysis is right. I mean, it definitely came up in conversations where you had that. People mentioned ATAF quite a lot as having been — ATAF delegations, we speak to them in the coffee breaks. Often that's when we find the most productive conversations with them. I think that's definitely the case.
I think another sense I have is that for all the benefits in terms of cost of not having to travel to Paris, there is a downside, which is the negotiators from lower-income countries especially are, when they go to Paris, often simultaneously having to stay on their computers and manage work back home because they're not in roles where they can just clear their week to focus on being at the OECD. That's sometimes a bit of an inequity between those negotiators and those from OECD countries who it's a bigger part of their job to participate in the OECD. I think if you're not physically taking yourself to another place, it can be harder to communicate to everybody else that you are busy with something else. I would imagine that's kind of what some people said to us that the virtual meetings can, in that sense, be a bit more tricky sometimes.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Yeah, it's difficult to strike the right balance then. Too bad we can't all be in the same place at the same time all the time.
Emmanuel, I had a quick question for you about how much time you spend. How do you divide your time between your regular work plus inclusive framework work and multilateral work? How do you divide that time?
Emmanuel Eze: I've continued to say "Capacity, capacity, capacity." Because it turns out to be one of the most challenging things that we have as developing countries. It is difficult to balance your work within the context of your service to the revenue agency, and then your work at the global level. It is difficult.
Sometimes you just have to go home with work. You work at night, you work over the weekend, you work on Sundays. Because if there's a deadline and there's a need for you to contribute to technical documents, you must contribute to the technical documents.
Finding balance is not an easy task. It's one of the challenges we have. We are pushing. We are continuing to push to see that more of our colleagues are brought up to speed and also trained to represent and to help out fairly often. It is a task, but we are doing it. What are the options?
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Let me just ask you one last question before we go. How optimistic are both of you about the future of truly inclusive multilateralism and why?
Emmanuel Eze: I would say I'm optimistic. The global tax landscape is changing. It's evolving. I know that as time goes on, the inclusive framework that we have today will move to take care of concerns which have been raised by many about its inclusiveness and move to become more effective, more equitable — more in comparison of who's developed and developing nations. My perception is that of optimism. I want to be optimistic about the future.
It's also important to point out that the inclusive framework is solving a problem, which ordinarily existed prior to its founding. It may not have solved all the problems, but it's not true to say it's not solving some of these problems. We are just hoping that as time goes on, we are able to achieve more, realize more, and then take the organization to the greater level.
Martin Hearson: I think we have to be optimistic. Right? I'm sitting in the U.K., which right now doesn't feel like a beacon of multilateralism with Brexit and everything. But, we have to be optimistic. I would say in terms of this particular situation that the onus really rests on the lower-income countries themselves is my impression. We can talk about it in terms of the global institutions and what can be done there and are they going to become more effective and will they evolve in the way that Emmanuel talked about.
But I think it's down to the lower-income countries themselves to build that capacity, to build that collaboration, and make of the existing institutions what they will. If that's not going to work, then to set an agenda for reshaping those institutions.
There's things that others of us can do, whether it's donor organizations or the secretariats or the other member countries. But I think to be optimistic, we have to actually look at the new generation of negotiators coming up, and that's partly why I'm pleased to have Emmanuel here with us. I think there's a great amount of talent visible amongst negotiators from lower-income countries. I think the objective has to be to help develop those people who have got many more years of negotiating in them and can really be the ones who create something better in the future.
Stephanie Soong Johnston: Well, thank you for ending on that positive note. Thank you both, Emmanuel, Martin, for your time and your insights. I really enjoyed talking with you today.
Emmanuel Eze: Thank you, Stephanie.
Martin Hearson: Thanks for having us.
This article was originally published by Forbes.com. Read the original article here.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If you're a cinnamon fan then this is the one for you. It's actually based on a Cinnamon funnel cake - what's a funnel cake I hear you ask? Well it's essentially the love child of a doughnut and a cake… sounds good right? Well it is!! And with big sweet and spicy flavours in a 60% VG mix, it's a juice that's tough to get bored of.


A conversation with a professional marketing manager and how their company sells new products into big retail stores.
Catalpha: I'm talking with Tracy today. She is the Retail Marketing Manager for a large consumer health products company. Tracy, if you could tell me a little bit about what your responsibilities are?
Tracy: Sure. My responsibilities are to build out the marketing programs within retail. So that's creating the tools for the stores, whether that's indoor events or signage or it could be coupons.
I'm driving traffic to the store in the Sunday paper, and driving traffic to the aisles and increase the sales in the stores. As well as working with each individual retailer on their marketing program.
And part of that is supporting our sales team and getting them the tools they need to make sales calls, trade shows and trade ads to sell our products into stores.
Catalpha: Wow, that's a lot on your plate. Do you occasionally do sales calls with the sales people?
Catalpha: Who are these people that you're going to see. What's their title?
Tracy: They are the buyers for that particular category where we are trying to place our product. So if we're going to try to meet with a buyer to get additional therapy products in, we'd be meeting with the first aid buyer, for pain products, we'd be meeting with the top analgesic buyer. Or if it's foot pain, it's going to be the foot product buyer.
And the reason we do that is to lay out the all-encompassing marketing plan and how we're going to support our product launches. Also to get more information on what kind of marketing plans and what marketing initiatives each retailer has.
Catalpha: These are big box chain stores, is that correct?
Tracy: Yeah, I mostly go to the bigger ones. Our team really goes to all size retailers. We have a team for independents, pharmacists, running stores, all the way up to the big box retailers.
Catalpha: So you're targeting all sizes and kinds of stores?
Tracy: Yes, our team goes out to regional grocery stores, then we have different trade shows that target more of a regional mid-size retailers, and the larger ones. So yes, our team goes to all of them.
Catalpha: Okay. And I'm making an assumption that a smaller chain would have fewer buyers, or maybe they have one buyer?
Tracy: Sometimes small chains – even some larger ones, they share categories. So the same buyer would be for our therapy products and maybe even the foot products depending on the chain where some larger ones might have different buyers for each product.
Catalpha: How hard is it to get in front of a buyer?
Tracy: It depends. Usually there is a review period. For instance Walmart is definitely harder to get in front of. For our therapy products, they haven't even reviewed the category for the past few years.
So this is the first year that we got in front of them. So it can be harder. Typically they go one review a year. We have one opportunity to get in front of them a year.
Catalpha: How far 'out' do they buy? Do they buy for the following year?
Tracy: Usually. I would say it's depends on the retailer. But four - six months out.
Catalpha: I know that Walmart is obviously harder to get into but do most stores welcome people with new products? Are they eager to look or is it difficult?
Tracy: They're definitely trying to stay on top of trends and make sure their category has new products and it's profitable. So when they walk the trade shows that we go to (and exhibit at), that's what they're looking for.
They're looking for the next new thing. Sometimes, like for our foot pain therapy kit, which I think is a great example. Where packaging was key on that.
Previously that product had been presented, but this year we got a lot of interest on it and it's the same product that they've been presenting, and the packaging was completely different.
So I think for that particular product it was new packaging with fresh creative that created the interest. For that category it was something different. They're used to seeing creams and lotions that are typical – or like the insoles that are typically in the foot category. So, yes, they're definitely looking for new products.
Catalpha: Okay, for somebody that hasn't seen that product before, this is two existing products that are packaged together and marketed as a solution for foot pain. That was different than what you normally see with your creams, well, mostly creams I would imagine.
Tracy: Yes. Usually that category has the wort creams and the anti-fungus type stuff. So it's definitely a different solution for pain that they currently don't have.
Catalpha: What kind of factors does a buyer think of when they're considering a product? What's going through their heads?
Tracy: I think they're looking at their set and seeing if there's any possible gaps where they could increase their sales or draw attention to that category. I think that's the main thing.
Obviously they're trying to make their set profitable and keep it new and innovative. But also keep the consumer coming back.
Catalpha: Do you think it's easier to go in and sell one product or is it easier to sell a series or a line of products?
Tracy: That's a great question, I think it depends on the category. I think – as we've been finding out — for beauty products, you need to go in with a complete set.
They wouldn't want to add just one or two items for the beauty category. They want a complete and different line of products with coordinating fragrances in the different products lines.
So for that instance having a set is better. But for topical analgesic products, it's such an over-SKU'd category, there's already a lot of products in there. And sometimes it's hard to find room.
So getting five items in that set would be very difficult. If you had one or two I think it would be a little bit easier.
Catalpha: Okay, I guess the financial side of this is a big factor as well. Do they know that you have suggested retail pricing? Do they (the stores) follow that? When they look at a product, do they say, I have a better margin on this particular product than I have on somebody else's. Does that come into play?
Tracy: For our products, I think we're doing a pretty good job of managing that and getting the retail prices pretty similar, other products of ours are a little more all over the board.
We know the margins that they work off of so it's part of our pricing strategy. If we're giving it to them at this cost we obviously have a certain margin that we need to make. And we wouldn't try to gauge where it's going to end up.
Catalpha: So how does aisle signage play into this? Is that something that you offer as an incentive to them? ...to the buyer? Or does it depend on whether they have room? How does that normally work?
Tracy: Well, we work with News America on our in-store signage and there are certain stores that are already pre-authorized with them. So, we know we can go into Rite Aid, Kroger, Walgreens and they already work with News America.
So if it's a standard shelf talker, a standard size, we can just do it. Of course we're always going to show our buyer we're working with and make sure that they're on board, too. But we technically don't need to get approval from them.
If it's a customized POP, like our therapy product piece, where you touch and feel the item, they still have to get approval because it's out of the standard realm of what those marketing departments have allowed in store.
A lot of stores are clean signage and they're trying to keep other signage minimal. For example, Walmart is not on News America's list. But if we come up with a compelling signage that we want to support our brand, what we would have to do is design that, have a conversation with the buyer.
If she's going to approve that, then we can get News America involved to merchandise it in the stores. We do that a lot when we're presenting. That's part of our support.
We're big in our education, educating the consumer. Part of that is at the shelf. So we always pitch that as something that we would do to help launch the products.
Catalpha: Okay, I know we've done sell sheets for you in the past. How important are those? Is that meant as a leave behind or a reminder? How does that normally play into your pitch?
Tracy: A couple of our teams use them in different ways. Inside sales - the people that are selling – trying to get prospects and start-ups like independent running stores or independent pharmacies, they use them in their emails and direct mail. They might include a sample with it, they might walk into the store and leave it behind.
And then as far as our retail team, they're used mainly for trade shows or we send them out with samples. But retailers already know samples are coming. So mainly for retail, it's trade shows and having them as something to reference and to be used as a conversation starter.
Catalpha: When you're preparing for a buyer meeting, how do you determine what's best to present?
Tracy: A lot of times what we're doing is brainstorming and then we see what sticks with the buyer and what they like. Because obviously they know their stores and their consumers the best.
So we like to have a couple of ideas, but we're just trying to get an all-encompassing marketing program so we give our products the best chance to succeed. I'll meet with the brand team or the product team making sure that we have a French style website for Canada, social media will be in place, we have PR in place.
And then I'm working on doing, trading with the in-store beauty advisors and the in-store marketing programs that that retail offers and executing some of those sampling programs.
So before we went to the meeting we brainstormed some good ideas, put them on slides and then we talked through them and we figure out which ones stick and we moved forward on those that stick. But at the end of the day we're all about education and raising brand awareness and making sure that the product has a chance to succeed.
Tracy: Yeah for example, we had an all-encompassing marketing program on retail. And in the presentation we had a picture of a display. And the buyer pointed it out and she said "I like that", I'd like to do a soft launch with the display of the products on the shelf. And that's what we're doing.
Catalpha: Wow, great. So you mentioned web and social and PR. When you say web, is that just a website, just pages of your products and maybe an online sell sheet?
Tracy: We're working with the brand team to make sure that – for example – for our beauty products that are in the market that there is a webpage that they can see with that and then we'd have more info about the ingredients and product benefits.
Catalpha: Where does the web come into play in your presentation?
Catalpha: Okay, so the web is out there for the general public?
Tracy: Yeah. We did bring it up for example when we did a package refresh of one of our products. We showed them that we updated it to be more relevant and modern but it's not a huge part of it.
Catalpha: Okay, it's just a part, it's important to have it should somebody want to check out your brand but it's not a major part of the promotion of your product?
Tracy: It is to the consumer. Definitely. It's just not a huge part of our presentations to the buyer, but it's definitely a huge part as far as our branding efforts and for the consumer.
Catalpha: Okay and do you try to promote that site?
Tracy: We have a team that just does online and digital. So they do their thing and we definitely cross-reference with social media.
Catalpha: How does social media play into that? Do you do some Facebook or is it Instagram or all of the above?
Tracy: We pretty much do all of them.
Catalpha: When you come up with a new product, how far do you take that product? Do you do prototypes or packaging prototypes or is it the decision made that you're going to take it as far without an initial purchase? Do you produce first and then sell second?
Tracy: In retail we typically get prototypes or samples to take to the meeting. We have to work very closely with the product team in operations and gauge the timing.
When you go into a meeting, the meeting is going to be this time, then all the decisions are made by this time, the reset or the distribution date is at this time and then it would be on the shelf at this time.
So in retail, since the quantities are usually so large, we get an order before we purchase.
Catalpha: When a store does make a purchase do they do a test of a number of stores or do they roll out nationwide?
Tracy: It depends on the product and it depends on the retailer. For example Walmart, RiteAid is taking our foot care therapy kit into a lot of stores. Target is doing 100 store test first.
Catalpha: When a store purchases do they buy a case? Or do they buy dozens of cases per store?
Tracy: Usually it's 2 to 3 items per store as the initial order.
Catalpha: Just 2 to 3 of one item?
Tracy: Right. So if it's in, say you get authorized in a 1,000 stores then you would need 3,000 products.
Catalpha: I didn't know that. When you are working on these initial products, is there consumer research or focus groups,? Is that done at the beginning of a product launch or does it come into play on every product?
Tracy: Well, for the therapy products it was a little bit different. We did consumer testing and feedback. And they kept evolving along the way. I think now that we have been part of the bigger team we have people that have more specific responsibilities.
So they do a lot more of that at the beginning but also along the way. And we get feedback from retailers. You know, the foot pain therapy kit, we changed the size of the foot so you can understand the foot roller a little bit better.
We get feedback and change things along the way. If we have packaging changes when it's at the store we just do a rolling change on those items. So I think it's always evolving.
Catalpha: So package changes for your company, maybe not as big a deal as for a smaller company that thinks - "I've completed the package. I don't need to change it." But that's usually not the case?
Tracy: You know with our first therapy products, we had the first design and didn't have any strip across the front and then we put the Pearl Technology across the front and then we changed that because we thought that people with the pack being blue weren't understanding hot and cold or just thought it was an ice pack.
So we put that strip on there which helped a little bit in the winter months. I mean we've always just did an evolving, rolling change.
Catalpha: Okay, there are a number of companies that I've worked with. They'll do one package and I just want them to understand that it's not always a one and done situation. It's a one and let's get some feedback now and then how is it selling and what do customers think and you're supporting that obviously by all the changes that you have gone through. I'm aware of them but I want others to be aware.
Tracy: You know, the biggest part of that is just keeping the same UPC. If you keep the same UPC, you can do a rolling change within the retailer. If you change the UPC, that's a nightmare. That's like paperwork and all craziness can happen.
Catalpha: Okay. Because you've got old stock out there and you don't want to waste that, you don't want to tell somebody you've got new packaging and all of a sudden they want a new package. And maybe they don't want the old package anymore. I don't know. Is that what you meant?
Tracy: Well, for example, with Walmart they wanted the graphic on the front but we already started to produce the larger graphic for RiteAid, Kmart and Kroger. So we thought that's an operation supply chain issue that they're making sure that Walmart gets the correct inventory.
And we're not giving a run-out, the old packaging with the other retailers. When we run out of that, there'll be a rolling change to what Walmart has today.
Catalpha: Earlier you mentioned trade shows and it almost sounded like maybe that might be an initial point of contact with stores. Because they are out looking. Is it manufactures that are presenting at the show and the buyers attend?
Tracy: Yes. That's definitely a good starting point. A lot of times we know the buyer by then. We have great relationships with our buyers. So it's just kind of another time to touch base and tell them what we were doing since the last time we spoke.
It's usually at the end of the summer, so it could be right before our meetings and we can throw out some marketing ideas. For example we did the shelf talker at many CVS's this year.
We threw that out as kind of an idea and then Walgreens, and Kroger loved it. So that's what we'll be rolling out next year. But it's definitely another time that we can get in front of them and touch base on what's going on.
Catalpha: How many shows are there, that are worth being at?
Tracy: NACDS is our largest one. And then there are different eCRM's depending on the category. So this year we're doing this bath fragrance one for our beauty products. They have a new fitness one which we tried last year. I'm not sure if we're doing that one again or not.
This year I have the health care show which we will do. They have a convenience show that we talked about doing for maybe our One Ounce product. That's for the 7-Eleven type of stores but that is a newer show and a lot of our retailers that we'd want to see – some dropped out, so we didn't end up doing that one.
And then DMDC is one that has more regional players we would like to get in front of.
Catalpha: I know you have a fairly big booth and you command some attention because of that. Are there a lot of smaller companies at these shows? Or, if they were a smaller company, can they make as big a splash? Or perhaps they've got to work harder at it?
Tracy: NACDS is your typical trade show like what you think, where you have trade show booths on the floor, there is also some distributor shows, like Cardinal Health runs a really good trade show that's like that.
I mean obviously bigger booth can get more attention just because they're bigger. But I think there are a lot of smaller companies that can do it right just by having the correct message.
And people understand who they are and what they do and they have compelling products.
Actually GMDC and ECRM are very different, we always say like speed dating, like you sit in a hotel room and your product is in there and you have your presentation and your people and your buyers come to a hotel room. So that's a bit different.
Catalpha: And that's what they call a show?
Catalpha: Are all the manufacturers taking up side by side rooms for that type of show?
Tracy: Yeah, you're just literally in a hallway and you're making a product presentation with a tablecloth and a banner stand and displays or something like that, but not a full-fledged booth.
Catalpha: Okay, interesting. I would assume you would have to pre-commit or have them commit to a meeting. Or is it you just show up and they go down the hallway?
Tracy: Oh yes, there is a lot of back and forth to get your schedule lined up with buyer schedules.
Catalpha: When we were worked together on a previous product, and I thought this was interesting, and I don't know how big of an impact this had, but you were getting your product into TV shows and movies - product placement. Did that generate a lot of excitement for your product?
Tracy: Yes. We hired a PR agency for that. And there's the print in magazine aspect of being an editor's pick. There's, the editor taking it on to Good Morning America. And then there is getting it into movies. And that's a big part of creating a buzz around our product and getting consumers and buyers excited.
Catalpha: I know you also had some relationships with sport figures. Was that successful?
Tracy: Yes, it was a great fit for the time and it added credibility to our brand. You know, this professional athlete actually came to us. So he was excited about it, so it showed the consumer this person that is very physical, works out every day, they love our products and use it at home.
Catalpha: What do you think a company should focus on when they're trying to get into a particular store? Where do you think they should put their limited marketing money?
Tracy: I think it's about creating the story around the brand and having the buyer and the consumers believe your story and your products. I think that's the biggest part. It should have such a story behind it.
You know, everyone presenting believes in the brand and the products and it's new and innovative and it makes other people want it and believe it. PR definitely helped us create the buzz around the brand.
But honestly I think the sales people going out and being passionate about telling our story and getting the buyers to take it in.
Catalpha: So as long as that passion was behind it, that obviously came across in presentations and other forms.
Tracy: Once your product is in the stores, you have to have a website and social media and the other forms of marketing. I keep saying this, my friends and I, we all have three year olds and under. And a lot of us work.
So we're working moms with toddlers who don't have time to sit down and read a magazine but I find about a lot of brands and products, through social media. I think that will continue to be a huge part of marketing.
Catalpha: Yeah, something that maybe a lot of people don't even take into consideration. They've got a product, they've got an idea but they don't… and when we (Catalpha) see them they're coming to us talking about packaging but there's – that's important obviously but there are some other factors here that they should take into consideration.
Tracy: Packaging is part of getting someone to pick your product – well — it's part of the product. And when it's on shelf getting someone to pick it up and read it and hopefully purchase it, I think social media is part of the brand awareness part. Getting people to the store to buy it. So they're both very important. They just play different parts of the purchase.
Catalpha: Right. They come in at different times of the purchasing decision. Okay, I think we've covered quite a bit. Can you think of anything that might be important for somebody coming in that's either refreshing their brand or starting to package their product? Is there something that they need to take into consideration?
Tracy: I think a lot of it is the passion behind your story, also putting yourself in your consumer's head. I think a lot of times you can get really close to what you're doing. You might see it one way but in reality, the consumer sees it differently so I think it's good to kind of get some outside opinion throughout the process to kind of put you in check or to verify what you're doing. Because I think it is sometimes hard when you get so close to it.
Catalpha: Okay, well thank you Tracy, that was a very interesting conversation. I hope this can conversation can guide others that are selling their new products.
If you have any comments or questions on this article, we'd love to hear them. Please use the form below.


Why do we like classic yachts?
Yachting is a romatic relation of contradictions: dreams and technology, Traditional craftsmanship and hi-tech materials, scientific calculations and maritime legends.
No wonder then, that a yacht, a sophisticated machine, a technological product built in purpose to move on the water – becomes also a piece of art misted by romantic legends.
Classic yachts bring us back to the nostalgic world of the past, when people lived slow and when style mattered.
A traditional classic assures the owner on comfortable feeling of individuality, differing from thousands of nearly identical plastic sailing boxes.
Up-to-date technology allows to build classic yachts in a way, that the comfort and handling are the same as in case of modern designs..


04/01/2019 / Author / Comments Off on House Yoga Professional!
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Iran's Apparent Seizure of a Commercial Ship Strengthens the Case for Naval Coalition
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Iran's Presidential Elections
Category: Sham Election
INU - Since the founding of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Iran has been holding presidential elections every four years. Western media often portray elections in Iran as a struggle between political parties as is the norm in their own countries.
However, there are key differences between elections in Iran and western democracies. A deeper look at the process and dynamics involved in selecting the country's president suggest why there's a strong belief any form of elections in Iran are a sham and the power to rule the country lies elsewhere.
Here's what you need to know about Iran's President and the presidential elections.
The Role of the President
In Iran, the President is the second-highest ranking official after the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all major state affairs. The President's powers are limited by the clerics in the country's power structure and by the authority of the Supreme Leader. It is the Supreme Leader—not the elected President—who controls Iran's armed forces and makes decisions on security, defence, and key foreign-policy issues.
The President has some say in the level of media freedom and political openness. However, he can be overruled by the clerical establishment via the Judiciary or the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Presidents serve four-year terms and cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
Vetting of Candidates
Candidates are vetted by the Election Monitoring Committee of the Guardian Council and it is they who select the handful of candidates who may run for office. In the election of 2013, 680 people applied and the Committee quickly narrowed it down to just eight candidates.
There are general requirements for candidacy which include: being a citizen of Iranian origin; over 18 years of age; a Muslim; qualified to be a care-taker of the Republic; and a possessor of both management abilities and a record of religious and political affiliation to the 'Republic'.
All candidates in the regime are required by law to exhibit "heart-felt and practical allegiance" to absolute clerical rule as a prerequisite for their candidacy. That allegiance is determined by the Guardian Council whose six clerics are installed by the Supreme Leader while the remaining six jurists are appointed by the Head of the Judiciary who is selected by the Supreme Leader.
According to Scott Lucas, an Iran specialist at Britain's Birmingham University, the Guardians Council's decisions are based more on political loyalties than the credentials of the candidates.
This effectively prevents opposition forces or anyone with fundamentally different political views from taking part in the political process. Lack of inclusiveness in elections is one of the factors that is casting a shadow on Iran's human rights record.
As Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran says, "Democratic elections, where people are afforded a real choice to pick their leaders, are non-existent in today's Iran; the genuine opposition has no political voice. What currently exists is a constricted power struggle through sham elections whose outcome is shaped not by popular vote but by the regime's internal balance of power."
Registration and Campaigning
The election period is short in Iran—just 20 days. The election is scheduled for May 19 and candidates can only register between April 10 and 14. The final list of candidates is published ten days later on April 24. Campaigning begins on April 27 and runs until two days before the election on May 19. Results are announced the next day, and the inauguration takes place on August 1.
In 2009, widespread protests erupted after it became evident that the ruling elite had rigged the presidential elections in its favor. Security forces brutally cracked down on protesters. Since then, the establishment has taken a number of steps to ensure that the election does not serve as a catalyst to popular protest. Security measures have been tightened, and the media, both foreign and domestic, even more suppressed, with journalists imprisoned.
The Ballot
In Iran, there is no voter registration or roll. Iranians can vote anywhere as long as they present their national identification book, or Shenasnameh, which is stamped at the polling station.
Once the polling stations are closed, the counting process begins. Neither the general public nor any civil society organisation is permitted to monitor the count. This makes it very difficult to audit election results and ensure the integrity of the vote.
The Iranian President is determined through an absolute majority. In other words, the person with 50%+1 of the votes is the winner. However, in cases where there is no absolute majority, the law calls for a runoff election between the top two. The runoff election is mandated to take place within one week of the first round of elections.
Once a winner is determined, the Guardian Council approves the election process and the Supreme Leader signs off on the Letter of Presidency. The new President takes the oath of office before the Iranian Majles (Parliament).
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The minister of mental health and addictions () is a minister of the Crown and a member of the Canadian Cabinet. The office is associated with the Department of Health.

Dr. Carolyn Bennett is the first and current minister of mental health and addictions. She was appointed on October 26, 2021 and concurrently serves as the associate minister of health.

List of ministers

References

Mental Health and Addictions
Mental health in Canada

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" Lesson Plans
These lesson materials are designed to help students better understand the role that language plays in fostering credibility for a speaker — and, as a critical reader, for placing trust in a speaker. Students will be prompted to closely read and analyze Ed Sheeran's "Shape Of You" with speaker reliability and credibility in mind. (Yes, an awesome academic argumentative writing prompt is also included!)
Join the TeachArgument Community now to gain access to this, and ALL of our pop culture lesson plans! OR — Grab this lesson a la carte for only $4.99!
Ed Sheeran most recent album release has been dominating popular music charts across the country. As of March 2017, Sheeran has 16 songs in the UK Singles Chart Top 20. Like him or not, those are impressive numbers.
That being said, it's important that your students are able distinguish between Ed Sheeran, the singer songwriter, and Ed Sheeran, the speaker in any particular set of lyrics. There is an important difference between the two, and their affinity for trusting their good pal Ed might not translate well when applying the same trust to the "speaker" of one of Sheeran's songs.
These materials focus primarily on speaker credibility and reliability. You can expect:
A guided close reading and analysis exercise that prompts students to deconstruct excerpts from Sheeran's "Shape Of You" before connecting their insights to speaker "reliability."
A guided close reading and analysis exercise that examines how the relationship between the speaker and his audience evolves.
An awesome argumentative writing prompt that asks students to agree, disagree, or qualify one of three claims about "Shape Of You's" speaker. (This prompt is flexible in that it can be implemented in class as a timed-writing exercise, or as a larger, multi-draft writing assignment.)
Grades Secondary (9-12)
Focus Speaker Credibility & Reliability, Close Reading
Teach Argument With Marshmello's "Happier"
Hurricane Evacuation Rhetoric
Nick Jonas's "Jealous" Lesson Plans
Hurricane Rhetoric 2017
The onset of major storm systems (i.e. hurricanes) creates a lot of opportunity for rhetoric — from politicians, corporations, and more. This resource is an extension of our "evacuation rhetoric" lesson in that it provides a series of texts at varied levels that lend themselves nicely to rhetorical analysis. Scroll down to for more details about this particular lesson…!
Rather than set a fixed price for this resource, you'll be prompted to set your own price, as low as $0.99, and ALL proceeds will support hurricane relief.
Teach Argument With Macklemore
Whether you're looking for a lesson that's timely in the context of current events and modern politics, you're looking to add a compelling new dimension to a "gender studies" unit, or you're simply looking for a new lesson with which to engage your students — you've found a good one.
This lesson uses Macklemore's "Same Love" as a core text, prompting students to engage in a close reading of the music video (visual rhetoric) and lyrics (close reading) before comparing and contrasting with other, related arguments.
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Teach Argument With Horror Films & Candy Ads
This awesome lesson uses a trick-or-treat-like structure for providing students a bit of choice (and a bit of fun) in determining which video clips they'll be analyzing. In the spirit of Halloween, students will be shown a combination of trailers for horror films and candy commercials — to be analyzed and synthesized throughout the course of the lesson.
Join the TeachArgument Community to gain instant access to this lesson, as well as every other TeachArgument pop culture resource…
Or, grab this lesson à la carte for $4.99!
Budweiser's Super Bowl 50 Commercial Lesson Plans
As is the case with many commercials that air during the big game, Budweiser's "Don't Drive Drunk" ad (featuring Helen Mirren) poured plenty of resources into ensuring that this sixty-second clip would effectively build their brand. A careful analysis begs the question — is the argument's purpose to diminish drunk driving, or to sell more beer?
We've conducted a rhetorical analysis for you, embedded below. The corresponding lesson plans focus on general rhetorical analysis, specific rhetorical choices, and analytical writing. All learning tasks are aligned to standards, designed for collaborative small-group work, and culminate with a writing task (rubric included).


text:
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<title>FullTextIndex.SearchHit (lego 1.0.0-SNAPSHOT API)</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="date" content="2018-05-15">
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Class FullTextIndex.SearchHit

java.lang.Object

example.FullTextIndex.SearchHit

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FullTextIndex

public static class FullTextIndex.SearchHit
extends java.lang.Object

This is the output record for our search procedure. All procedures
 that return results return them as a Stream of Records, where the
 records are defined like this one - customized to fit what the procedure
 is returning.

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List of elements of any valid field type, including List

Object, meaning any of the valid field types

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Description

long
nodeId

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Constructor
Description

SearchHit(org.neo4j.graphdb.Node node)

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clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

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public SearchHit(org.neo4j.graphdb.Node node)

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There are many steps involved in filing for a divorce. You might feel overwhelmed by all of the things that you need to do in order to go through this process. Here, I will discuss the important things that you need to do if you want to get a divorce in Connecticut.
There is no legal advantage to being the first to file. Sometimes, one initial advantage to the person who files first is that they have adequate opportunity to consult with various attorneys before choosing one and prepared for the financial cost of filing for a divorce. Other than that, there is no real legal advantage of filing first.
I hope this answers that question, but I'm happy to answer more.
If served with paperwork for a divorce, do not panic. Although most people might suspect that they could face divorce, receiving the paperwork can still feel like a shock. Receiving divorce paperwork will seem stressful, but you can take certain steps to get yourself ready for the next few months – which don't have to be torture.
First, you must take an inventory of your assets and liabilities immediately because your spouse may have been taking inventory well in advance of serving you with your divorce paperwork. Next, contact us – by online chat or a call, so we can sit down with you and talk about what the next steps are. Seeing your name as "defendant" can be scary and disappointing, but it's not a judgment on who you are as a person – it is just necessary because that is how the courts work.
If you want to serve your spouse with divorce papers, here are the steps that you will have to take in Connecticut in order to file for divorce.
Before you do anything you should consider if you're going to discuss filing for divorce with your spouse. In the state of Connecticut, you don't have to inform your spouse that you want to file for a divorce before the divorce papers get served. However, you should consider the repercussions of blindsiding your spouse with divorce papers. You might provoke your spouse to become angry by keeping your true feelings from them, which could result in their desire to be vindictive over the course of the divorce.
If you and your spouse have children, maintaining a relationship with your spouse for their sake can seem difficult if your spouse feels hurt by the way you went about getting the divorce. Talking to your spouse about the divorce before you file and serve the papers is an individual decision and it will depend on your personal situation. If you are looking for advice, you can always contact a divorce lawyer. It does not matter who files for divorce, but the person who ultimately files must pay the cost of the court filing fee and the marshal fee for service of the divorce paperwork on your spouse.
Prepare the necessary paperwork. There are two forms that you have to fill out in order to begin the divorce process in Connecticut. These forms are the Summons Family Actions form (form number JD-FM-3) and the Divorce Complaint/Cross Complaint form (form number JD-FM-159). If you and your spouse have children, you will have to fill out an additional form – the Affidavit Concerning Children form (JD-FM-164). This form tells the court where your children have lived and whom they have lived with for the five years leading up to the divorce and outlines prior visitation or custody cases involving your children if there are any.
The Summons form is the one that your spouse will receive, explaining the divorce proceedings and telling them when to appear in court. The Complaint form contains information about you and your family and lists the reason why you are seeking a divorce (you can make a no-fault claim, or an at-fault claim here).
Attached to the complaint form, you should have the Notice of Automatic Orders (JD-FM-158). This form tells your spouse about the orders that go into effect at the start of each Connecticut divorce case. These orders prevent you and your spouse from taking actions concerning your property or your children without the knowledge and consent of the other spouse. For example, neither of you can take your children out-of-state or sell your home without the consent of the other spouse while your divorce is pending.
When you get to the clerk's office, you should hand in all of the paperwork that you have filled out. In addition, there is a filing fee that you should give the clerk. The filing fee is currently $350, but you can get a waiver of fees signed by a judge if you can prove that you cannot afford to pay this fee. To have the fee waived, you need to fill out the Application for Waiver of Fees/Appointment of Counsel Family form (JD-FM-75). When you get to the clerk's office, a clerk will help you determine a Return Date. This is the date that the divorce papers have to be served and filed by.
Both you and your spouse should know about this date, but you will not have to appear in court on that day. As the clerk will explain, the Return Date should be set for a Tuesday and you must return the served papers at least 6 days prior to this date. This gives your spouse the proper notification before they have to respond to the divorce papers.
Serve your spouse. Once you file the paperwork at the clerk's office, you will have to contact a Connecticut State Marshal, as it is a State Marshal who is responsible for serving divorce papers. State Marshals charge a fee to serve divorce papers, but if you have an Application for Waiver of Fees signed, the court will waive this fee. The court can assign a state rate of $50.00 flat for service by a Marshal if you qualify. The Marshal that you hire will fill out a document referred to as the "Return of Service". This document proves that the Marshal served the divorce papers to the right person. Once the Marshal fills out this document, you will have to mail it or bring it to the clerk's office. When you return to the clerk's office, be sure to bring all of your original paperwork with you.
Collect yourself and review the papers. While this is undoubtedly a stressful and emotional time for you, it is important not to let your emotions get out of control. Give yourself some time to process and deal with the prospect of getting a divorce, but try not to fall into a spiral of depression. You should also refrain from contacting your spouse at a time when your emotions will get the best of you. Yelling at or threatening your spouse will only make this situation worse. If you feel that you need professional help to deal with this event, consider contacting a therapist. Keeping yourself mentally healthy at this time is essential.
Within the first few days of receiving the divorce papers, you should look over the papers and especially note the due date for response. Once you get served papers, you have a finite amount of time to respond to them. Once you know this due date, you can begin planning what you need to do and create a timeline in order to respond to the divorce papers in a timely manner. Read through the papers and note any inaccurate descriptions, questions that you have, and steps that the papers are asking you to take.
Consider your representation. Responding to divorce papers is just the beginning of a confusing and time-consuming process. You should decide as soon as possible if you want to hire legal representation or try to go through the divorce representing yourself. Both of these are viable options, but you need to make the right decision for yourself. Keep in mind that in the long run, hiring a divorce attorney will likely save you time, money, and a lot of stress. You will have someone who understands the divorce process walking you through everything step-by-step.
If you are unsure if you should hire a lawyer or not, consider setting up a meetings with a few different lawyers. Many attorneys offer free consultations in which you can meet, discuss your case, discuss fees, and get your questions answered. This is a good option if you are on the fence about hiring legal representation.
Take inventory of your assets and debts. This is an important step to take early on because it will make the rest of the divorce process smoother. Consider which assets you are invested in keeping after the divorce and consider what you would be willing to give up. Document all of the joint and individual debt that you have, as this will be reviewed in the divorce process. You should also locate documents such as birth certificates and tax information because once the divorce is filed, you will have to present these to the court. You might want to think about cancelling joint accounts that you have with your spouse and putting your individual finances in a personal account.
Start preparing for the divorce. Now is the right time to start making lifestyle changes. Will this divorce affect your financial situation? Be proactive and start saving some money, looking for a job if you aren't currently working (or a job that pays more money) and make sure that you have good credit if in the future you will be looking for a new apartment or home. Now is also the time to start researching individual health care plans. Taking these steps now will ensure that the divorce process and your life after divorce will go as smoothly as possible.
Talk to your children. If you have kids, it is important that you (and your spouse, if possible) have a straightforward conversation with your children about what is happening. It is extremely common for children to blame themselves when they learn that their parents are getting divorced, so it is important that you directly address these fears. You want to put their anxiety to rest and tell your children that they have done nothing wrong. It is also important to keep your children in mind throughout this process. Maybe you want full custody of your children, but you have to ask yourself if this is truly right for them or if it is a selfish desire.
You might want to badmouth your spouse or fight with them in front of your children, but is that really going to foster a healthy relationship between you and your children, and your children and your spouse? This is not the time to be selfish. As a parent, you need to consider how your actions will affect your children.
What Happens if Your Spouse Doesn't Cooperate?
Most people are law abiding citizens and follow court orders. If your spouse disobeys the court order (for example, the orders about custody, visitation, child support payments, health insurance, or selling property), you may ask the court to help enforce the order. You may first want to try to talk to your spouse and work out the problem. You may also ask a family relations counselor at your local court to help you try to mediate or solve the problem. If you cannot work out the problem, you may ask a judge to enforce a court order by filing a written motion for contempt. A motion is a request in writing. Contempt is a court decision that someone disobeyed a court order on purpose. There is a Motion for Contempt ( JD-FM-173), which can be obtained from any Judicial District clerk's office.
The most traditional way to get a divorce is through a process called litigation. Although this process is very difficult, it is best to get a divorce lawyer involved in order to aid you in divorcing your spouse so all of the steps involved go as smoothly as possible.
Litigation takes time, so if you want your divorce to end quickly, litigation might not work for you. The first step in getting a divorce from your spouse is to petition for divorce. This simply is the filing of the divorce papers and serving them to your soon-to-be ex spouse. They then must file an answer to the documents that they receive. The petitions may also contain temporary orders. These orders are only in place during the time that the case is pending and outline the "ground rules" that both parties must follow.
Next comes the discovery process, which acts as a time in which both parties document any fact that will pertain to the case. Financial records, assets, and liabilities are all looked at and assessed for each party during this time. If after the discovery process is over with, you and your spouse wish to end your divorce in mediation, that would be easier than going to court.
Mediation is more cost efficient than going to trial and you and your spouse will be in complete control on how decisions are to be made and what the terms of the divorce will be. Mediation allows you and your soon to be ex to end things on a rather positive note. In order for mediation to work, you and the other party must find common ground and make agreements.
If mediation does not work, then it is time to prepare for trial. An experienced attorney may do depositions. It requires the deposed person to answer questions under oath. Before the trial date, documents must get submitted to the court. Those documents may include your wishes for the divorce including custody of the children, finances, and property division. At the actual trial, each party must present evidence in order to sway the judge's opinion in favor of their claims. The judge may then make a decision as to what will happen to the assets and liabilities of you and your spouse. If you or the other party does not like the Court's decision then you may submit an appeal.
How long divorce will take depends on if you are settling divorce outside of court or in court will be one of the major factors in how long the divorce will take. Custody battles can also affect the divorce process. If you file for divorce and want to know roughly how long your particular case will take, ask your attorney for an estimation. Divorce attorneys have a lot of experience with cases and they will be able to tell you roughly how long your case will take.
No matter how your divorce process differs from other cases, you must participate in a 90-day "cooling off" period, no matter what. Once a complaint gets served by one spouse against the other, the divorce process will start. This complaint must get filed if you or your spouse wants to file for divorce. Once the complaint gets filed on the Return Date, the Court Case will begin, starting the 90 day time period. The Connecticut state law requires this cooling off period in all divorce cases. At any time after the 90 day period a divorce can enter.
A fairly accurate estimate of how long the divorce process will take is 6 months to a year. If you and your spouse are considerably amicable and find a way to settle your disagreements outside of court, this 6-month to a year estimate will probably be accurate. The more you and your spouse can agree on in the divorce, the smoother the process will go. However, if you go through a custody battle, the process can take a year or longer. Similarly, if you have a lengthy divorce case fought in the court, this process can take longer than a year.
Divorce is never easy, but some divorce cases are more stressful than others. If you go through an uncontested divorce, the process becomes shorter and less stressful. However, in a contested divorce case on property issue grounds or custody issues, the process can take much longer and get messy.
The first mistake that you should avoid is rushing your divorce. If you try to hurry through the process, chances are you will make a lot of financial and legal mistakes. Determining the best course of action with your divorce lawyer before you sign any documentation can ensure that there will be no problems later on, and that you get what you want in the divorce. In addition to not rushing the divorce, you should try to avoid making big decisions when you feel depressed or upset. You want to be thinking clearly when you make decisions concerning your finances and children, not decisions made out of spite, anger, or sadness. If you feel overwhelmed, you can discuss your options with family, friends or a divorce lawyer.
Keep in mind that hiring a divorce lawyer can be extremely helpful. While you ultimately have to make the right decisions for you during your divorce, a lawyer can advise you on the divorce proceedings and fight to help you get what you want. You might feel overwhelmed by divorce, so having a sympathetic yet levelheaded lawyer consult with you on important matters will make the process easier.
While your friends and family can give you advice, they might not have the knowledge to assist you in your divorce. A lawyer is much more qualified to help you make the tough choices than friends or family, even if they have been through their own divorces.
When facing a divorce, you should also fight for what is fair. You should avoid arguing over inconsequential aspects of the divorce, but when it comes to alimony or child support, child custody, or division of property, fight for what you want. Prioritize what you want most out of your divorce and fight for it. You can concede the smaller things that don't mean a lot to you in order to keep the divorce as amicable as possible.
In the sake of amicability, you should also consider using mediation instead of taking your divorce to court. This can save you time, money, and keep your privacy intact. If faced with a divorce, one of the most important things that you can do is hire a divorce attorney.
An order for alimony and child support pendente lite means that your spouse will be ordered by the court to pay you the statutory child support amount (Connecticut Divorce Child Support Guidelines) during the pendency of the divorce before it is final. The order can also grant you pre-divorce alimony so you can afford to live on your own as well. Finally, you can have the court enter an order giving you possession of the marital home while the case is pending, This way you have the money you need and a place to live while the divorce is pending. We can file these motions when we file the divorce action for you, and it can mean that you are safe and secure and can afford to live while your divorce is pending. You are not trapped by your husband's wallet!


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