24/09/2018 (Agence Europe) – The first ministerial meeting of the Alliance for Torture-Free Trade (see EUROPE 11857) was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday 24 September. The aim was to pave the way for work leading to the development of a binding international convention. "Many countries continue to systematically carry out torture and the death penalty, using products that are traded and shipped internationally, and this is unacceptable", European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström stated ahead of the meeting she was co-chairing. One year after its establishment, the Alliance for Torture-Free Trade had around 60 member countries, which are committed to controlling and restricting trade in these goods. In 2017, Amnesty International listed at least 993 executions in 23 countries, with China in the lead. The same year, 23 executions were carried out in the USA. Neither China nor the USA are part of the Alliance. (HD)