Search Results for: Dutch caribbean

The investment to build the interconnector will amount to EUR2.8 billion, with the EIB set to contribute up to EUR400 million for the financing construction of the section within the European Union (EU).  Other financiers include the UK Infrastructure Bank, which will focus on the stretch within UK maritime and land territory, and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).…

INTRODUCTION

The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked a reassessment of the model of relying on one or two outsourcing locations. It has demonstrated that when there is a major disruption caused by an emergency as serious as a pandemic, shipping and industrial processing can be disrupted.…

A disconnect is growing between some European jurisdictions and halal certification systems over the stunning of livestock, which has the potential to stymie the growth of halal meat production.

Since last December (2020), European Union member states have had a freer hand to impose stunning requirements, even on proponents of religious slaughter, including kosher as well as halal production, because of a European Court of Justice (ECJ) decision.…

While the estimation of sources of laundered money is made imprecise by its inherent covert nature, the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime (UNODC) has estimated that the amount of criminal proceeds processed annually is 2%-5% of global GDP, or USD800 billion to USD2 trillion.…

European and US interest in carbon capture and storage/sequestration (CCS) and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) is continuing to surge as governments make ever more ambitious climate change commitments.

In tandem with improvements in technology mean capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted from industrial processes, power generation or directly from the air, and either storing or using it, CCS/CCUS is no longer viewed as a marginal solution with limited applications. …

A wait and see approach is being adopted by officials in Haiti’s apparel and textile industry following the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, which came as the country struggled to cope with the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.…

The Spanish paint industry has been suffering from a major raw material supply shortage as it seeks to build back from a tough year in 2020, when sales were depressed by the Covid-19 pandemic. The national industry association, the ASEFAPI (Asociacion Española de Fabricantes de Pinturas y Tintas de Imprimir) has been releasing monthly bulletins on the raw material supply problem.…

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will consider allowing the amortisation of goodwill, maintain some harmony with USA GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles). A joint US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)/IASB education meeting discussed FASB plans to allow goodwill amortisation. “Most of those respondents commenting said that convergence on this topic with US GAAP was desirable,” said a meeting note.…

After completing the technical testing required, central America’s largest apparel factory is about to open in Honduras, producing sportswear for major brands such as Nike or Under Armour, an executive informed just-style.
La Arena, the Tegra Global-owned industrial park in San Pedro Sula, in the country’s north, will receive around 100 employees during the last week of August – its inauguration was delayed from January because of the Covid-19 pandemic.…

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had many profound social and economic impacts, but maybe one of the most important for the clothing and textile sector has been how it encouraged the meshing of design and function in products.

With consumers staying at home, they have looked for apparel to provide comfort as much as formal elegance, of more importance when working in an office or attending public evening events.…

AMERICA has long been the global policeman of international sanctions, including breaches of AML rules, but evidence suggests that the US dollar’s use in international transactions could be weakening and is having to compete with the rising power of crypto currencies.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission in June (2021) signalled it was running out of patience with Malta and Cyprus over their ‘golden passport’ schemes which allow people investing in these small island nations to effectively buy citizenship. The European Union (EU) executive has long warned that such policies contain significant ML risks, releasing a detailed report in 2019 that highlighted concerns that governments failed to properly screen the source of funds used to gain golden passports.…

EUROPEAN dairy experts say that the European Union (EU) climate law’s target to cut carbon emissions at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, compared to “between 50% and 55%” in the original proposal (1) and just 32.5% by 2030 in the 2018 law (2), will be a challenge, but one they can meet.…

The narcotics trade was a prime motivator to enact global anti-money laundering regulations to curb dirty money flows. Over 30 years later, drug trafficking is still considered the largest transnational crime by international law enforcement agencies. It is worth an estimated USD344 billion-a-year, according to Interpol, followed by counterfeiting crimes (USD288 billion) and human trafficking (USD157 billion).…

THE GROWING popularity of cryptocurrencies has stoked concerns that they offer a haven for money launderers. The concern focuses on the risk that crypto can be used anonymously to buy goods and services, without them being converted into fiat currencies through exchanges that are a key focus of emerging AML/CFT controls.…

Lie detection is an emerging science, with technology being developed to help companies and law enforcement seek to detect fraudsters and other criminals. Artificial intelligence is a potential key development in enabling machines to screen subjects physical and audible response to questions to detect lies.…

The world’s anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) system has come a long way since the G7 group of nations decided to launch the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in July 1989. But Australian researchers have claimed AML/CFT compliance costs USD300 billion and only nets USD3 billion of an estimated USD3 trillion in criminal funds generated annually (a 0.1% success rate).…

THE WIDE diversity of AML laws worldwide can complicate the enforcement of AML/CFT extradition proceedings.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations 37 and 39 say that governments should be prepared to extradite money launderers (and terrorist financiers) to another country if they both criminalise the underlying predicate offence.…

After a three-year trial, judge Marco Tremolada acquitted energy companies Eni and Shell and 13 executives from both companies, including Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, of being associated with graft in Nigeria. In a Milan court March 17, the judge ruled there was no case to answer over the companies’ USD1.3 billion acquisition of Nigeria’s OPL 245 offshore oilfield, amidst allegations that USD1.1 billion of that was pocketed by politicians and middlemen.…

CYPRUS is under pressure to appoint a full-time prosecutor working with the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), with the EPPO’s chief prosecutor Laura Kövesi claiming 10% of the office’s 3,000 anticipated initial cases will involve this small island country.

Kövesi was addressing a joint meeting of the European Parliament’s committees on civil liberties, justice and home affairs and budgetary control, saying the claim was based on data received from the 22 European Union (EU) member states participating in the EPPO, which includes offshore banking centre Cyprus.…

The Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU-Nederlands) (1) and four major banks – ABN AMRO, ING, Rabobank and de Volksbank – have set up the Fintell Alliance NL, a public private partnership (PPP) to work together at one physical location to combat the estimated EUR16 billion (USD18 billion) laundered through the Netherlands each year (2).…

Anti-money laundering specialists may be focusing on how crypto-currencies and online transactions pose an increasing ML/TF risk, especially with Covid-19 encouraging ecommerce, but the reality is that cash remains the money launderers’ best instrument for moving dirty money.

That is the conclusion of Gabriel Hidalgo, a managing director at risk specialists K2 Integrity, in New York: “Cash is king for ML; it continues to be king; and on the majority of levels, illicit actors will continue to use cash,” he said.…

The boom in online fraud through the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when new fintech is being rolled out, has grown demand for anti-fraud professionals.

The latest assessment released by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) (published in December 2020), based on responses from 1,712 anti-fraud professionals, (49% of whom were in the USA and Canada), said that 41% of organisations (public and private sector) are planning to increase their overall anti-fraud budget in 2021.…

The paint and coatings industry in Indonesia still has ample room for growth amid booming infrastructure development, although it has had to struggle with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, say officials and industry experts. 

With the property sector being the primary growth driver Indonesian paint and coating sales, the high demand for new housing and the repainting cycle assures the steady demand for paint and coating products, said Mahendra Chahar, senior consultant at Frost & Sullivan.…

The paint and coatings industry in Indonesia still has ample room for growth amid booming infrastructure development, although it has had to struggle with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, say officials and industry experts. 

With the property sector being the primary growth driver Indonesian paint and coating sales, the high demand for new housing and the repainting cycle assures the steady demand for paint and coating products, said Mahendra Chahar, senior consultant at Frost & Sullivan.…

THE ONSET of Covid-19 has caused many fraud problems, but a particular difficulty has been fraudsters exploiting the unprecedented government largesse released designed to prevent economic collapse at the hands of the pandemic. In the UK, for instance, the House of Commons public accounts committee issued a report in October (2020), saying that Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) had reported 8,000 allegations from employees that their employers – supposed to pay a lower level of wages to staff to receive furlough payments under the UK Job Retention Scheme – had not actually made these payments, or paid less than they should.…

THE REPUTATION of the Caribbean’s major cigar production centres – Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua – has dominated global markets for years. But the entire region’s balmy and moist climate and rich soils are ideal for growing cigar wrapper and filler leaf.…

IT is not easy to make a living as a fine artist. So many talented painters, sculptors, illustrators and engravers pay their bills through teaching, and indulge their creativity as a sideline. Others move into commercial graphic design where their scope is confined by the demands of selling products, contrasting with the unbound freedom of imagination enjoyed by the independent artist.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) international food and drink trade has withstood the challenges of Covid-19, with figures for the first eight months of 2020 valuing EU exports (excluding the UK) at EUR119 billion, up 1.2% compared to January-August 2019. Imports also rose slightly to EUR81.6 billion (up 0.8%).…

The Gulf kingdom of Bahrain is kicking off 2021 with the grand opening of its new airport passenger terminal, a 210,000 square metre (sqm) building that is four times the size of the existing facility. Following its official opening on January 28, the terminal will be capable of processing 130,000 air traffic movements a year, up from 95,500 in 2019, and will have a handling capacity of 4,700 bags an hour. …

WITH Brexit out of the way, as far forging as forging a trade agreement with the UK is concerned, the clear priority of the current European Commission is its European Green Deal policy, which will significantly impact Europe’s energy sector. One strand of this ambitious plan to deliver European sustainability and climate-change neutrality by 2050 is energy efficiency.…

Many of European Union’s 27 member states appear to have been dragging their feet when implementing a key provision of the fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) (1), setting up a public ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) register.  The registers should have gone live for the corporate world on January 10, 2020, and two months later on March 10 for trusts.…

WHILE projections for sales of electric vehicles (EV) vary, all predictions agree that this market will explode in size in the next few years. An International Energy Agency (IEA) model for instance has suggested 245 million EVs will be driven worldwide by 2030. …

THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is promoting digital technologies within air traffic management systems to shore up the efficiency of a global civil aviation sector severely disrupted by Covid-19. But there is doubt about whether these investments will be made by a pandemic-hit industry.…

A RESEARCH consortium in Canada is developing an open source model to create data-rich digital maps that can improve the operations of autonomous vehicles (AVs). The inspiration behind ‘Open HD Maps’ is to enable the holders of mapping data outside existing proprietary mapping services to contribute their information to a collaborative platform on a profit-sharing basis.…

Mavi, the Turkish denim giant, sold 9.7 million pairs of jeans worldwide in 2019, and, its chief executive has told just-style, has rebounded from the shuttering of the garment sector earlier this year with e-commerce sales doubling in its major markets.…

BOTH the Australian as well as the New Zealand cosmetics and personal care market have been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, trends towards increasing purchases of health conscious and natural products have continued, with local brands gaining momentum, indicating how the Australasian personal care product market will develop once the coronavirus has lost its bite.…

TEXT fraud is maybe more dangerous that email fraud, given the tendency for mobile phone users to respond to texts swiftly and without careful thought, cyber-security experts warn.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also created opportunities for fraudsters using texts and messaging services such as WhatsApp to launch fishing and other attacks on the unwary.…

The takeover of troubled Greek cold cuts producer Creta Farms has been approved by a court, with Dutch-Bulgarian investment trust Impala Invest Group, which already runs food manufacturers in Bulgaria, to gain ownership.

A court of first instance in the Cretan city of Rethymno has formally approved a restructuring plan filed at the court by the new owner, which had been previously approved by the Greek banks and includes debt haircut of 64.12%.…

From bringing traditionally outsourced services in house to right-sizing staff, Caribbean financial professionals advising the region’s critically important tourism sector are making tough decisions to keep businesses afloat and redundancies to a minimum during Covid-19.

ACCA members speaking to A&B, however testified to solidarity among workers, clients and suppliers – and the resilience of a region used to disaster, albeit usually through extreme weather.…

THE UK’s overseas territories are struggling with something of an existential crisis, as they face an effective 2023 deadline for introducing publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers that could undermine their ability to offer confidential financial services to companies and wealthy individuals.…

Entrepreneurship abounds across the diverse island nations of the Caribbean where small, independently-owned beauty product businesses thrive and have been successfully vying for space alongside major international brands in pharmacies, boutiques and family-owned stores alike.

What many manufacturers lack in start-up capital, they make up for in innovation and close proximity to a wealth of organic, raw materials that are finding new favour with modern, discerning consumers at home, with an eye to developing export sales.…

THE INTERNATIONAL chocolate industry has been making all the right noises about practising due diligence over supply chains, so that brands ensure their cocoa is grown and processed responsibly – environmentally and socially. But doubts persist among NGOs that enough checks are made by companies and supplier country partners (including governments) and when wrongdoing is discovered it is contested effectively, in the confectionery and other sectors.…

GIVEN the hundreds of billions of dollars spent by banks on fighting money laundering, fears that trade-based money laundering (TBML) remains widespread, as stressed by FATF, the APG (http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/methodsandtrends/documents/trade-basedmoneylaunderingtypologies.html), and most recently, the European Commission (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/supranational_risk_assessment_of_the_money_laundering_and_terrorist_financing_risks_affecting_the_union_-_annex.pdf), are of serous concern. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) said that in 2018, global merchandise exports were worth USD19.48 trillion, so there is plenty of place for laundered money to hide.…

• 1MDB SCANDAL IN MALAYSIA SEES USD BILLIONS STOLEN AND HIDDEN

Malaysia 1MDB scandal is one of the largest money laundering cases ever, worldwide, with Malaysian courts considering charges over how at least USD4.5 billion was stolen and then spent or laundered from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad by former Prime Minister Najib Razak and his associates.…

ANTI-money laundering maybe a career that financial and legal professionals increasingly follow, but the training and qualification structure for AML/CFT is still emerging and solidifying, and there are doubts whether it will ever coalesce into a formal global structure, akin to FATF recommendations.…

AS online food sales boom to aid self-isolation during the Covid-19 outbreak, the risks of counterfeiting and piracy within the food and drink sectors will become more evident. This comes as regulators are mulling tougher action to fight this commercial crime.…

THE ROLE of whistleblowers in the Americas has been given special attention in since last August, when an intelligence officer lodged a complaint with the Intelligence Community Inspector General about a phone call by President Donald Trump to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky pressuring him to open an investigation into alleged corruption by former vice-president Joe Biden.…

South-east Asia is not known for a tradition of eating dairy products, but actually consumers in the region’s most populous country Indonesia (population 270 million people) have been eating cheese for more than a century (partly thanks Indonesia’s historic links with the Netherlands) and the country has a thriving domestic dairy industry.…

Digital printing is still a relatively new concept to Poland’s traditional fabric finishing sector – but national pride in the country’s well-established textile sector is sparking a desire to modernise so it can maintain its competitive edge. Much of the resulting investment has been focused on local and independent textile printers located throughout the country – but a significant number of these are based in Łódz, central Poland, a key textile manufacturing hub, with the port-town of Gdynia also being home to upgraded finishing plants.…

THE USE of paint and coatings by airlines is far more than the choice of an elegant trip for tail fins and fuselages. High tech coatings help aircraft operate efficiently and play an increasingly important role in helping planes fly smoothly, reducing drag and hence carbon emissions.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is taking a hard look at hydrogen as a low carbon option to help make Europe a first climate-neutral continent by 2050, a key policy goal that is at the heart of policy-making within the new European Commission of its president Ursula von der Leyen – however he need to make H-vehicles and renewables-based H-fuel cheaper is a major challenge.  …

Europe’s first large-scale green hydrogen plant moved closer to reality in January (2020) when a proposed electrolysis project in the Netherlands won EUR11 million funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH-JU), a European Commission/industry partnership supporting hydrogen technology innovation.…

NORTH Africa is a region where care for appearance, grooming and personal hygiene is integral to its cultural DNA, so while personal care product majors have a strong presence, it is maybe no surprise that local beauty manufacturers continue to bubble up with fresh ideas and products that capture the imagination of consumers.…

Indonesia’s paint and coatings sector is expected to continue to grow, driven by an expanding middle-class population, the fast-growing construction sector and ambitious government infrastructure projects, encompassing transport networks, energy and utilities.

The south-east Asian country’s paint and coatings market has grown to almost USD2.5 billion in sales revenue in the past year and sales are expected to expand at a fair clip of between 6% and 7% annually in the next five years, according to industry analysts Frost & Sullivan. …

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is planning to lend EUR19 million to Norwegian hydrogen specialist Nel ASA to fund the development in Denmark of large-scale production and distribution of green hydrogen to a Danish fleet of at least 200 hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses.…

WITH Middle East dairy sales expanding steadily, dairy suppliers from around the world are targeting its consumers, hoping to gain a foothold in an increasingly diverse marketplace that is often open to innovation.

Dairy Industries International attended the 4th Global Dairy Innovation Congress MENA 2020, held in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), from January 20-21, where participants were encouraged by sales projections as from market researcher Euromonitor International that the Middle East (and Africa) dairy market should expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 3% between 2019 and 2023.…

Tegra, the Atlanta, USA-based leading apparel manufacturing and supply chain provider, is expanding its workforce in Latin America, with new job posts in El Salvador’s compound as well as its soon to be opened facility in Honduras. Tegra’s plant in El Salvador, Decotex, was expanded to nearly 250,000 square feet in August (2019).…

THE DEVELOPMENT and use of hydrogen-fuelled automobiles is starting to gather pace in the European Union (EU), with the EU’s executive, the European Commission encouraging growth in this environment-friendly segment as it pursues a goal of achieving a climate-neutral Europe by 2050.…

A series of reports published in recent weeks have highlighted the need for increased collaboration across the shipping industry to develop and share best practice to significantly reduce the sector’s carbon footprint. Between 2000 and 2017, the CO2 emissions associated with the shipping sector grew at an average annual rate of 1.87% between 2000 and 2017, according to a report published in September by the Bonn-based International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), ‘Navigating the way to a renewable future: solutions to decarbonise shipping’, resulting in emissions of  677 megatonnes (Mt) of CO2 in 2017.…

UNDER the current Chinese presidency, global anti-money laundering body FATF has had strong support for its desire to boost the implementation of the AML/CFT policies and laws included in its recommendations. Money Laundering Bulletin interviewed FATF’s executive secretary David Lewis to explore how his organisation and been pushing improvements to supervision of AML/CFT to ensure its expert advice delivers on stemming dirty and terror money flows.…

Members of the incoming European Commission, expected to take office in November, have released more details of a planned ‘carbon border tax’, which could levy charges on metal imports into the European Union (EU). Products affected would be those deemed by the EU as manufactured with excessive carbon emissions.…

Despite having high solar radiation with between 2,800 and 3,500 hours of sunshine in a year (when there are 8,760 hours for each non-leap year), the solar energy potential in East Africa is yet to be fully exploited.

But in this region, it is not fossil fuels that dominate.…

THE EUROPEAN dairy industry will be looking closely at the policies of the new European Commission that is now expected to assume office on December 1 – it is likely to increase pressure on the sector to improve its environmental performance.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) fourth anti-money laundering directive had not even been implemented before Panama Papers revelations on massive tax evasion highlighted critical gaps in the bloc’s regulatory framework, especially regarding cryptocurrencies and prepaid cards. The result was directive (EU) 2018/843 of May 30, 2018 commonly known as the fifth anti-money laundering directive.…

Jordanian garment manufacturers and supporting institutions like the International Labour Organization’s Better Work Jordan, plan to introduce garment design training to add value to a sector that is primarily ‘cut and sew’.

Jordan exported USD1.8 billion’s worth of garments last year, just over half to the USA, at USD1.02 billion, but designs are primarily provided by buyers and retailers, with minimal design in-country.…

More than one in five or around 56 million people who accessed public services in Latin America and the Caribbean last year paid a bribe, according to the latest 18-country survey from Transparency International. The police notched up the highest bribery rate (24%), followed by other public services such as utilities (19%). …

THE TURKISH plastics manufacturing sector has grown exponentially over the past decade, but growth has spluttered over the past year due to the country’s economic downturn and currency depreciation raising the cost of raw materials. Investment has also slowed, but manufacturers are optimistic the sector will rebound, with exports remaining strong.…

THE TRADE in food and drink between the European Union (EU) and the Mercosur bloc of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay is likely to intensify under a new trade deal between the two regional groupings. The agreement, which now needs ratification, will phase out Mercosur duties on 93% of EU exported food and drink product types, including those on wine (27%); spirits (20% to 35%); soft drinks (20-35%); chocolate (20%); biscuits (16 to 18%); canned peaches (55%).…

WHILE the spectre of Brexit looms over the British economy and hence its beauty markets, the fundamentals of its personal care product sector live on. As the UK ponders leaving the European Union (EU), maybe in October, commentators often cast a wary eye at Germany to see how this economic engine of the EU is performing – maybe to check whether Brexit is as big a business mistake as many experts warn.…

WEAVERS and their mechanical suppliers are increasingly appreciating the benefits of integrating digital technologies into their work practices and equipment. Digital investments are being made to use digitisation in boosting the precision loading of looms with appropriate threads to generating smart fabrics, using virtual visualisation rooms to aid fabric design, and more.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) regulations are driving change in plasticisers and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production, as well as recycling, but meeting targets on recycled content is challenging, industry speakers told participants in a June 24-25 media field trip to the Netherlands. The event, inclouding a visit to Dutch Shin-Etsu and Kras Recycling plants, was sponsored by the PVC sector’s 10-year sustainability programme VinylPlus and organised by chemical industry group European Plasticisers.…

The runway spans just 400 metres overlooking steep cliffs serving an island which is a dormant volcano with few stretches of flat land. The operator, Saba’s island government, has said that with Saba (population around 2,000) having no asphalt plant, longer-lasting concrete was a better financial choice.…

THE CLOSURE in November of the only oil refinery in Trinidad & Tobago, after 101 years of producing fuel in this Caribbean twin-island state, has cost thousands of jobs, impacting a large part of the nation’s economy. It means that this republic, which still possesses substantial oil and gas reserves, must now import gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel. …

PROMISING a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, energy cost-savings, sustainable manure management and a diversified revenue stream, the number of anaerobic digestion (AD) plants producing renewable biogas on dairy farms is growing globally. When upgraded to natural gas it can be sold to local utilities companies and used as transportation fuel as well as generate on-farm combined heat and power (CHP) – this biogas can be an important source of income.…

Trinidad & Tobago has a problem regarding tax transparency, one that its financial sector and government want to go away. The Caribbean twin-island state remains the only country that is a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Global Forum that is listed as totally non-compliant with its rules – see https://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/exchange-of-information-on-request/ratings/.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has recommended that companies concerned that their compliance with European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH might be impacted by Brexit should continue preparations for Britain’s possible withdrawal. With the UK having been given a new flexible exit deadline of October 31, ECHA has said it “recommends companies to continue preparing for a new, flexible withdrawal date”.…

This July is the 30th anniversary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which developed its 40 recommendations on anti-money laundering (AML) and nine special recommendations on combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) – but the jury is still out on whether the AML/CFT system it has created is really working.…

THE WORLD’S shortest commercially-operated runway has been rebuilt, with a new concrete surface replacing the previous degraded asphalt at Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport, on Saba, a Dutch Caribbean island. The runway spans just 400 metres overlooking steep cliffs serving an island which is a dormant volcano with few stretches of flat land.…

AFRICA is without doubt the continent to watch for airport and air traffic control investment in the future. It is the world’s second most populous continent (home to more than 1.2 billion people), and according to Airports Council International (World) – ACI World – Africa was the fastest growing region for air passenger traffic in 2017 and 2018, which rose 6.3% in 2017 year-on-year and 10.8% in 2018 to June year-to-date, year-on-year.…

In the first law enforcement action of its kind, the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service (FIOD), has shut down a cryptocurrency mixer service Bestmixer.io, alleging it has broken money laundering laws. The service blended potentially identifiable or ‘tainted’ cryptocurrency funds with others, obscuring the trail back to the fund’s original source.…

THE LEGALISATION nationwide of recreational cannabis in Canada last October (2018) was a groundbreaking move – a first for a major western country – and from this coming October 17, at the latest, one that may have significant implications for the beauty business.…

HONG Kong accountants may see an increase in demand for non-financial assessments, with the HK Stock Exchange consulting on proposed new environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting. It is proposing introducing mandatory disclosure requirements to include board statements considering ESG issues; and what reporting principles are used to develop company ESG reports.…

Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws have been used extensively by its government following the 2016 attempted coup, but fighting money laundering, corruption and financial crime has not been given the same priority.

With the rule of law undermined by the sacking or suspension of an estimated 150,000 members of the judiciary, civil service and military deemed part of the plot to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, eyes are on the mutual evaluation report being undertaken by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of Turkey this year.…

Bermuda and Liechtenstein may be half a world apart, but these two financial centres are similarly attractive destinations for parking money, the former with a dominant insurance sector, the latter specialising in tending the assets of the German super-rich. While both jurisdictions have strong privacy laws, they have managed to avoid being labelled by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as having weak AML/CFT laws.…

THE ACCA-qualified group finance director for the largest conglomerate in Trinidad & Tobago and a key player in the Caribbean region – the ANSA McAL group – has aligned his personal professional ambitions with his company’s goal of sturdy sustained growth.…

MAJOR western banks have been linked to the ‘Troika Laundromat’ scandal, which saw USD4.8 billion funnelled out of Russia via Russian investment bank Troika Dialog. The latest revelations published March 4 by newspapers linked to the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) said that Troika was one of at least 75 companies that formed a complex financial web from 2006 to early 2013 and not only shifted billions out of Russia but also USD4.6 billion into the country.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is expanding its network of cyber-crime expertise, with a view to beefing up intelligence, protections and responses to online criminal attacks, including frauds such as identity theft, as well as hacking.

EU member states and the European Parliament are to start talks establishing from January 2021 a European Cybersecurity Industrial, Technology and Research Centre, pooling European investment in cybersecurity research, technology and industrial development.…

While the confectionery industry is traditionally associated with high sugar levels and unhealthy indulgence, market research indicates that efforts to also appeal to consumers with a growing interest in health and wellness trends are paying off. According to UK-based market researcher GlobalData, in 2016 alone USD3.7 billion worth of confectionery with functional or fortified attributes was sold globally.…

WITH auto manufacturers looking for ways to light-weight electric and hybrid vehicles, to boost performance and battery life, the European Union (EU) is investing in a Spanish company that is seeking to develop recyclable thermo-plastic alternatives to rubber for auto parts.…

WITH Kenya’s economy still growing fast – its GDP is projected to increase by 5.8% this year (2019) east Africa’s economic hub is expected to provide the paint and coatings sector plenty of extra sales. Such growth in the construction industry is reflected in its neighbouring countries, notably Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, offering additional sales for companies with the scale to score regional sales.…

ANNOUNCEMENTS made at the Routes Americas conference for 2019 have demonstrated how the region’s civil aviation sector is expanding and providing more business to airports.

New Canadian low-cost carrier Jetlines, for example, unveiled plans to put conference host Quebec City on its route network when it begins operating later this year.…

TRADING partners with the European Union (EU) are concerned about the EU cutting the size of low duty import quotas once Britain quits the bloc, which it is scheduled to do on March 28.

The EU has released detailed plans to reduce the amount of some goods it allows into the EU, to take account of Britain exiting the single European market.…

CONCERNS about the environmental and health damage caused by sunscreen chemicals has started to translate into regulatory action around the world, with the US state of Hawaii being the most high-profile reformer.

Hawaii has imposed a state-wide ban on the sale and distribution within Hawaii of products containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are widely regarded as having a harmful impact on coral.…

From climate change to digitalisation, there is no shortage of economic challenges facing the small island states of the Caribbean, but the region’s accounting sector has the capacity to manage upcoming change.

For many such financial professionals, being a part of ACCA – which this year will mark its 20^th in the region – is integral to progress.…

EUROPEAN Union member states are dragging their feet implementing the fourth anti-money laundering directive’s (4AMLD 2015/849) beneficial ownership rules. Only five countries met the June 26, 2017, AMLD4 deadline for having an ultimate beneficial ownership (UBO) register under national law – Britain, Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden- according to the European Commission. …

THE EUROPEAN and global energy landscape is changing fast – and the biggest winners are renewable energies, Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has argued – even as green subsidies decline. Dr Birol told the November 27 Brussels launch of the ‘World Energy Outlook 2018’ report.…

From climate change to digitalisation, there is no shortage of economic challenges facing the small island states of the Caribbean, but the region’s accounting sector has the capacity to manage upcoming change.

For many such financial professionals, being a part of ACCA – which this year will mark its 20^th in the region – is integral to progress.…

GERMANY’S paint and coatings sector seems set in stasis, with 2018 expected to be another year with a slight market downturn. That said, increased interest in sustainability continues to drive the demand for more ecologically friendly products.

Given the sluggishness of overall sales, the German industry has viewed with relief results from 2018’s third quarter, where the national coatings and printing ink sector saw a rise in exports.…

A DETAILED consultants’ report released yesterday (Dec 4) has included two policy blueprints for shifting Europe’s major carpet manufacturing industry towards a more sustainable future, increasing recycling and reuse of products. The paper by UK-based Eunomia Research & Consulting Ltd outlines policy options for European Union (EU) member states to move the carpet industry towards being part of a circular economy that is a key priority of the current European Commission.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is considering introducing a Global Human Rights Sanction Regime to freeze assets and ban travel of individuals involved in rights abuses and corruption. Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok tweeted that “the EU decided to further develop a blueprint for an EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime” after a December 10 EU Council of Ministers (foreign affairs) meeting that discussed his motion on the issue. …

THE DUTCH Caribbean continues to have a weak reputation for fighting money laundering, and to a lesser extent terror financing, with the US 2017 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) highlighting weaknesses in its three autonomous jurisdictions. See https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/268024.pdf

Aruba, Curaçao and Sint Maarten are ‘countries’ within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, with their own prime ministers, while less populous islands Bonaire, St Eustatius (Statia) and Saba are municipalities, with fewer powers vested in their island councils, and the Dutch government being responsible for enforcing international anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) norms.…

CHINESE exports of knitted fabrics have been hit by major USA duties in the latest round of tit-for-tat tariffs imposed in the countries’ ongoing trade war. China exported USD470 million’s worth of knitted and crocheted fabrics to the USA in 2017, according to international trade data.…

THE MIDDLE East regional director of the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) has called for a rethink of how the roll-out of the 2017 ICAO Global Aviation Security Plan (GASeP), as member states struggle to meet initial 2020 deadlines for security improvements.…

A 2011 oil deal at the centre of a huge corporate fraud and corruption trial currently underway in a Milan court would see Nigeria lose nearly USD6 billion if it is not overturned, according to a report from Global Witness. Quoting claims made in the case, ‘Take the Future’ alleges that Italy’s partly state-owned Eni and Anglo-Dutch Shell knew that much of the USD1.1 billion they paid for a license to explore OPL 245 (oil prospecting licence) an offshore oil field in the Niger delta, ended up in the pockets government officials and did not end up in Nigerian state coffers, according to emails uncovered during the investigation.…

THE EUROPEAN car industry has slammed the “excessively aggressive CO2 reduction targets” for new heavy-duty vehicles – trucks and lorries – backed by the European Parliament – the European Union (EU)’s directly-elected legislative body – on November 14 in at the Strasbourg plenary session.…

Paint markets throughout much of the Middle East are experiencing a downturn due to the region’s political instability and economic slowdown. However, manufacturers are nonetheless betting on a rebound as larger projects re-start and reconstruction begins in certain markets.

In the oil-based economies of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, lower oil prices have hit government budgets, causing state-backed projects to be suspended or delayed, while having a knock-on effect on the wider economy.…

BY this time next year, there could be as many as 30 garment manufacturing factories that are owned and operated by Asia-based companies in Haiti, according to Georges Sassine, president of the Association des Industries d’Haïti (ADIH).

The Caribbean country has seen an influx of Asian-owned businesses since early 2017 and Sassine said there are presently almost 20 such garment factories in Haiti.…

THE IMPENDING December 1 expiration of the Dominican Republic Earned Import Allowance Program (DR 2-for-1 or EIAP) has been met with equanimity by the Caribbean country and its manufacturers who hope the trading relationships created by the system can expand.

With the CAFTA-DR (Central America-Dominican Republic-United States Free Trade Agreement) continuing, the Dominican deputy minister of foreign trade Yahaira Sosa said in a recent speech: “Although not everything has gone as planned, regarding… exports and attraction of foreign direct investment (FDI), there are points that deserve to be highlighted.”…

EUROPE’S auto-makers are shaping up for a political struggle with European Union (EU) parliamentarians as both sides debate a proposal to drastically decrease CO2 emissions from EU-made trucks.

A regulation proposed by the EU executive the European Commission this May (2018) – see https://eur-lex.europa.eu/resource.html?uri=cellar:f38df734-59da-11e8-ab41-01aa75ed71a1.0001.02/DOC_1&format=PDF…

THE CHINESE government has directly targeted the American knitwear sector in the latest tit-for-tat response in the trade wars launched by US President Donald Trump. Beijing has highlighted knitted goods in a list of products that maybe subject to retaliatory tariffs, should the USA impose a threatened third list of duties on Chinese tech, drafted over alleged thefts of American IP.…

SOLAR energy in Africa ought to be a no brainer. The continent has lot of sun, and weak electricity supplies, especially in the Sahel and sub-Saharan Africa. And yet, climate finance that has developed since the Paris climate change agreement of 2015, that could help grow green energy in this sunny continent, has not focused on Africa.…

With lower battery and auto prices boosting the battery electric vehicle (BEV) market in Europe, the race is on to ensure there are enough fast-charging stations to satisfy demand. 

The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) warned European Union (EU) lawmakers July 5 that plans to force a continent-wide switch to BEVs through swingeing cuts in CO2 emissions caps for manufacturers, was doomed to fail due to the lack of charging points.…

SUPPORTERS of the European Union (EU) as a political concept stress how it has the vision, and the money, to promote energy projects of common interest (PCIs) between its (for now) 28 member states. Their goal is to promote an effective continent-wide energy market that offers European citizens more security in their supply of gas, electricity and to a lesser extent oil.…

GARMENT manufacturing industry insiders in Haiti are optimistic that their sector can continue expanding in size, as long as the Caribbean country’s government delivers economic and social stability. This is not a given in Haiti, which has suffered from serious political instability since the dictatorial regime of former President Jean-Claude Duvalier (called ‘Baby Doc) was overthrown in 1986.…

THE HONDURAS clothing sector industry association has welcomed the expansion of the Central American Customs Union into a three-country bloc, with El Salvador joining Guatemala and Honduras to forge a light border trading zone of more than 32 million people. El Salvador will officially accede to the union (see below for more information) in November, allowing 95% of products manufactured in its members to freely circulate in the region duty free through common customs, security, and other rules, strengthening local supply chains.…

CONTRACTORS at Sint Maarten’s hurricane-battered airport are battling against the clock to complete major repairs by the start of the new tourist season in November.

Princess Juliana International Airport was one of several across the Caribbean pummeled by catastrophic Hurricane Irma in September 2017.…

Dairy producers may find it more difficult to protect distinctive products from copies in the European Union (EU) after recent legal decisions confirming the tough standard of evidence manufacturers need to meet to claim intellectual property (IP) rights over food characteristics.…

An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose such registers on its OTs by this deadline, if the local administrations have not created their own. The UK currently has the world’s only public beneficial ownership register – but it only covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – see http://ownershiptransparency.com/…

THE LONG-delayed Berlin Brandenburg Willy Brandt Airport (BER) is still under construction and the project may need another EUR500. However, no decision has been made about where the money will be sourced and two of the airport’s major shareholders (the states of Berlin and Brandenburg – 37% each) do not want to use further public funds.…

JOINING expertise from the public and private sector to combat money laundering or terrorism financing (TF) aided by virtual currencies (VCs) is the way forward, financial crime experts told MEPs at the June 18 meeting of the European Parliament’s special committee on terrorism.…

KNITWEAR is a key part of the growth in clothing manufacturing that is becoming an important part of the economies of several Caribbean countries, providing thousands of jobs and producing apparel worn not only in the region but in the USA, Canada, Europe and elsewhere.…

THE UK parliament has controversially voted to force its overseas territories (OT) to create publicly accessible beneficial ownership registers by December 31, 2020. Critics say the move threatens the financial sectors and will not aid law enforcement. Is that true? Keith Nuthall reports

Listening to the leaders of Britain’s overseas territories, the beneficial ownership amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill is a risk to their survival.…

A VOTE by the UK parliament to insist that Britain’s overseas territories introduce publicly available beneficial ownership registers by December 31, 2020, has sparked anger and dismay within these autonomous, mainly small island, jurisdictions.

An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose such registers on its OTs by this deadline, if the local administrations have not created their own.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a fifth anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD). Its reforms include broadening public access to beneficial ownership information so that the public can learn the name, month and year of birth, country of residence and nationality of beneficial owners, plus the nature and extent of their beneficial interest.…

AS in the Caribbean, small island jurisdictions in the south Pacific vary regarding their anti-money laundering (AML) exposure through the extent to which they host offshore financial sectors. As a result, when comparing the counties of Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands, it is clear which of the three global AML regulators have had to worry about – Vanuatu.…

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has today confirmed that ritual slaughter without stunning may take place only in the EU within a slaughterhouse licenced and approved by regulatory authorities. This rule should stand, its judges have said, even if temporary demand for ritual slaughter – for instance during a religious festival – would exceed the capacity of local slaughterhouses to handle potential business.…

Enhancing the quality of passenger experience while maintaining maximum security was a recurring theme during the Dubai Airport Show 2018. The annual airport industry event, held from May 7 to 9, drew more than 7,500 visitors.

Covering 15,000 square metres of space across three halls of the iconic Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, its 18^th edition hosted more than 350 exhibitors from 60 countries.…

Irish meat and livestock exporters could soon bypass the UK by shipping products directly to continental Europe, in a bid to avoid increased costs and customs checks at British ports, once the UK leaves the European Union (EU).

According to the Irish Exporters Association (IEA), around 67% of Irish exporters currently make use of the UK land-bridge to access continental markets.…

AFTER years of sluggish growth and even contraction, the UK paint and coatings sector is set to rebound this year thanks to a booming domestic automotive manufacturing sector. However, this optimism has yet to be felt across the sector due to uncertainly the industry is facing ahead of Brexit.…

NEW Caledonia, a Pacific overseas territory governed by France, will need to transpose the new so-called European Union (EU) fifth anti-money laundering directive (AMLD5) reforms agreed in May. This is because the territory will have to follow AML/CFT implementing rules within French law, a spokesperson from the French ministry of economy and finance told the Money Laundering Bulletin.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has backed, at today’s (April 19) Strasbourg plenary session, the proposed fifth European Union (EU) anti-money laundering directive (5AMLD) imposing stricter rules to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.

MEPs supported – by 574 votes to 13, with 60 abstentions – a December 2017 deal struck on the text reached with EU member states on the EU Council of Ministers.…

A STALLED project to make and test aviation biofuel in South Africa has offered a test case on how supply chain problems can prevent such innovative initiatives from making progress.

The launch of Project Solaris in 2014 as an international initiative between aviation and fuel sector partners to develop sustainable jet biofuel from the solaris crop attracted substantial media coverage for heralding in a new era in African aviation.…

PRINCESS Juliana International Airport, the Sint Maarten-based north-east Caribbean hub, which suffered heavy damage from last September’s Hurricane Irma, has opened an air-conditioned temporary departures pavilion. A temporary arrivals pavilion maybe open by April, as repairs to the airport’s permanent terminal interior, seriously flooded by Irma, continue.…

RUNNING a complex international air travel business that recovering from 2017’s devastating hurricane season, Caribbean airline boss Julie Reifer-Jones is having to draw on her near three decades’ experience in senior financial management.

Immaculately presented, in killer heels, Reifer-Jones FCCA is not just the first female CEO of Antigua-based airline LIAT, she is the only female CEO of any airline in the Caribbean.…

SALES of cosmetics and toiletries in the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) may be steady, but these developed markets are shifting amid growing diversity in distribution. Products are increasingly bought online and in non-traditional channels such as budget, lifestyle and fashion stores.…

THE DE-RISKING by banks of their correspondent banking relationships is a long-standing problem and is today becoming a truly global phenomenon. From the Caribbean to the Pacific Islands, to Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe, banks have lost correspondent relationships with international financial institutions.…

The Thailand-based agricultural holding Charoen Pokphand Foods has announced plans to invest up to Russian Roubles RUB2.5 billion (USD44.5 million) to build two poultry breeding units in Russia this year (2018). The first will be established at Charoen’s existing Severnaya poultry farm, a major production centre in the St Petersburg region (oblast).…

IT was a key strength of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change that it set out a clear macro target of limiting global warming, while giving flexibility to supporting governments on how to achieve this goal. And the same could be said of the EU’s current approach towards promoting green energy – with broad targets linked to a range of policy choices regarding implementation (although there is plenty of detailed guidance – this is the EU after all).…

CANADIAN air traffic control specialist Aeronav has supplied a temporary mobile ATC tower at Anguilla’s Clayton J Lloyd International Airport, after the existing facility was damaged by September’s category five storm Hurricane Irma. The Aeronav ANT-57 Mobile Tower System will stay in use until a new permanent tower, now under construction, is completed.…

SUB-SAHARAN Africa continues to grow as a key market for personal care product brands, with enlarging middle classes providing more spending power – however, the region’s most mature market – South Africa – has been experiencing some stagnation.

The rest of the region still is performing as emerging markets should – with growing sales, even when uneven across categories, giving brands much hope for the future.…

OECD SAYS 49 JURISDICTIONS WILL AUTOMATICALLY EXCHANGE TAX INFORMATION THIS YEAR

THE IDENTITY of 49 jurisdictions that will automatically exchange tax information in 2017 under a global standard has been revealed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD).…

AIRPORTS Council International (ACI) is to launch in the New Year a pilot programme designed to boost environmental good practice in airport management. The organisation’s director general Angela Gittens told a seminar on green airports, at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), in Montréal, Canada, that the roll out would begin at Mariscal Sucre International Airport, Quito, Ecuador.…

African clothing exporting countries are banking on rising costs in China and changing consumption patterns worldwide to attract buyers to the continent to take advantage of lower production costs.

Major hurdles abound, but manufacturers are hopeful that clothing facilities built from scratch that abide by international best practices will help the continent’s apparel sector develop.…

DATA has been released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) that shows how African governments collect less tax as a proportion of their countries’ wealth than in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa’s average 2015 tax-to-GDP ratio was 19.1%; compared to 22.8% in Latin America/Caribbean and 34.3% for the 35 richer countries within the OECD.…

The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has charged two individuals in relation to the global
Unaoil bribery and corruption investigation. Ziad Akle and Basil Al Jarah were both on
November 16 charged with conspiracy to make corrupt payments to secure the award of oil
contracts in Iraq to Unaoil’s Dutch client SBM Offshore.…

Of course, it is not doing this by increasing policing and the number of suspicious transaction reports, but by liberalising what is now a criminal activity, the growing, processing, sale and consumption of cannabis for recreation.

By doing so, it plans to be the first G20 country to legalise and regulate the recreational use of cannabis nationwide by July 2018.…

CONSIDER for a moment the long list of items hacked in spectacular fashion for the edification of those who descended on Las Vegas this summer for the annual BlackHat and DEFCON security events: voting machines, ‘smart’ safes, cars, guns, car washes, infusion pumps and radioactivity sensors.…

WITH the introduction of Bill C-45 into the Canadian House of Commons earlier this year, and its securing a second reading vote in June (see https://openparliament.ca/bills/42-1/C-45/), Canada’s government has moved closer to removing millions of dollars of dirty money from its economy.…

Multinationals and suppliers in the personal care product sector are unilaterally implementing measures to reduce their carbon footprint in the wake of the 2015 Paris climate treaty, taking steps to reduce energy use, their impact on forests and cutting water use and pollution.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) companies that put foods containing egg or chicken contaminated with the toxic insecticide fipronil on the market after 1 August 2017 will be considered liable as they should have known about the risk, the European Commission has told member states in the Commission’s Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed (PAFF) (Novel Food and Toxicological Safety of the Food Chain Section).…

TRINIDADIAN accountant Anthony Pierre is clear that his major brief as the new president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of the Caribbean (ICAC) is to help build a cadre of “future-ready” professionals willing to cooperate across national borders within the region and be guided by international best practice.…

A new industry roadmap to advance the development of power-to-gas in Europe is just one reason advocates of hydrogen production and storage are optimistic about the next decade. The laying of foundations for larger-scale developments of power-to-gas (P2G) in Europe have gathered momentum throughout 2017, with the European Association for Storage of Energy (EASE) and the Joint Programme on Energy Storage under the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) laying plans.…

Airbus Industrie has opened the second internal investigation in less than a year, following an exclusive September 18 report in The Guardian newspaper linked the aeronautics giant to two companies making secret payments via tax havens. 

Airbus Industrie is already under investigation in both France and the UK, over its use of middlemen to pass bungs to gain government contracts. …

AMERICAN and European regulators are forcing Swedish telecoms firm Telia and its Uzbek subsidiary Coscom together to pay out USD965,773,949 in penalties worldwide for corrupt payments made in Uzbekistan. The payout includes USD548.6 million for breaching the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), with the rest linked to proceedings by Dutch and Swedish prosecutors, the Openbaar Ministerie and Åklagarmyndigheten respectively.…

THE CARIBBEAN may be a small and fragmented regional market but it is a hotbed of innovation in the personal care product industry, and a potential source of inspiration in formulation and ingredients for major brands.

Its island nations, politically independent and dependent territories, have long relied especially on the nearby USA for imports.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) and China have struck a geographical indications deal preventing the names of 100 traditional food and drink items from either jurisdiction being used by manufacturers based outside their historic production regions or following standardised production techniques. Without complaints from manufacturers, the agreement will be formalised later this year.…

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has told just-food it is blocking the movement of beef cattle from a Dutch veal and broiler poultry farm to allow tests on whether another unauthorised insecticide could pose health problems.

NVWA spokesperson Tjitte Mastenbroek explained that while Amitraz can be used as a veterinary medicinal product for cattle and pigs, its use as a pesticide is prohibited, because large doses can affect the nervous system.…

The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA – Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit) is acting to protect European consumers from buying Dutch-produced eggs contaminated with fipronil, a toxic insecticide, a spokesperson has told just-food. “We have printed a list of 137 egg codes from the 180 companies [a fifth of all Dutch poultry farms] investigated, so consumers can check if they have the right or wrong eggs in their fridge.”…

CLAIMS by the Belgian authorities today (August 9) that the Netherlands knew about eggs contaminated with the toxic insecticide fipronil as early as last year are false, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA – Nederlandse Voedsel- en Warenautoriteit) has affirmed.…

COLOMBIA’S oil and gas sector is stabilising after a crisis provoked by the plunge in global oil prices, but efforts to recover growth are being hampered by guerrilla attacks, corruption scandals and a popular backlash against the industry.

The crash in oil prices that began in 2014 has left the oil industry in Colombia in a precarious position, with only an estimated five years of commercially reliable reserves remaining, according to government calculations.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) lawmakers are calling for a seismic shift towards low carbon mobility in the auto sector, including requiring manufacturers to meet a 25% minimum fleet quota for electric vehicles by 2025 and a sales ban on cars emitting carbon dioxide (CO2) by 2035. …

When many people think of wearable technology, they think of hardware devices worn as fashion add-ons and accessories, such as watches, bracelets, eye glasses and headsets. However, as technology continues to advance in areas such as material science and nanotechnology, a new generation of textiles is being created.…

DAIRY robots might seem like science fiction, but their use has increased dramatically in Europe over the last 20 years. Ireland’s Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre (Teagasc) predicts 20% of cows will be milked automatically by 2020, with other reports citing a 50% rate in northwest Europe by 2025.…

MOROCCO is blessed with an ideal geographical position to develop a Europe-focused export-based dairy sector although its proximity to Spain – just 14 km of the Straits of Gibraltar separates the two – means this emerging market is a key focus of European exporters.…

Ethiopia airlines, the largest cargo carrier in Africa, is close to completing its cargo terminal expansion as part of a major infrastructure upgrade at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, serving the Ethiopian capital.

Ethiopian Airlines, with its fleet of two Boeing 757Fs and six Boeing 777Fs, requested the new facility to accommodate increased volume growth and transit traffic.…

THE NETHERLANDS-based Hendrix Genetics plans to build a complex producing hatching eggs for turkey chicks in Russia this year, according to the Russian ministry of agriculture.

Ina report, it has said the new complex will be able to produce 6.5 million hatching eggs per year, and the potential to increase volumes in future.…

The WannaCry ransomware attack that hit worldwide last week is “at an unprecedented level and will require a complex international investigation to identify the culprits,” according to European police agency Europol. Its European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) “is working closely with affected countries cybercrime units and key industry partners to mitigate the threat and assist victims” and has called in its specialist Joint Cybercrime Action Taskforce (JCAT), which investigates the most serious international cybercrime cases to probe the attacks. …

EUROPEAN electricity industry federation Eurelectric hews closely to the views of its national associations, so when all but two of its members made a commitment in April (2017) not to fund investments in new-build coal-fired power plants after 2020, the energy sector can be sure this is a solid promise.…

SOUTH Africa has more than 30,000 flowering plant species including 10% of the world’s higher species, providing fertile ground for an organic and natural cosmetic and toiletry industry and market.

Combine the natural ingredients with a burgeoning middle-income society with increasing numbers of consumers seeking healthier lifestyles and it is no surprise that sales of these products are increasing.…

European Union (EU) member states have pushed back against more centralised control of type approvals by the bloc’s executive European Commission in a vote yesterday (Monday, May 29) in Brussels. The EU Council of Ministers, which represents EU governments, instead approved a “general approach” of principles, which would beef up cooperation between national authorities – but not give the Commission more power.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it is spending EUR17.3 million on five projects promoting innovative gas-related infrastructure projects in Europe. The money will come from the European Union’s (EU) Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), a funding programme designed to create economic growth, jobs and competitiveness through targeted infrastructure investment.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission must propose a new blacklist of non-European Union (EU) countries considered high-risk money laundering locations, after the full European Parliament (EP) overwhelmingly a proposed list yesterday (May 17), by 392 votes to 80, with 207 abstentions.

A Parliament spokesperson told Money Laundering Bulletin the Commission had no deadline to produce its third list of countries needing to face stricter controls doing business in the EU, but was expected to do so in the next “few months”.…

A SIGNIFICANT number of law enforcement and private partners have joined European police cooperation body Europol’s global ‘No more ransom’ project, designed to halt the growing threat of ransomware. There are now 76 participants in the project, which was launched last July (2016) by the Dutch National Police, Europol, IT firm Intel Security and cybercrime specialists Kaspersky Lab.…

Swiss bank Credit Suisse is facing parallel investigations in five countries – Australia, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK for facilitating tax evasion and money laundering. The bank admitted in a March 31 statement that it was “cooperating” with local tax authorities which had contacted its London, Paris and Amsterdam offices the day before “concerning client tax matters.”…

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a comprehensive study into the healthiness of consuming sugar, that could guidance telling consumers when to stop eating sugary foods, such as confectionery. An ad-hoc working group with expertise in dietary exposure, epidemiology, human nutrition, diet-related chronic diseases and dentistry will examine the issue, along with Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, which requested the work.…

EU PROPOSES BOOSTING ANTICARTEL POWERS OF NATIONAL EUROPEAN COMPETITION AUTHORITIES

A DIRECTIVE has been proposed by the European Commission that would ensure that national competition authorities across the European Union (EU) have a minimum level of powers enabling them to enforce EU antitrust laws.…

European Union (EU) lawmakers have voted for emission compliance checks on 20% of all new models already on EU roads to beat test cheats in type approval assessments. The European Parliament voted through the requirement on Tuesday (April 4) at its Strasbourg, France, plenary, in an amendment to proposals drafted by British Conservative MEP Daniel Dalton on a proposed law revamping the EU’s type approval system.…

THE MALAYSIAN government has secured help from India to improve the quality and employability of its workforce, as it seems to ensure 35% of its workers are skilled workers by 2020 – a key government target.  

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed earlier this month (April 1) between the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) and Malaysia’s Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad (PSMB), an arm of Human Resource Development Fund under Malaysia’s ministry of human resources.…

THE EUROPEAN wipes market is a complex affair. This is a varied segment, in itself, but wipe use varies between countries with contrasting consumer cultures – meaning that in some states, wipes sales are increasing; in others decreasing; and in others, the kinds of wipes being sold is changing.…

The European Union (EU) is to require companies importing certain minerals to carry out ‘due diligence’ checks on their suppliers to ensure they are not funding conflict or human rights violations, under a draft regulation approved in the European Parliament in Strasbourg today (March 16). …

THE EUROPEAN Commission should bring forward legislation to enhance due diligence for supply chains in the garment sector, the European Parliament’s development committee said yesterday (March 21). MEPs backed a report by Spanish MEP Lola Sánchez Caldentey from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) group which asked the Commission to propose a European Union (EU) law saying a binding reporting system should generate data linking each product to its respective producers.…

EVERY time apparel industry executive Israfil Alam and his wife buy groceries, one item doesn’t elude them: chocolate for their 13-year-old son Isman Sayer.

“Isman’s favourite is Kit Kat Chunky,” Alam, a Dhaka-based general manager at knitwear maker Magpie Group, told Confectionery Production.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) executive, the European Commission, has issued guidance for the bloc’s 28 member states on how to enforce controls on so-called ‘defeat devices’ that have been abused, notably by Volkswagen to bypass EU emissions rules.  

This advice also tells EU regulators on how to restrict other emission abatement strategies used during laboratory tests for type approval purposes, as well as when to allow such methods, under a waiver.…

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has recommended that it is too early to regulate the block chain distributed ledger technology (DLT) that underpins virtual currency platforms such as Bitcoin. Its suggestion comes as the European Union (EU) considers expanding the scope of its fourth anti-money laundering regulation (4AMLD) to virtual currencies. …

EVERY time apparel industry executive Israfil Alam and his wife buy groceries, one item doesn’t elude them: chocolate for their 13-year-old son Isman Sayer.

“Isman’s favourite is Kit Kat Chunky,” Alam, a Dhaka-based general manager at knitwear maker Magpie Group, told Confectionery Production.…

THE TRADE in confectionery products between the European Union (EU) and Canada is likely to increase now the European Parliament has approved the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

The vote – on February 15 (2017) – follows years of detailed negotiations and means that large sections of this trade deal can now come into force, maybe as early as April, as long as Canada stages its own vote in time.…

THE GERMAN paint and coatings industry is predicting that its sales will grow steadily in the coming year, as Europe’s largest economy continues its steady economic good fortunes.

The World Bank forecasts that 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be 1.6% and in 2018 it will be 1.5%.…

The gradual opening up of trade relations between Cuba and the United States has sparked a raft of bold predictions about how Cuban cigars are poised to sweep into the US premium cigar market. However, Cuban producers will have to navigate several serious obstacles if they are to lay claim to a significant market share, not the least the potential rolling back of détente by the Trump administration in Washington DC – at present a question being asked by many cigar traders.…

The German paint and coatings industry is predicting that its sales will grow steadily in the coming year, as Europe’s largest economy continues its steady economic good fortunes. The World Bank forecasts that 2017 gross domestic product (GDP) growth will be 1.6% and in 2018 it will be 1.5%.…

The Syria conflict is into its sixth year, as are the multilateral sanctions imposed on the government in Damascus. How effective have the sanctions been, given the Syrian regime’s survival? And where may have funds from members of the regime, and those linked to it, gone?…

A GEORGIAN beer company is to make Dutch brands Heineken and Amstel under licence for its home market in the Caucasus at a new brewery, built and operated using a syndicated loan arranged by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD).…

WINTER sportsmen and women are busy training for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, in South Korea, from next February 9 to 28 (2018), and part of their preparation will be securing the best clothing and footwear made from carefully drafted technical textiles.…

POLAND’S beauty and personal care market is fragmented, highly competitive and extremely price sensitive, but continues to grow faster than that of most other countries in central and eastern Europe. Poles spent about EUR3.6 billion (USD 3.85 billion) on cosmetics and personal care products in 2016, according to the latest estimates from London-based market research firm Euromonitor International.…

NIGERIAN men are often pragmatic consumers who focus on essentials when buying grooming products, and indeed sales of daily staples such as toiletry, shaving and fragrance products have been growing phenomenally in west Africa’s economic powerhouse.

But personal care product companies should not ignore non-essential grooming products for men in Nigeria – it may be a niche, but market experts have told Cosmetics Business Markets that the potential of these sales should not be underestimated.…

THE FIRST phase of a EUR5.6 million upgrade to French Saint Martin’s L’Esperance Airport has been completed, with a renovated terminal building being opened. It has enlarged arrivals and departures halls, free wi-fi, more check-in desks, and a bigger luggage carousel.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

VIETNAM’S construction and manufacturing sectors are driving demand for paints and varnishes as economic growth remains healthy despite speed bumps this year. While this key south-east Asian emerging market’s economic growth took a hit this year thanks to environmental issues and weak global export demand, the country’s paints and coatings industry continues to grow.…

TOBACCO has been grown, processed, smoked and traded within and between native Canadian and American communities for centuries, so it is no surprise that attempts to restrict how their reserves and reservations make and sell tobacco cause upset.

But in Canada, with tobacco control rules on health warnings, advertising and tobacco content in these First Nations jurisdictions often weak or non-existent, and tax and duty not collected on sales, there has been pressure on the federal and provincial government to crack down on what police and anti-tobacco campaigners regard as a legal free-for-all.…

SUB-Saharan Africa offers the personal care product a real chance to see solid and steep growth in sales in upcoming years, with the region’s middle class growing in size and prosperity, served by international brands boosting their retail presence, especially in larger urban markets.…

The Egyptian bath, shower and soap sector is growing in retail value, and will be worth USD230.6 million in 2016, according to UK-based market research company Euromonitor International, up by 16% since 2015. But overall, sales growth in this segment is sluggish due to the country’s continued relatively slow economic growth (forecast for 3.3% by the World Bank for 2016), political uncertainty and low purchasing power.…

The reform of European Union (EU) statutory audit rules, which came into force on June 17, represents a set of challenges to public interest entities (PIEs) and their audit committees. And with these changes applying to fiscal years beginning on or after this date, and given that there are about 37,000 PIEs (basically listed companies, credit institutions and insurance undertakings) across the EU, the reform is having a profound effect on European corporate governance.…

GERMANY is one of Denmark’s largest export markets for organic meat, but industry experts say there is still room for sales growth. A key target market is northern Germany, including the major city of Hamburg, given its close proximity to southern Denmark where the bulk of Danish organic farms are located. …

BANGLADESH’S apparel makers have invested heavily in improving factory safety since the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster but global buyers are still failing to pay fair prices and following non-transparent purchasing practices, a conference in Dhaka has heard.

Speaking at the Sustainable Sourcing in the Garment Sector (SSGS) conference, held on September 29, in the Bangladesh capital, policymakers, producers, retailers and experts stressed that the race to the bottom should be stopped, as the industry needs to move from paying minimum wages to living wages.…

BRAZIL’S textile industry is upset that the summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and custom from its 500,000 foreign visitors, has failed to give its producers a significant shot in the arm, despite needing help during the country’s ongoing recession.…

The European Union’s (EU) executive, the European Commission, will next month file suit against EU member state governments over their failure to act on their response to the ‘dieselgate’ emissions cheating scandal. The EU internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) on Monday (September 12): “You will definitely see some infringement procedures next month.”…

The market for packaged food with health claims is still small in Thailand, with the organics food sector being particularly tiny. But functional food sales growth rates have been picking up markedly on the back of an aging population translating into increasing awareness of health problems, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, obesity and diabetes.…

There is “irrefutable evidence” the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that crashed over war-torn Ukraine on 17 July 2014 was hit by a Russia-made BUK missile from the 9M38 series, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service’s Joint Investigation Team (JIT) told a Wednesday (September 28) press conference for relatives of the 298 victims.…

SOUTH Asia’s growing personal care product sector is of increasing importance to international brands, with growing middle classes among vast populations creating a honeypot market with consumers, many accustomed to English-language marketing.

As the region’s hub and overwhelmingly most populous country, India’s beauty and personal care industry will generate sales worth USD13.3 billion in 2016, growing by 14.2% year-on-year, according to UK-based market research firm Euromonitor International.…

As Auditor General for Jamaica’s public sector institutions, the country’s Pamela Monroe Ellis commands respect, sometimes bordering on anxiety and apprehension, when word gets out that a state agency is to be the subject of an audit. Yet, her easy laughter and cheerful personality quickly dispel any pre-conceived image of a dour, dogged bean counter searching for unapproved expenditure or inadequate accounting practices.…

The European Commission’s decision on August 30 to order United States (US) tech giant Apple to repay Ireland a record-breaking EUR13 billion in back taxes will make waves in the tax and accounting world, experts have told Accounting & Business Ireland.…

VIETNAM’S textile sector faces significant challenges as it seeks to profit sustainably from new commercial opportunities offered by international trade deals, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a major industry conference has been told. The Vietnam Textile Summit 2016 was held from June 29-30, at The Reverie Saigon, an upscale hotel in downtown Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC).…

MOBILE money transactions surged in 2015 across the world – increasing by 31% to reach 411 million mobile money accounts, and this is a critical platform for expanding financial inclusion globally, according to GSMA, a UK-based global mobile industry association, in its February 2016 annual report on the ‘State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money’. …

ITALIAN law enforcement agencies are cracking down on the use of the country’s gambling sector by transnational organised criminal groups (OCGs) to launder dirty money. The country’s most powerful mafias – Cosa Nostra (Sicily); ‘Ndrangheta (Calabria); Camorra (Campania); and Sacra Corona Unita’ (Apulia) all abuse gambling to hide criminal proceeds, according to reports from national police investigations.…

South-east Asia is a region that has sharp contrasts in economic development, from between the wealth of Singapore to countries such as Myanmar, where poverty is endemic and consumer markets are relatively undeveloped.

Such contrasts pose challenges for personal care product companies seeking regional strategies to tap the markets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) 10 countries, whose cosmetics suppliers have to comply with the standards of the ASEAN Cosmetics Directive, which was modelled on European Union legislation.…

A PRELIMINARY ruling at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said authors should be compensated for the lending of their electronic books by European Union (EU) public libraries similarly to traditional books – with one royalty per purchase, not every time an e-book is lent to a reader.…

THE UK’s personal care and cosmetics industry faces uncertainty and potential future trade challenges with the European Union (EU) following the 52% to 48% June 23 referendum vote to leave the EU. “No longer being part of a single market for the free circulation of goods and no longer being a key player in the development of legislation governing those goods will be a major challenge to the cosmetics industry as it will be to all other sectors of the UK industry,” Chris Flower, director-general of the UK’s Cosmetic, Toiletry & Perfumery Association (CTPA), told Soap Perfumery and Cosmetics.…

The US deodorant and antiperspirant market is in good shape, experiencing and projecting steady growth year after year in a largely saturated market where innovation is key to driving sales. Euromonitor International, the London-based market research firm, released a report in April 2016, which says the US deodorants market tends to grow “solidly” but “rarely dramatically”. …

EUROPEAN Union (EU) dairy producers are suffering a prolonged crisis because of the April 2015 elimination of milk quotas; Russia’s food import ban – now extended until December 31, 2017 – and worldwide overproduction, the European Parliament has heard. Moreover, MEPs at a ‘New exceptional market measures limiting milk production’ hearing hosted by the European Parliament’s agriculture and rural development committee in Brussels on May 25 were not convinced the EU’s EUR500 million aid package agreed in September 2015 would give producers the help they need.…

A DUTCH specialist in digital printing has told a major textile conference in Brazil that its textile finishing sector should embrace this technology, despite its higher costs. Rene Wolferink, application specialist at the Netherlands’ SPGPrints was speaking at the International Abit Congress, staged by the Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT – Associação Brasileira da Indústria Têxtil e de Confecção), staged in São Paulo on June 1 and 2.…

Specialist health and nutritional foods are set to become more important in the European market in future, according to Nestlé executive vice president and head of EMENA zone (Europe, Middle East and North Africa), Luis Cantarell, who singled out foods for the ageing population as a key priority.…

Pressure is increasing on companies to disclose their sustainability performance and a mass of voluntary and mandatory environmental reporting guidance has emerged – but the lack of a standard terminology has led to confusion and complexity. This is the conclusion of a new report from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) called ‘Mapping the sustainability reporting landscape – Lost in the right direction’.…

Important changes in the way that the European Union (EU) deals with orphan medicines could be signalled later this year when the European Commission publishes a revised version of its 2003 Communication (policy paper) on the topic. The Commission has said wants to “streamline the regulatory framework” underpinning the assistance given to manufacturers of orphan drugs and to adapt the policy to “technical progress”, and asked for comments from the pharma industry and other interested parties on how it should proceed.…

INDONESIAN consumers are becoming increasingly brand-savvy as their incomes surge, driving up the country’s body care product market. As of 2015, this retail segment generated USD169.41 million in sales, and is expected to reach USD245.09 million by 2020, according to Ghina Romani, a researcher with the London-based market intelligence company Canadean.…

Infant formula was back in the news for wrong reasons again in China recently when cans of powder bearing fake labels for the Chinese Beingmate brand and Similac brands (owned by the US-based Abbott Laboratories) sparked nine arrests in April. Police have claimed 17,000 cans of infant formula were involved, being sold in the provinces of Henan, Jiangsu, Anhui and Hubei.…

INDONESIAN consumers are becoming increasingly brand-savvy as their incomes surge, driving up the country’s body care product market. As of 2015, this retail segment generated USD169.41 million in sales, and is expected to reach USD245.09 million by 2020, according to Ghina Romani, a researcher with the London-based market intelligence company Canadean.…

How to remain competitive in the face of falling meat consumption is the main challenge facing the meat and livestock industry today, Pekka Pesonen, secretary general of European Union (EU) farmers’ organisation Copa-Cogeca, has told GlobalMeatNews.

In an exclusive interview held as the EU body launched its #livestockcounts #enjoyagrifood campaign, promoting quality European meat consumption, Pesonen said: “We must ensure the added value of eating high quality meat as part of a balanced diet is communicated effectively to the consumer.”…

It is high time universities started to measure more what achieve in student learning, and less in enrolment, the Presidents’ Forum of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) has been told. The president of the Netherlands’ Maastricht University’s, Professor Jo Ritzen, referenced an American study in 2011 which found that many USA university and college students did not learn much at all.…

CONSUMERS should eat more vegetables, but less meat and fish, according to new dietary advice issued on March 31 by the Netherlands Nutrition Centre Foundation (NNC – Stichting Voedingscentrum Nederland), the government’s food advisory body.

The key change is recommending a daily dose of 250 grammes (g) instead of 200g of vegetables.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has agreed to back reinforcing checks of all persons entering or leaving the EU, including of EU citizens, to reduce the risk of visitors promoting terrorism.

“We have to determine whether they form a threat to our safety or not,” said Klaas Dijkhoff, the Netherlands’ minister for migration following a February 25 meeting of the EU council for justice and home affairs.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have told the European Commission to devise detailed assistance measures to help European pigmeat producers, following a debate at the EU Council of Ministers for agriculture yesterday (March 14).

A communiqué said that the Council and Commission had agreed to “take decisive actions without delay” building on the EUR500 million aid package for farmers approved last September (2015).…

MEXICO and central America are often regarding as manufacturing centres for the USA, the world’s largest personal care product country. And while it remains true that brands take advantage of lower costs in these countries to make competitive exports, Mexico (population 122 million) and the seven countries of central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama – population 45 million) are significant markets in their own right.…

THE COMMITTEE of European Sugar Users (CIUS) has called on the European Union (EU) to take urgent action to prevent EU confectionery and sweet bakery manufacturers facing a sugar supply crunch this summer. In a strongly worded message, the industry group has said that duties and levies should not be imposed on supplies of beet and cane sugar and the EU’s cane sugar ‘CXL’ duty should be scrapped immediately.…

THE EUROPEAN Association of Sugar Pro­ducers (CEFS) and the European Federation of Trade Unions in the Food, Agriculture and Tourism sectors (EFFAT) have called for the European Union (EU) to push for a global agreement ending all subsidies and other trade-distorting policies affecting the sugar sector.…

The European Union (EU) is struggling to resolve deep political divisions over whether a future diligence scheme to prevent conflict minerals hitting Europe’s shores should be mandatory or voluntary and over the influence that industry should have on the system’s operation. …

The Netherlands meat sector is delighted that its beef and veal industry has won US government approval to export to America, after being blocked since 1998, when Washington imposed a ban on all European Union (EU) beef and veal exports because of BSE.…

Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, is to have a EUR110 million world-class cargo terminal built to boost its freight handling capacity by fourfold – a move that will confirm Ethiopia’s position as Africa’s main trans-shipment destination.

The new cargo hub, which is being designed by German engineering firm Unitechnik Group, will be the size of five football grounds and be able to shift 600,000 tonnes of freight a year at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.…

Claims of massive corruption in the sun-soaked Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) are finally being aired in court. More than six years after investigators declared endemic malfeasance had brought the UK overseas territory to the brink of bankruptcy, its flamboyant former Premier Michael Misick is on trial accused of enriching himself by USD28 million.…

A COMPREHENSIVE legislative initiative launched by the European Commission on January 28, designed to restrict tax avoidance – especially by multinationals within the European Union (EU) – is likely to be influenced by the raw politics of the upcoming UK in-out referendum on EU membership.…

A European Parliament probe into the dieselgate scandal kicked off yesterday (March 2) with a row over how far the year-long probe should go in finger-pointing at the car industry. For the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the European Parliament’s largest political group, Latvian MEP Krišjānis Kariņš warned the new Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS): “The EPP will do its utmost to prevent this committee from becoming what could be termed as a witch hunt either against industry or against diesel technologies where Europe has a competitive advantage in the world.”…

The European Union (EU) is considering adopting methods used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through staging secret tests to check in service cars for type approval compliance. A hearing today (February 23) at the European Parliament’s (EP) key environment, public health and food safety committee learned that with test contents kept secret, automakers cannot design and fit cheat devices to subvert controls.…

MILLENNIAL CONSUMERS ARE SHAKING UP INDIAN MARKET

The emergence of the millennial generation – those born between 1980 and the early 2000’s – is going to drive how consumption, including that of food, takes place in India, according to retail and manufacturing heads at the India Food Forum, which was held in Mumbai between January 19 and 21.…

British engineering firm Rolls-Royce has been dragged deeper into Brazil’s Petrobras corruption mire with fresh questions arising over its links to Brazilian entrepreneur Julio Faerman, charged last month with bribery, money laundering and tax evasion. Faerman was one of 12 charged in ‘Operation Black Blood’ for an alleged bribery scheme between the state-owned oil company Petrobras and Dutch contractor SBM Offshore.…

The European Union’s (EU) Energy Roadmap 2050 project is certainly ambitious – looking to decarbonise Europe’s energy sector – and it anticipates that carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology will play an important role. Yet, it is clear that this technology is far from ubiquitous and significant efforts will be required to enable CCS to play a key part in Europe’s CCS future.…

Five years since the start of the Arab uprisings in 2011, instability is still impacting cosmetics sales in the Levant and north Africa. Last year saw a slight improvement on overall sales in 2014, the year the Islamic State spread through northern Iraq and Syria, but figures are down on 2013, and the growth projected in 2010, according to figures from market researcher Euromonitor International and estimates from cosmetics companies.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has effectively declared illegal under European Union (EU) a tax break for multi-nationals operating in Belgium enabled them to discount profits on their Belgian tax returns. This ‘excess profit’ tax ruling system assumed that Belgian wings of multinationals made extra profits in Belgium by benefiting from economies of scale generated by activities in other countries.…

Thanks to the introduction of a tax incentive scheme launched by the government of Trinidad & Tobago, auto converters and dealers in the country are increasingly talking up Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a clean auto fuel for vehicles on the twin island Caribbean state.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) executive, the European Commission could fine automakers up to EUR30,000 per vehicle if found cheating on emissions or other tests under reformed type approval rules proposed on Wednesday (January 27). The proposals to revamp the EU’s type approval system aim to prevent a repeat of the Volkswagen ‘dieselgate’ scandal that have revealed major holes in EU regulatory oversight on vehicle performance, which is largely based on national government agencies among the EU’s 28 member states.…

European Union (EU) lawmakers could veto a new real driving emissions (RDE) test, using on-vehicle portable emission measurement systems (PEMS) devices rather than laboratories to measure tailpipe output, in a February 2 vote. To be taken by the European Parliament – the EU’s democratic assembly – the vote likely will be knife-edge close since three political groups – including the largest centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) – oppose the proposed veto but not the five others.…

COMPETING fastfood chains are snapping at McDonald’s heels in Finland as the global player closes branches. McDonald’s now has just 72 outlets after chopping 10 in 2015. The remainder largely consists of franchises (59) with the rest owned by the Finnish subsidiary (13).…

OPPOSITION is growing within eastern and central Europe to the plan to expand the Nord Stream pipeline from Russia to Germany. Gazprom, E.ON, BASF/Wintershall, OMV, ENGIE and Royal Dutch Shell have formed a consortium that would double the capacity of the current Nord Stream 1 and 2 line to 55 billion additional cubic metres of gas a year (bcm/y).…

Vegetable oil companies are rightfully concerned about the reputation of key feedstocks such as soy for good environmental and social sustainability. Bad news stories about poor pay, pollution and virgin land clearances can knock consumer demand for products and that is bad for business.…

While solar power-generating roads may sound like a futuristic idea, the technology could soon become reality. SolaRoad, a 70-metre-long concrete bicycle path embedded with solar panels located in Krommenie, the Netherlands, has delivered promising results as a prototype. And the project’s developers are hopeful a commercially-viable product with widespread application is just around the corner.…

EUROPEAN automakers and influential supporters in the European Parliament are advising European Union (EU) politicians not to rush into imposing new tailpipe pollution limits in a proposal currently going through the EU legislative process.
The EU executive, the European Commission, has proposed an EU regulation ‘amending Regulations (EC) No 715/2007 and (EC) No 595/2009 as regards the reduction of pollutant emissions from road vehicles’.…

World football’s governing body FIFA – Fédération Internationale de Football Association – has claimed it is the victim following the arrests of 14 officials in Zurich on May 27, before its latest annual congress. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG), which made the arrests for its US counterpart, also announced it had opened its own separate case.…

Further regulation is not always the way to restore trust in business – rather it can be achieved by greater emphasis on improving corporate culture, a May 5 conference at the European Parliament, in Brussels, heard. This did not mean that regulation should be scrapped or ignored, but speakers at the joint ACCA – European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) conference ‘Creating value through governance: channelling corporate culture and ethics in boards’ wanted to see legislation set incentives – carrots rather than sticks.…

Colombia’s bio-based oils and fats sector is seeing industry profits siphoned off by criminal networks thanks to a contraband smuggling boom linked to illegal armed groups, organised crime and money laundering.
Contraband smuggling in Colombia has evolved into a sophisticated criminal business worth USD6 billion a year, according to the estimates of the Colombian National Tax and Customs Directorate (DIAN – Dirección de Impuestos y Aduanas Nacionales), and has become one of the principal threats facing national industries.…

Bangladesh’s knitting industry faces key changes in the next 20 years as the western-educated children of first-generation businessmen take over family-owned firms. Industry experts note that some second-generation entrepreneurs have already taken the reins of major knitwear companies and are introducing modern management practices and discovering new financing channels.…

In 2008, the then-emerging Chinese dairy market was delivered a devastating blow by the ‘melamine scandal’. It was triggered by New Zealand dairy cooperative Fonterra’s local partner Sanlu fraudulently adding melamine, a raw material used in the production of plastics, into its dairy products in order to pretend higher protein content.…

Members of the European Parliament are calling on the European Commission to release a delayed report on method-of-slaughter labelling in order to hold a “proper debate” on labelling and animal welfare issues.
However, overcoming some sensitive cultural areas could prove to be contentious, as certain factions seek to exploit attitudes to religious slaughter.…

Increased demand for fire-retardant paints and coatings, and tighter regulations around the use of certain flame-retardant chemicals, is leading to a growing range of innovations in this sector. A wide range of such developments is emerging in the USA in particular, although European research is also ongoing.…

THE INDONESIAN batik industry may be set for record profits in 2015, on the back of strong growth of both the domestic and export market in recent years, according to an industry insider. “Our turnover trade has approximately doubled in the last five years,” Dewanto Santosa, director of Batik Danar Hadi, said.…

In the latest in a string of bans on cheese products entering Russia, the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights and Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor) has banned cheese products made by Poland’s Ostrowia.
But this latest dairy ban is not all it seems, and Milkiland, the Netherlands-based dairy products producer owning Ostrowia, has called for “dialogue” with Russian authorities because its banned ‘Wesola Krowka’ (‘Jolly Cow’) is made from vegetable fats.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s budgetary control committee has called for more thorough checks on European Union (EU) institution and budget spending. In a detailed resolution, it noted that while the value of EU frauds has been falling, the number of scams has been increasing.…

MEMBERS of the European Parliament’s (MEPs) committees on agriculture and environment and food safety have demonstrated their continued strong opposition to the use of cloning for farm animals or for food purposes, a public hearing held today in Brussels confirmed.
Indicating that the European Commission’s 2013 draft proposals for a five year EU ban on cloning animals and producing meat and dairy products from such livestock could be amended and made more onerous, some MEPs said they want any use of cloning rejected or banned permanently.…

Ethiopia’s appointment of the Vitol Group, the Switzerland-based and Dutch-owned physical oil trading major, to supply Ethiopia with petroleum imports in 2015, marks a sea-change for this key sub-Saharan Africa market.
Vitol is replacing the Kuwaiti Independent Petroleum Group after it had supplied the Horn of Africa country with petroleum products for five years.…

THE INDONESIAN batik industry may be set for record profits in 2015, on the back of strong growth of both the domestic and export market in recent years, according to an industry insider. “Our turnover trade has approximately doubled in the last five years,” Dewanto Santosa, director of Batik Danar Hadi, said.…

The recent moves towards loosening trade and diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba has provided a source of cautious optimism within the American auto industry.
President Barack Obama has been loosening the 54-year trade restrictions after announcing a policy u-turn on December 17 last year, but only Congress, controlled by Republicans, can actually lift the economic embargo entirely.…

Antigua-based accountant Laura Lyn, who trained as a CPA in Florida and has 20 years’ experience in finance, said accounting and auditing standards had seen much improvement in the region in recent years. Better skilled accountants, she said, were having a positive impact on the financial management standards of Caribbean public bodies and government departments generally.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) anti-fraud office (OLAF) is in many ways a unique body – a team of expert accountants, lawyers and law enforcement professionals looking for fraud in an annual budget approaching Euro 150 billion, spent by a 28-country international organisation.…

ADDITIONAL European Union (EU) controls could be imposed on the use of common phthalate DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate) over concerns about its environmental endocrine disrupting properties. The plasticiser is already on the EU’s candidate list for substances of very high concern (SVHC) and its EU use could be made subject to special authorisation from February.…

NATIONAL authorities in the member countries of the European Union (EU) will be obliged to create central registers listing the ultimate owners of companies on their territory following a deal on the fourth EU anti-money laundering directive (AMLD) agreed on Tuesday (Dec 16) in Brussels.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) regulations on certain textile products Belarus and North Korea should soon be clearer and more user-friendly, according to members of the European Parliament trade committee. At a meeting in Brussels this Wednesday (Dec 3), Jaroslaw Walesa, the Polish centre-right MEP in charge of negotiating these reforms for the parliament, backed the liberalisation proposals as “technical but not controversial”.…

THE OUTBREAKS of bird flu in Germany, Britain and the Netherlands is hampering efforts to create export markets in mainland China for these countries’ poultry and poultry products.

China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on November 27 banned any poultry products and birds from entering China if they were produced and reared in North-Rhine Westphalia.…

Central America’s increasing exposure to money laundering is at least being recognised by the governments on the region, who are working both individually and collectively to combat the problem.

The region has strengthened cooperation, for instance. A key initiative is the Central American Integration System (SICA), a regional political organisation which coordinates government actions for Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Belize and the Dominican Republic regarding certain policy development and programmes, notably improving law enforcement.…

THE OUTBREAKS of bird flu in Germany, Britain and the Netherlands is hampering efforts to create export markets in mainland China for these countries’ poultry and poultry products.

China’s Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on November 27 banned any poultry products and birds from entering China if they were produced and reared in North-Rhine Westphalia.…

Dutch technology firm Nelipak Healthcare Packaging has launched a new table top tray heat sealer, used for packaging items in cleanroom environments, notably International Organization for Standardization (ISO) cleanrooms classified ‘seven’ (which ranges from 2,930 to 352,000 dust or other particles allowed per cubic metre of air) and ‘eight’ (29,300 to 3,520,000 particles).…

Dutch technology firm Nelipak Healthcare Packaging has launched a new table top tray heat sealer, used for packaging items in cleanroom environments, notably International Organization for Standardization (ISO) cleanrooms classified ‘seven’ (which ranges from 2,930 to 352,000 dust or other particles allowed per cubic metre of air) and ‘eight’ (29,300 to 3,520,000 particles).…

THE CREATION of a consultative textile and clothing ‘buyers’ forum’ in Pakistan, linking brands with manufacturers, government and unions, has moved a step closer following an international meeting staged in Islamabad.
This first ‘buyers’ meeting’, was held on December 15 and 16, organised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Dutch and Pakistan governments.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s response to Europe’s African swine fever (ASF) crisis was criticised at the European Parliament yesterday (Tuesday Oct 7) for being too weak. The disease has brought about considerable economic damage to Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, members of the parliament’s agriculture and rural development committee warned in Brussels.…

THE AMERICAN government has complained of delays by the outgoing European Commission that leaves office on November 1 regarding the authorisation of new bio-tech food products and ingredients for use in the European Union (EU). In a strongly worded message to the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) disputes settlement body, the US said that the EU had failed to leave decisions to regulatory committees acting on European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) advice.…

NATIONAL telecommunications experts and ministers from the 28 European Union (EU) countries are still far from agreeing the proposed ‘Connected Continent’ package of telecoms regulations, with intensive technical talks still taking place in the EU Council of Ministers. This is one of two EU legislators who must approve the legislation for it to take effect – it was proposed by the European Commission in September 2013.…

THE CATTLEMEN’S Beef Promotion and Research Board in the USA will spend USD10.5 million of its USD39 million investments planned for the fiscal year of October 1, 2014-2015 to promote beef sales in its domestic market.

The goal of this consumer information campaign is to “improve domestic preference for beef by educating consumers about things like beef safety, nutrition and health, convenience, taste and value,” the board’s communications manager Diane Henderson told globalmeatnews.com.…

The European Union (EU) must continue awarding free allowances for carbon emissions to energy-intensive industries such as the non-ferrous metals sector, the EU’s energy and climate commissioner-designate Miguel Arias Cañete has said.

Speaking during his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday (October 1), he said that free allowances should be given to efficient industry players through the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) to avoid pushing manufacturing out of Europe to jurisdictions with weaker climate controls.…

International airports worldwide are working hard to install biometric border controls that they hope will speed passenger movement, while maintaining, or even enhancing security.

A key example of such new installations has been at Ireland’s biggest hub Dublin Airport, where since April 2013, travellers arriving at the 74-year old airport – which handles more than 20 million passengers per year – have had the option of passing through biometric identification gates in the airport’s immigration hall.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced it will pay an additional EUR3 million to the Airport Communication Project (AIRCOP), financing its work to 2016. AIRCOP is run by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Customs Organisation (WCO) and Interpol, and aims to strengthen anti-narcotic detection, interdiction and intelligence capacities in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. …

The European non-ferrous metals industry has welcomed the composition and the general policy thrust of the new European Commission team unveiled by incoming president Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday (Wednesday) but believes that the new team could face difficulties in confirmation hearings.

What happened?…

The European Union (EU) must continue awarding free allowances for carbon emissions to energy-intensive industries such as the non-ferrous metals sector, the EU’s energy and climate commissioner-designate Miguel Arias Cañete has said.

Speaking during his confirmation hearing in the European Parliament in Brussels yesterday (October 1), he said that free allowances should be given to efficient industry players through the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) to avoid pushing manufacturing out of Europe to jurisdictions with weaker climate controls.…

THE PLANNED Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and United States is raising concerns about democracy in the EU, but should ease sales of plastic medical devices across the Atlantic, a Philips executive told a Brussels conference on Friday.…

A RESEARCH project that has received EUR7 million in funding from the European Commission is working to bring more environmentally-friendly processes in the mainstream of the cosmetics industry in Europe. The OPTIBIOCAT (Optimised esterase biocatalysts for cost-effective industrial production) project, which began in 2013, wants to replace resource and energy-intensive chemical processes currently used in the cosmetics industry with less intensive ones, based on enzymes.…

Caribbean jurisdictions may be increasingly signing up to the requirements of America’s Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) but there is no great enthusiasm about it. Indeed, some bankers fear it could lead to a sharp fall in the region’s charms for investors.…

ECUADOR, an important confectionery exporter to the European Union (EU), has struck a new bilateral free trade agreement with the EU, which will eliminate tariffs on imports to Europe. The new trade deal is supposed to take effect in late 2016, and until then a system of preferential tariffs will be in place.…

VIETNAM’S production of powder coatings and liquid protective coatings has in the past been a small part of the country’s paint and coatings output – but foreign investment maybe about to change that. The country has around 80 coatings manufacturers, who have together manufactured a relatively meagre 30,870 tonnes of these specialist products, generating USD91 million’s worth of revenue in 2012, according to the most recent data made available by market researcher Frost & Sullivan.…

THE LATEST European Commission annual report on European Union (EU) anti-fraud measures has highlighted concerns that member states may be doing far too little to detect EU-related financial crime. Keith Nuthall reports.

A 2013 Report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests noted that some member states reported “very low numbers of fraudulent irregularities” – but the Commission does not believe this is because they are clean.…

THE LATEST European Commission annual report on European Union (EU) anti-fraud measures has claimed member states may be doing too little to detect EU-related financial crime. Brussels’ 2013 Report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests noted some member states reported “very low numbers of fraudulent irregularities”.…

Rapidly increasing continental air traffic has fuelled intense competition among east African countries in constructing and upgrading airport infrastructure. Indeed, investments could exceed USD1.7 billion in the next three years, according to Andrew Luzze, the executive director of the East African Business Council.…

THE LATEST European Commission annual report on European Union (EU) anti-fraud measures has highlighted concerns that member states may be doing far too little to detect EU-related financial crime.
Brussels’ 2013 Report on the Protection of the EU’s Financial Interests noted that some member states reported “very low numbers of fraudulent irregularities”.…

IN the 1970s and 1980s, the governments of Latin America and the Caribbean did not have a comprehensively robust reputation for sound financial management. Many Caribbean island states had newly emerged from colonialism, finding their way as independent countries. And many Latin American countries were riven by social discord, even civil war, with many under military rule.…

Extreme weather events in 2013 were plentiful in the Asia-Pacific region – increasing demand for high performance coatings. Typhoons and cyclones brought devastation to parts of the central Philippines with typhoon Haiyan, while India was hit by Phailin, the second strongest tropical cyclone to strike the country since accurate meteorological records began.…

Governments from European countries called on garment companies who sourced from Rana Plaza, Bangladesh, to fund compensation to victims of the building’s collapse one year ago. The message came in a joint statement from the governments of France, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Denmark, Italy, and Spain, made by Lilianne Ploumen, Dutch minister for foreign trade and development cooperation at an international Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development (OECD) meeting yesterday (June 26) in Paris.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has again updated the European Union’s (EU) rules on biocidal products, trying to smooth the implementation of the new EU biocidal products regulation. Only one month after announcing a swath of clarifications, ECHA has now confirmed that a new European Commission regulation has come into force (on June 4) on the renewal of biocide authorisations granted through “mutual recognition”.…

This year – 2014 – could be a watershed in the progress towards greater harmonisation of criminal justice measures throughout the European Union (EU) aimed at organised crime, corruption and money laundering.

A final report (2013/2107(INI)) last September (2013) by the European Parliament’s special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering (CRIM) provided detailed recommendations that were filtered and approved by the parliament’s plenary session late October.…

WHEN the Trinidad & Tobago government in 2003 decided to close down much of the Caribbean country’s 300-year old sugar cane industry, it was described by detractors as one of the most politically ambitious moves in the history of the twin-island republic.…

The Nordic paints and coating market is competitive and growing, being dominated by a handful of strong players headed by Tikkurila and Teknos in Finland and Jotun in Norway. In Dyrup, the region could boast a fourth major local player, although American corporation PPG Industries paid the Danish firm’s parent, Monberg & Thorsen, EUR115 million for the company in 2011.…

THREE dimensional (3D) technology – while well established in many other industrial sectors like aerospace, architecture and industrial design – is still relatively new to the fashion industry. Analysts are describing it as ‘disruptive’ technology, capable of transforming the way apparel companies do business, from prototyping and pattern making using 3D models to the creation of 3D digital catalogues and a range of customer centric services based on 3D body scanning and sizing.…

A NEW agreement between the United States and the Netherlands that came into force in February will facilitate cooperation in civil aviation safety between US- and Dutch-controlled air space in the Caribbean. With this umbrella agreement in place, the USA’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Netherlands aviation authorities, Dutch and American air navigation service providers are now looking at how they can coordinate air traffic controls within American and Dutch jurisdictions.…

LONG-TERM support for the wave and tidal energy industries has been announced by the European Commission, which this spring said it intended to support “the rapid development of key ocean energy technologies at the European level”.

European Union (EU) energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: “Ocean energy has a significant potential to enhance the security of supply”, adding that “a wide portfolio of renewable energy sources -including ocean energy” was necessary if non fossil fuels were to become “mainstream and integrated into the European energy system.”…

REPRESENTATIVES from Europe’s sugar industry want sugar to be excluded from the current free trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union (EU). Speaking at an EU-US Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) briefing in Brussels, Oscar Ruiz de Imaña – the deputy director general of the European Association of Sugar Producers (CEFS), warned of the uncertainties in the sugar markets on both sides of the Atlantic.…

THE INSTABILITY prompted by the crisis in Ukraine is increasing the risk of crime-tainted Russian assets being moved into new safe havens to avoid the effects of possible sanctions. With EU member state Cyprus long favoured by Russian investors, and likely to be covered by any sanctions, could the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) offer an attractive alternative?…

AUSTRIA

The location of ECC Austria in central Vienna means many consumers drop by to receive advice or lodge complaints in person with the ECC’s five staff members. A top priority in 2013 was increasing public awareness about e-commerce fraud; a brochure aimed at combatting the problem was published and more than 600,000 were distributed throughout Austria.…

THE CARIBBEAN is maybe the most culturally diverse region in the world and this has been reflected in its colourful, tasty and varied cuisine. So it is no surprise that the region’s confectionery sector is innovative, drawing on unusual combinations of ingredients that create tasty products that could serve as inspiration for companies around the world.…

A COMPROMISE between the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers in February over new non-financial reporting rules will insist that many of the largest EU companies disclose their impact and policies on the environment, social and employee-related matters, human rights, anti-corruption and bribery.…

VETERINARY services in the Netherlands are investigating a fresh outbreak of the H5N2 strain of the avian flu, affecting poultry this month.

More than 10,000 susceptible birds have been killed as a result, according to the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation.…

NORDIC nonwoven companies Suominen, Ahlstrom and Fibertex are fast emerging from the post-2008 economic downturn fitter and leaner. This follows five years of cost-cutting and market re-alignment projects that included unit divestments, strategic acquisitions, and increased use of automation to reduce costs and strengthen profitability.…

MEMBERS of the European Parliament have backed the proposed fourth European (EU) anti-money laundering directive, as long as a public register provision be included in it. If MEPs get their way, any company registered in an EU member state would be obliged to provide information about its beneficial owner including: name, date of birth, nationality, jurisdiction of incorporation, contact details, number and categories of shares, and – if applicable – the proportion of shareholding or control.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) RASFF food safety alert service has warned of e-coli being detected in Brazilian meat cargoes exported to Europe. Dutch customs officials rejected three consignments of chilled beef from Brazil after discovering they had been contaminated with shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli.…

PAINT and coatings companies working in the European Union (EU) are expected to require special permission to use a significant ingredient after the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) decided it should be subject to the REACH system’s ‘authorisation’ procedure.

This highlights certain chemicals deemed of very high environmental health concern and which are used in large volumes.…

A FIRST set of technical standards saying how European manufacturers should build technologies that enable vehicles to communicate with each other and with roadside communications infrastructure has been released. The European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) have issued an initial set of standards for cooperative intelligence transport systems (C-ITS) – called Release 1 – following a request from the European Commission in 2009.…

The Philippine garment industry says it will relaunch its lobbying efforts to push a law through the US Congress giving it privileged access to American markets, after the shelving of the long anticipated proposed America’s Save Our Industries Act (SAVE Act).…

COMPANIES may be responsible to ensure their operations are not affected by fraud, but if such crimes harm the financial interests of the European Union (EU), they may also have to work with the EU’s anti-fraud office (OLAF). Carmen Paun spoke to its director general Giovanni Kessler in Brussels.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has approved a detailed report that suggests EU member states should punish food fraud with penalties of at least twice the estimated economic gain sought by the fraudster, to prevent a recurrence of last year’s horse meat scandal.…

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

A MAJOR inquiry into a financial collapse that rocked the English Caribbean – of Trinidad & Tobago-based CL Financial Limited and various associated companies, and the Hindu Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited – has reported. A special correspondent looks at the fall-out from Port of Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS the electronic communications sector becomes ever more complex – with telcos adding Internet and content-based services to their voice and text – providing customer care can be increasingly demanding.

It can be expensive and unwieldy when care is delivered through traditional call centre models: major telcos can easily employ 15,000 people to help users deal with technical, operational and billing problems.…

BY JENS KASTNER, in Taipei

THE TAIWAN textile dyeing and finishing sectors have never quite recovered from the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) abolition of global textile quotas in 2005. It resulted in the closure of many stand-alone units by making their labour-intensive manufacturing processes on the relatively wealthy island uncompetitive.…

A MAJOR inquiry into a financial collapse that rocked the English Caribbean – of Trinidad & Tobago-based CL Financial Limited and various associated companies, and the Hindu Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited – has reported. A special correspondent looks at the fall-out from Port of Spain.…

IT is a curious irony that for an industry as technical as cogeneration that maybe the biggest handicap to its sustained growth in Europe is actually emotional. Both commercial markets and governments are swayed by sentiment as well as hard cash – and currently both influences are failing to pull in co-gen’s favour.…

IT is a curious irony that for an industry as technical as cogeneration that maybe the biggest handicap to its sustained growth in Europe is actually emotional. Both commercial markets and governments are swayed by sentiment as well as hard cash – and currently both influences are failing to pull in co-gen’s favour.…

AS the electronic communications sector becomes ever more complex – with telcos adding Internet and content-based services to their voice and text – providing customer care can be increasingly demanding.

It can be expensive and unwieldy when care is delivered through traditional call centre models: major telcos can easily employ 15,000 people to help users deal with technical, operational and billing problems.…

AN INTERNATIONAL higher education conference has underlined the major progress made in building links between the universities of neighbouring countries in Latin America. But it also highlighted the significant remaining challenges facing Latin American higher education if it wants to be truly integrated with tertiary institutions worldwide.…

HIGHWAY and transport officials in charge of network management need to deepen the knowledge of their local highways and rail systems to develop an efficient strategy to manage it, according to Daniel Van Motman, senior traffic management advisor at the City of Amsterdam.…

PFIZER has announced that it will close one of three pharmaceutical plants in the US Caribbean territory of Puerto Rico, while Merck has said it will close two factories on the island. Pfizer’s planned shuttering of its Barceloneta plant by 2017 could affect 500 workers, although the company has not said how many jobs will be lost.…

WINNERS AND LOSERS

RETAIL

WINNERS

ASOS

Fashion retailer ASOS showed online convenience and price are still a winning combination with shoppers. The UK-based online retailer continued its impressive trajectory this year, announcing pre-tax profit had reached GBP54.7m (US$88.3m) for the year ending 31 August, compared to GBP40m in the same period of last year, with retail sales jumping 40% to GBP753.8m, up from GBP537.9m last year. …

EVERYTHING about Aneal Maharaj smacks of the immaculate. From his finely-tailored business suit to his Toastmaster style enunciation, to the belief that “sweating the small stuff” is an indispensable attribute of any successful business executive, there is an obvious attention to precision which betrays a professional outlook staked on getting the equations right.…

AN INTERNATIONAL higher education conference has underlined the major progress made in building links between the universities of neighbouring countries in Latin America. But it also highlighted the significant remaining challenges facing Latin American higher education if it wants to be truly integrated with tertiary institutions worldwide.…

OIL, gas and petrochemical companies can bid for an increased pot of European Union (EU) funding for research projects under the new Horizon 2020 programme, which was approved in November. It has an overall budget exceeding Euro EUR78.6 billion and will run from January to 2020.…

ACCORDING to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the largest single health threat to the population of the world today is antimicrobial resistance (AMR). How can it be countered and what options are open to government regulators, the medical profession and, especially, the pharmaceutical companies for the development of new antibiotics?…

STATE support for the development of the Internet of Things (IOT) sector in China has the potential to drive demand for premium protective coatings across the Asia Pacific region, according to IOT and coatings industry experts.

During China’s recent change of government leadership, the State Council this February promised to launch tax breaks for companies using these technologies, vowing to achieve widespread “application of the IOT in key areas by 2015, as well as breakthroughs in core technologies.” …

PRODUCERS of confectionery mixing machinery around the world continue to improve their machines, but generally opt for incremental improvements in sanitation and multi-purpose functions rather than creating entire new products.

Dutch confectionery equipment producer Tanis Confectionery, plans to unveil new mixing technology at Germany’s Interpack processes and packaging trade fair in May, Leo Tanis, CEO of Tanis Confectionery told Confectionery Production.…

The Caribbean island state of Antigua & Barbuda has needed to demonstrate its thriving online gaming sector is protected against money laundering, to gather diplomatic support for its campaign against US bans on Americans gambling on its websites.

Faced with evidence that criminals can exploit the sector to transfer dirty cash between players’ accounts, before investing it in assets such as shares or real estate, Antigua in 1994 became one of the first countries to provide licences for online gambling operators.…

A widely-quoted truism that gained currency during the global financial crisis was American financier Warren Buffett’s dictum: “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked”.

And this might perhaps be most true of a financial collapse that rocked the English Caribbean, that of Trinidad & Tobago-based CL Financial Limited and various associated companies, and also of the Hindu Credit Union Co-operative Society Limited.…

MASSIVE open online courses (MOOCs) are not a threat to bricks-and-mortar universities as some in Europe fear, a conference organised yesterday (Thursday) in Brussels by the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and the European University Association (EUA) heard.

One reason that should reassure universities is the difference between the students who study on campus and those who choose to study through MOOCs.…

THE DIRECTOR of the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA) has said continued pathogen contamination involving meat traded across Europe underlines the need to fight opposition to European Commission proposals to modernise meat inspection systems.

Stephen Rossides called on meat inspectors not to block future progress: “The current meat inspection system is focused on old risks,” Rossides said.…

The Dutch Dairy Association (NZO) spokesman yesterday attacked Russian officials for publicly criticising Dutch dairy food standards, without making formal complaints. Spokesperson René van Buitenen told just-food the NZO “expected [the Russians] to inform Dutch authorities soon if they really have serious concerns”, instead of commenting to media.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament wants to see official controls in the food chain focusing more on fraud prevention and see inspectors act more like policemen in the wake of the horsemeat scandal and other food fraud cases, according to a draft report released today.…

THE NEW terminal at the principal international airport in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, Ministro Pistarini International, was inaugurated in March, increasing its total capacity to 13 million passengers – last year (2012) it struggled to accommodate 8.8 million passengers.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) regulators are tangling with the difficulty of tightening rules-of-origin for meat products, given the potentially significant number of manufacturing stages required. The European Commission and European Parliament have been considering their response to the horse meat labelling scandal.…

FRESH controls on the manufacturing of plastics in the European Union (EU) are under consideration as a result of comments received to the European Commission’s green paper on plastic waste. Brussels says there have been more than 270 responses since its March publication, from industry, environmentalists, parliaments and environment ministries.…

THE NEW terminal at the principal international airport in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, Ministro Pistarini International, was inaugurated in March, increasing its total capacity to 13 million passengers – last year (2012) it struggled to accommodate 8.8 million passengers.…

ACCORDING to World Bank data on Brazil, air transport measured in passengers carried jumped from 32.3 million in 2003 to 94.6 million passengers in 2012. And airport infrastructure has failed to keep up with this rapid growth in demand. Adding the extra 600,000 tourists which the Brazilian Institute of Tourism expects to visit the country during the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Brazil’s creaking airports could struggle to cope.…

EXPORT refunds paid by the European Union (EU) to bovine livestock exporters, ahead of a suspension of these subsidies last September (2012), were dwindling and dominated by four countries, the latest data from the European Commission has revealed.

Brussels paid out Euro EUR5.7 million on such sales in 2012, said the Commission, down from EUR9.6 million in 2011, and around EUR10 million in 2008 and 2009 (EUR8.6 million was paid out in 2010).…

A EUROPEAN Commission Euro EUR1.5 million grant will help pharmaceutical researchers discover antibodies that can eradicate a tumour by destroying its blood vessels. The so-called VAMPIRE project (‘Vascular Antibody-Mediated Pharmaceutically Induced tumour Resection’) is led by Britain’s University of Birmingham and SomantiX, a Dutch biotech company, based in Utrecht.…

THE INSURANCE risks involved in oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) are rising in line with growing industry complexity and the move into deeper, remoter and more environmentally sensitive environments.

This is placing ever greater demands on the need to identify, quantify and insure against risk, particularly when the financial and reputational repercussions of getting it wrong are escalating too.…

BRAZIL is an innovative technical textile producer, declares a report from a senior São Paulo’s business school the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), despite the sector experiencing teething problems as it expands. Looking at the Brazilian textile sector as a whole, the study estimates that 77% of investment into the sector during 2012 was used to buy innovative machinery – and the technical textile sector especially has a lot of demand to meet.…

BANGLADESH’S fast growing economy is developing a robust and booming personal care product market. Mosaddeq Hossain, owner of a general store at the Shagoria Bazaar in Hatiya sub-district, neat Chittagong, recalls 10 years ago, there was almost no demand for his stocks of Sunsilk shampoo.…

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) today (Thursday July 4) threw out a bid by the European Commission to reverse the 2011 cancellation by a junior ECJ court of fines imposed on Dutch copper fittings company Aalberts Industries NV and its subsidiaries Comap (France) and Simplex Armaturen (Germany).…

Dutch government has been using diplomatic pressure to push for a European Union (EU) law ordering that meat is specially labelled when from livestock religiously slaughtered without stunning. The Netherlands said at yesterday’s (Monday) European Union (EU) Council of Ministers meeting that: “We consider it essential to inform consumers correctly about the products they purchase.…

CHINA faces some key policy crossroads in the coming decade which will ultimately decide the scale of its meat production and imports, according to a leading agronomist in Beijing. Policy makers are expected to announce reforms to China’s Soviet-era residency card system in October, which could allow millions of rural families to become urban residents, Dr Kevin Chen, head of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in China said today (Tuesday July 16).…

The 9.5MW J920 FleXtra gas engine formally installed in May this year by the municipal utility Stadtwerke Rosenheim, in Bavaria, Germany, ticks off a number of important innovations. The largest gas engine yet developed by the Austrian company GE Jenbacher, the unit is seen by the company as an illustration of the role distributed energy is now playing in Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ – the country’s policy to halt all nuclear power by 2022 and replace it with natural gas, renewable energy, and greater use of energy efficient technologies.…

THERE was much fanfare in Managua in June when Nicaraguan officials granted a concession to build a USD40 billion canal, which would challenge the great Panama Canal. The unlikely builder: a Chinese businessman, Wang Jing, chairman of China-based Xinwei Telecom Enterprise Group and president of the newly established Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co.…

IT is common sense that for really fast fashion, sourcing should be made as close to a home market as costs will allow. And for the world’s two largest fast fashion markets – the European Union (EU) and the United States – geography does provide some useful neighbours able to offer lower cost out-sourcing, albeit not as cheap as in east and south Asia.…

Venezuela’s tobacco growers and manufacturers are looking to newly elected president Nicolás Maduro to offer them an olive branch after his predecessor Hugo Chávez levied costly taxes and imposed punishing legislation on the industry.

“We’re hoping for change,” said Enrique Moreno, President of the Venezuelan Tobacco Growers Association (AVENCULTA).”We…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament (EP) public health and environment committee, which is handling the draft tobacco products directive (TPD), went a step further from the European Commission on July 10, when it voted to introduce a “positive list” of approved ingredients to be used in tobacco products.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU)-favoured Nabucco pipeline carrying Azerbaijan gas to western Europe will now almost certainly never be built, after Azeri gas consortium Shah Deniz decided to sell its gas to the rival Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The decision came after Greece announced it would sell its natural gas grid operator DESFA to Azeri state energy company SOCAR: the TAP pipeline would run through Greece to Italy, linking with pipelines in Turkey.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released documents showing that it wants the US to ban future export restrictions on selling energy products raw materials to the European Union (EU), during negotiations for the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. This would be the world’s largest bilateral trade deal.…

China in April successfully conducted a maiden test flight of the first aviation biofuel entirely processed on its shores, joining the US, Finland and France as only the fourth country in the world to independently research and develop a bio-jet fuel production technology.…

MEAT traders should be officially registered and covered by official controls, Enrico Frabetti, deputy secretary general of the Liaison Centre for the Meat Processing Industry in the EU (CLITRAVI) told a conference organised in the European Parliament yesterday (Tues) afternoon.

“There should be a register for meat brokers at European Union (EU) level to make sure they are known, but food business operators should also know what traders they are working with,” Frabetti told delegates to the event organised by Dutch centre-right MEP Esther de Lange.…

A CENTRE-left Portuguese member of the European Parliament (MEP) Nuno Teixeira has raised concerns about the safety of Brazilian beef after learning that two shipments of Brazilian beef meat have been blocked in the port of Rotterdam after testing positive for the presence of Ecoli bacteria.…

The privatisation and expansion of the Brazilian airport sector has proved to be a significant opportunity for the American civil aviation sector, which has been vying for opportunities in Brazil’s air navigation, airport and airport-related services. These opportunities are set to increase with the United States Trade and Development Agency’s (USTDA) having brokered a US-Brazil Aviation Partnership, signed last April and now being rolled out in earnest.…

Diageo is accelerating its expansion into the Russian rum market with a launch in May of a Russia version of its low-cost Shark Tooth brand. The spirit is being manufactured for Diageo by Russia’s Ladoga Group with a 40% alcohol content.…

PLASTICS companies have not responded comprehensively to requests from the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) that they register certain ingredients and polymers in the now completed second registration process under European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH. ECHA says that by the May 31 deadline for registering chemicals made, used or imported in quantities of 100 tonnes or more, there were 984 substances left unregistered that companies had earlier promised to register.…

THE CONSORTIUM running the European Commission-backed U-Multirank is working to better ensure the quality and reliability of the indicators it will use to rank universities, University World News has been told. Speaking exclusively to University World News, Jordi Curell, director of higher education and international affairs at the Commission’s directorate general for education and culture, said assessments were weakened by universities failing to monitor the professional success of their graduates: “There is an issue because some of the indicators are difficult to obtain, especially when it comes to the tracking of students, because they don’t exist everywhere,” he said.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has told the Dutch government it should stop exempting state-owned businesses from corporate taxation. Many Dutch government-owned corporations benefit including the Port of Rotterdam, Holland Casino, Maastricht airport and the Bank of Industry LIOF. The Commission claims this could break EU state aid rules designed to prevent governments giving unfair advantages to local companies in the EU single market: “Exempting certain companies merely because they are publicly owned gives them a competitive advantage which cannot be justified.”…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) heads of states and governments have urged their ministers to agree important pieces of draft EU legislation that could potentially curb tax evasion in the bloc.

Meeting during a European Council meeting in Brussels last week (May 22), leaders were under pressure to act from media reports revealing how much untaxed incomes politicians, companies and rich business owners have stashed in tax havens.…

CUBA turned tobacco enthusiasts’ and international observers’ heads earlier this month when it filed its first ever complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against Australia’s tough tobacco plain-paper packaging restrictions.

The communist Caribbean island joined the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Ukraine in challenging Australia’s 2012 law which requires all tobacco products be placed in generic packages featuring graphic health warnings, but not brand logos.…

THE UNITED States might be a relatively new country, but it has not been keen on changing the borders of its constituent states, counties and cities. The result is sometimes an administrative hotchpotch, with political and administrative boundaries set in the 1700s and 1800s bisecting urban communities in an almost arbitrary way.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) restrictions could be imposed in future on three chemicals used in the EU paints and coatings sector, with member states agreeing that they may be carcinogenic, mutagenic or harmful to reproduction. Toluene, ethylene oxide and tributyl phosphate (TBP) have been assessed under the EU’s ‘community rolling action plan’ (CoRAP) programme (NAME IS CORRECT), which is part of Europe’s chemical control system REACH.…

DESPITE the presence of anti-fraud legislation, fraud and corruption are an everyday part of life throughout South America, where fraudsters are unlikely to be convicted, let alone penalised.

“Penalties don’t really have an effect on fraudsters,” said Fernando Gamiz, an analyst at the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), with over 20 years of experience working on South American fraud.…

The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), a technical agency of the Organisation of American States (OAS), is playing an increasingly influential role in the Americas in terms of fighting drug-trade linked money laundering. Specifically, CICAD has a central role in the unfolding of the Hemispheric Plan of Action on Drugs 2011-2015 which was adopted by the OAS in 2011, and includes key anti-money launderingAML components.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced a series of three-year spending programmes helping meat producers from around the European Union (EU) sell their products at home and abroad. The money funds “public relations, promotional or publicity campaigns” said Brussels, with spending being augmented by matching funding sourced from industry groups and national governments.…

IT is a long way from China, east Asia and south Asia to the key developed world markets or Europe and America. And with fashion being so dynamic, demand for a line could have dampened in the months between placing an order and receiving delivery.…

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) has made a lot of noise about its anti-bribery convention. But some countries are failing to comply, and where others do – otherwise honest companies can lose trade. David Hayhurst and Keith Nuthall report.…

Given their rapid evolution over recent years, it is difficult to predict where ERP and PLM will be a few years from now. Global giants such as Siemens, SAP and Oracle are likely to continue their dominance of the overall ERP and PLM markets, but there is a possibility they will lose increasing market share to specialist solution providers for the apparel industry.…

IRAN is under sanctions from the United States, the European Union (EU) and the United Nations, and last year the US tightened the screws even more. As President Barack Obama said following his re-election in November, 2012: “We’ve imposed the toughest sanctions in history.”…

WHILE Latin America has not seen the growth witnesses by emerging markets in Asia, their paint and coatings sectors are still strengthening, and can build on a higher historic levels of prosperity than most Asian countries.

And the industry is more robust than many.…

THE COLOMBIA government has launched a crackdown on illegal mining in its country, with agencies temporarily suspending the export licence of American coal giant Drummond and then permanently revoking the permits of 32 mine operators.

While the National Mining Agency (ANM) refused to tell the Mining Journal the names of the companies concerned while legal procedures were outstanding, it has said that 70% of the mines are for coal, and others were for gold and construction materials.…

A DEAL has been struck on the shape of a European Union (EU) directive aimed at preventing major oil and gas offshore drilling accidents happening in EU waters. Under the text agreed by European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers representatives, oil and gas firms seeking a drilling licence must submit major hazard reports and emergency response plans proving they can deal with potential accidents.…

THE SECRETARY General of the World Customs Organisation (WCO) has detailed how the world is woefully unprepared to fight the scourge of counterfeit medicines that can harm or even kill patients. Kunio Mikuriya was speaking at the opening session of a Conference on the Illicit Trafficking of Fraudulent Medicines, held at the Vienna International Centre, Austria, on February 14.…

PHARMACEUTICAL giants Novartis and Johnson & Johnson have been formally warned by the European Commission that they could be hit by massive anti-trust fines over an agreement struck by their Dutch subsidiaries on sales of pain-killer fentanyl.

Brussels has said the agreement might have delayed the market entry of a cheaper generic medicine in the Netherlands, breaking European Union (EU) antitrust rules.…

Dutch dairy giant Royal FrieslandCampina has requested the European Commission’s approval to acquire MYWO Food Group-owned cheese specialist Zijerveld & Veldhuyzen and its packaging unit Den Hollander Food, also based in the Netherlands. “The acquisition will help FrieslandCampina to offer customers a more comprehensive cheese portfolio and package of services,” a company spokesperson told just-food.…

SPAIN, Austria and the Netherlands have been criticised for failing to prosecute cases involving bribery of foreign officials despite being longstanding signatories to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Convention on combating graft in international business. An OECD report published this month found that: in 13 years since adopting the convention, Spain has not prosecuted a single individual or company; Austrian authorities are investigating seven such cases but have failed to convict anyone since the convention came into force there in 1999; and a lack of resources was evident in Netherlands prosecuting 14 out of 22 foreign bribery allegations received by Dutch law enforcers.…

IN the economic gloom that pervades most of Europe today, it is good to hear some success stories and Germany’s information technology and telecommunications sector is one: German exports from this sector amounted to Euro EUR22.2 billion for January-September 2012, an increase of 3.5% on the same period in 2011, according to the industry federation Bitkom.…

SO diverse are the Middle East’s oil and gas reservoirs and the environmental conditions encountered that companies focused on optimising exploration and production view the region as a giant laboratory for proving new technologies.

Its oil also varies hugely in viscosity, from the Arab Light crude of Saudi Arabia’s Al Khurais onshore field to the heavy crudes in Oman’s Mukhaizna onshore field.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WINNERS

Nike

Multinational sporting goods giant Nike made positive moves to shrug the bad PR associated with low cost sourcing, announcing it was "changing the rules of the game" in May, with a new factory rating system – the Sourcing & Manufacturing Sustainability Index.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND ROB STOKES

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected final appeals by Dutch brewers Heineken, (including subsidiary Heineken Nederland) and Bavaria NV, against European Commission fines of Euro EUR198 million and EUR20.71 million respectively over a Netherlands beer cartel.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A REPORT released by the European Union’s (EU) umbrella groups for gas and electricity regulators has claimed wholesale energy prices within the EU are beginning to converge, as cross-border sales develop. Consumer prices still varied significantly between the EU’s 27 member states, however.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

IT is now 10 year since the launch of Eurojust, the European Union’s (EU) judicial service coordination body, yet official figures still value fraud against EU spending and revenue programmes at for than EUR600 million (USD 800 million) each year.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

TIME was when hearing the British Virgin Islands (BVI) or Cayman Islands described as role models of watchfulness and legal retribution against money laundering and terrorist financing would have raised at least a snigger.

Yet these and other UK Overseas Territories (OTs) in the Caribbean have made "significant progress" in AML/CFT provisions, according to Calvin Wilson, executive director of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

European Commission officials have warned that the European Union’s (EU) annual Euro EUR140 million meat and livestock market intervention budget is facing deep cuts. Heads of government will meet November 22-23 in Brussels to agree an overall 2014-20 EU spending deal.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO

THE JAPANESE government has signalled that it will relax its rules on beef imports in the early part of 2013.

After hearing the opinions of a 13-strong expert panel, ministers said they would raise the age limit on livestock used to source beef imports to 30 months from the present 20 months.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

THERE are no reasons for the European Union to restrict or even ban the use of crystalline silica or talc in workplaces across Europe, Michelle Wyart-Remy, secretary general of Industrial Minerals Association Europe (IMA-Europe) has said.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

European Commission officials have told just-food the European Union’s (EU) annual Euro EUR3.1 billion food production subsidy budget is facing deep cuts. Heads of government will meet November 22-23 in Brussels to agree a 2014-20 spending deal. And officials warn new proposals from European Council president Herman van Rompuy demand additional de facto cuts of 10.8% in all Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) spending – above an already planned 12% reduction.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WITH telecommunications operators across Europe increasingly seeing flat lined revenue growth from residential mobile customers, new sights currently are being set on cultivating and enhancing relationships with enterprise customers.

And while the transition towards offering comprehensive service bundles to enterprise customers can involve a lot of legwork on the telco side, companies like Poland-based Comarch offer software systems and solutions helping telcos better support enterprises.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

BRITAIN’S Crown Dependencies (CDs) – the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man – have always been tricky customers for the world’s anti money laundering authorities to get a fix on. This shows up in the approach taken by the European Commission to them in its so-called anti-money laundering (AML) ‘white list’."…

BY CONNLA STOKES, IN HO CHI MINH CITY

As one of the world’s fastest-growing accountancy bodies, ACCA is attracting more finance and management professionals in Asia eager to get to the top. This is certainly the case for Shanghai, China-born Katherine Wu.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

NEW European Union (EU) rules on animal welfare applying from January 2013 might depress the quality of EU-made poultry meat, a spokesman for a major Dutch poultry producer told an international conference in Brussels on the protection of animals in slaughterhouses.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN AND CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

USA textile industry experts are urging the American government to step up and support the recent complaint filed by Mexico at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on Chinese industrial policy regarding the textile and clothing sector.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, IN NEW DELHI

"A NEW and superior urban form of living," is how India’s first airport city, Durgapur Aertropolis, in West Bengal, is being defined by its promoter and main contractor, Changi Airports India Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Changi Airport International.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

JUST two months before the European Commission is expected to release its ‘Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Waters’ – a policy paper aimed at strengthening the European Union’s (EU) water policy – electricity companies are voicing their concerns that a largely environmental approach might harm energy goals, including security of supply.…

COGENERATION, or rather trigeneration, units that cooled, heated and powered the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games won plaudits if no gold medals for the manufacturer – America’s GE – but neatly symbolised the spread of CHP into mainstream and niche applications.…

IT is a curious irony that for an industry as technical as cogeneration that maybe the biggest handicap to its sustained growth in Europe is actually emotional. Both commercial markets and governments are swayed by sentiment as well as hard cash – and currently both influences are failing to pull in co-gen’s favour.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

THE INTERNATIONAL Air Transport Authority’s (IATA) Americas airports chief has called on Mexico’s new incoming government to make progress on the long delayed proposals to build a new international airport for Mexico City, the capital.

Indeed, Mexico City International Airport (AICM) is no longer able to accommodate the growing demands of Mexican tourism and trade, and the capital city is in desperate need of a second airport.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN LA PAZ

STRONG growth in Bolivia’s personal care market is attracting an increasing number of both international and domestic cosmetics brands, capitalising on rising demand for products across all consumer demographics. This market success can be linked to the country’s overall economic growth in recent years, which has seen GDP rise about 5% per year since the country’s indigenous socialist president Evo Morales came to power in 2006.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

Micro cogeneration or CHP – defined by the European Commission as up to 50 kWe – is a market niche seeing lift-off as technology and financial drivers, such as financial incentives in Germany, align.

The global market grew 38% to EUR466 million (USD576 million) in 2011 and further growth to EUR1 billion (USD1.24 billion) is expected in 2012, according to Scotland based analysts Delta-ee.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE WORLD has been fighting money laundering in more or less the same way for a quarter of a century now and many of those in the thick of the battle are starting to wonder, frankly, whether the game is worth the candle any more.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

A PILOT project of the World Bank’s private sector agency the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has kindled hope that Bangladesh’s burgeoning knitwear and garments industry could overcome its notorious environmental pollution problems at an affordable price. However, replicating the pilot’s innovative strategies across the industry in the country will not be easy: struggling with the challenges of sourcing environment friendly finance; securing power availability amidst irregular supplies; operating effective effluent treatment plants; and dealing with a lack of awareness amongst entrepreneurs.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

A PILOT project of the World Bank’s private sector agency the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has kindled hope that Bangladesh’s burgeoning knitwear and garments industry could overcome its notorious environmental pollution problems at an affordable price. However, replicating the pilot’s innovative strategies across the industry in the country will not be easy: struggling with the challenges of sourcing environment friendly finance; securing power availability amidst irregular supplies; operating effective effluent treatment plants; and dealing with a lack of awareness amongst entrepreneurs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission will postpone auctioning pollution permits sold under its emissions trading scheme (ETS) to potential further price falls, but has not decided how many allowances will be sold later. ETS permit prices are already depressed as Europe’s economic woes left oil and gas users with unused rights to emit carbon.…

BY MONIKA HANLEY, IN RIGA; ALICE TRUDELLE, IN WARSAW; CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; EUGENE VOROTNIKOV, IN ST PETERSBURG; ROBERT STOKES, IN MALAGA; GERARD O’DWYER, IN HELSINKI; LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA; ALAN OSBORN; MJ DESCHAMPS; AND KEITH NUTHALL

IT is a curious irony that for an industry as technical as cogeneration that maybe the biggest handicap to its sustained growth in Europe is actually emotional.…

BY MONIKA HANLEY, IN RIGA; ALICE TRUDELLE, IN WARSAW; CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; EUGENE VOROTNIKOV, IN ST PETERSBURG; ROBERT STOKES, IN MALAGA; GERARD O’DWYER, IN HELSINKI; LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA; ALAN OSBORN; MJ DESCHAMPS; AND KEITH NUTHALL

IT is a curious irony that for an industry as technical as cogeneration that maybe the biggest handicap to its sustained growth in Europe is actually emotional.…

BY MARIANI DEWI, IN JAKARTA

THE CHAIRMAN of the Indonesian Food and Beverage Association (Gapmmi) has called for tougher enforcement of his country’s labelling rules, preventing food products being sold where consumers cannot read key information on packaging.

Adhi Siswaja Lukman, association chairman, said customs officials should simply block imports if they are improperly labelled: laws say labels must be in Bahasa Indonesian and include a "product name, composition, producer and use by date," he noted.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) consumer safety alert network Rapex has warned that illegal hydroquinone content is continuing to be discovered in skin whitening products across Europe. Portuguese customs, for instance, seized Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)-manufactured Angel Cosmetics lightening beauty soap with carrot oil for containing the chemical, banned under the EU cosmetics directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has been flexing its regulatory muscles to push the roll-out of high-speed broadband networks – trying to fine-tune European Union (EU) competition rules to encourage this development. Brussels is using its current legal powers and consulting on creating new rules and policies, with action being driven by pro-free market Dutch digital agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AS global demand continues to grow for oil and gas, and energy prices increase – with companies drilling deeper; sending oil rigs out further out to sea; and exploring new regions with extreme climates – industry coatings are undergoing much development and innovation.…

BY DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS

CHANTAL Ronceray is targeting fast growth in turnover at Jamal Paris, a small but ambitious halal cosmetics products company she co-founded in 2007. It is an act of faith in the long-term potential for sales among France’s 4.7 million Muslims, Europe’s largest such population.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

The development and future growth of the smart textiles industry is something of a classic chicken-and-egg scenario, begging the question: which needs to come first – the demand or the technology?

When it comes to R&D around smart textiles, there is certainly no lack of innovation, with prototypes ranging from garments with incorporated heart monitors to t-shirts that change colours depending on the wearers’ mood.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPE’S confectionery industry is fighting rearguard moves at the European Parliament to delay the abolition of European Union (EU) quotas on EU sugar production. A report from French conservative MEP Michel Dantin on the new EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has proposed that the quotas stay until 2020 – they are currently to be phased out by 2015.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The European Union’s (EU) anti-fraud unit has hailed the breaking of an international conspiracy to export China-made iron and steel tube and pipe fittings via other Asian countries to evade 58.6% EU anti-dumping duties usually levied on these products.…

BY ANDREW GREEN, WANG FANGQING, PAUL COCHRANE, JONATHAN DYSON AND CARMEN PAUN

THE POLITECNO di Milano, one of Italy’s most prestigious universities, will teach and assess most of its degree courses and all its postgraduate ones entirely in English from 2014, UWN reported recently.…

BY KACI RACELMA

WHILE the majority of north African paint and coatings markets have been disrupted by the wave of political and economic unrest brought on by the ongoing Arab Spring revolution, relatively stable Morocco has generated modest growth.

The country’s paint companies predict an increase in domestic paints and coatings production and sales in 2012, following sluggish sales since the international financial crisis hit in 2008.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

CARIBBEAN jurisdictions are stereotypically seen as information black-holes whose minimal filing requirements for companies and trusts facilitate fraud.

Think Stanford International Bank and Westbond International Bank, two Antigua based vehicles for high-profile Ponzi schemes. Also, the Madoff scandal in the USA led to the liquidators of Fairfield Sentry – a British Virgin Islands (BVI) domiciled hedge fund that was among Madoff’s main victims – unsuccessfully trying to claim back money from investors who had legally withdrawn money from Sentry.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

PAOLO Canonico, the chairman of the European Technology Platform for the future of textiles and clothing has told researchers and textile businesses he sees enormous opportunities for textile research and innovation in the Horizon 2020 programme proposed in December by the European Commission.…

BY ROBERT STOKES, IN MÁLAGA

JUST like El Dorado, the never-was city of gold, Latin America’s 390 million Spanish speakers, are a siren call to Spanish publishers, whose domestic market numbers just 46 million souls. There is even a side bet on 190 million Portuguese speaking Brazilians

Some publishers, lured by these big numbers, have tried and failed in the past, foundering on the reefs of censorship, economic and currency volatility, and the local business culture, though taking forever to get paid – if at all – should not have come as a shock to Spanish firms.…

BY GEMMA HANDY, IN PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS & CAICOS, AND POORNA RODRIGO

SWAPPING the grey British skies for the sun-soaked shores of the Caribbean might sound like an easy decision to make.

For 56-year-old nurse Anne Males, there was some initial trepidation at how she would cope living on a tiny island with a population of just 25,000, more than an hour’s flight from the nearest major American city.…

BY MICHAEL KOSMIDES

The Caribbean rum industry will receive a multimillion Euro boost after the European Commission signed three financial agreements with the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States, identifying the sector as a priority for assistance. Senior sources from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) told just-drinks the regional run industry will be supported with EUR7.7 million out of a EUR46.5 million agreement finalised on Wednesday (April 18) that will help, for instance, remove technical barriers to trading Caribbean rum.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

ALGAE have been heralded as the universal raw material of the future for biofuels, agricultural feed, nutritional supplements, biochemicals and cosmetics. They gobble up CO2, can clean up waste water, and many will thrive in seawater when the fresh variety is usually limited to the sunnier climes where algae can be grown more cheaply.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

ALGAE have been heralded as the universal raw material of the future for biofuels, agricultural feed, nutritional supplements, biochemicals and cosmetics. They gobble up CO2, can clean up waste water, and many will thrive in seawater when the fresh variety is usually limited to the sunnier climes where algae can be grown more cheaply.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE GOLDEN rule of investments has and continues to be – if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. The most recent example of this advice being disregarded causing a high profile court case involves R Allen Stanford, Texan-banker and former multi-millionaire.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND KITTY SO, IN OTTAWA; AND CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

KNOWING how to speak two languages in a country where there are two official languages is always going to be a good bet. But as well as the delights of knowing you peanuts from your arachides and your gelée from your jelly, there are whole host of additional cognitive advantages to mastering two tongues rather than one.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CARIBBEAN is a delightful place to live, if you like people. And business reflects this island region’s human scale: commercial relationships work better with real personal relationships, cemented with time and emotional investment.

Buying a newspaper usually requires a quick chat with a shopkeeper.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

SWINDLER, liar, bully and briber, R. Allen Stanford was once one of the world’s wealthiest men. With a net worth of USD 2 billion, the Texas-born financier lived a life of lavish luxury, with yachts, airplanes and an international bank to call his own.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

WITH what was once an estimated net worth of over USD2 billion, R. Allen Stanford was once revered as one of the wealthiest men in America. Yet a Texas court has now heard in detail that his wealth, which he displayed in both opulent and lavish ways, was derived from ill-gotten gains.…

BY MICHAEL KOSMIDES, IN ATHENS

ACCOUNTANTS and auditors in Greece have found themselves at the centre of the country’s ongoing political and economic crisis, and it is a far from comfortable place to be. Depending on who one speaks to, Greek official data had been cooked either when the country entered the Eurozone or when it asked for help; Greece was either saved by default or managed a controlled default; the conditions for the bailout loans by the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are either putting Greece back on track or are deconstructing the labour and social framework of the country.…

BY STEPHEN EISENHAMMER, IN RIO DE JANEIRO

BUSINESS coaching in Brazil has been growing significantly in the past few years, with a significant escalation in the number of coaches, coaching companies and training providers. Business coaching has spread rapidly from its beginnings in the Brazilian subsidiaries of big international firms, to big national companies such as industrial conglomerate Votorantim, and even now to many mid-size businesses and the public sector.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

COLUMBIA’S largest airport has long needed a new long-term development strategy, and it would appear one is coming, with the US government helping with funding. The El Dorado International Airport, servicing Colombia’s capital Bogotá, has in recent years been oversaturated by the growing number of both passengers and cargo, and no longer has the capacity to effectively meet demands.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

VETERINARY and meat industry experts have called on meat producers across Europe to improve the quality of their meat inspections to meet current and planned tougher European Union (EU) standards. They met at an EU meat inspection conference in Copenhagen to discuss how to respond to new proposed guidelines for improved meat inspections being developed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, IN BRUSSELS

SOLVING corruption and mismanagement problems in the African extractive industries would be boosted by the mandatory disclosure by companies of tax and revenue payments, a Brussels European Union (EU)-Africa conference on mineral wealth heard yesterday.

The continent’s paradox is that many of its nations are rich in mineral resources yet they remain some of the world’s poorest economies.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, IN BRUSSELS

SOLVING corruption and mismanagement problems in the African extractive industries would be boosted by the mandatory disclosure by companies of tax and revenue payments, a Brussels European Union (EU)-Africa conference on mineral wealth heard yesterday.

The continent’s paradox is that many of its nations are rich in mineral resources yet they remain some of the world’s poorest economies.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE DUTCH government is pressing for a coordinated European Union (EU) response to fighting the Schmallenberg virus, a damaging disease spreading rapidly amongst livestock across Europe. Probably transmitted by insects, the virus is affecting goats, sheep and cattle, causing abortions, deformities, severe diarrhoea, fever and drops in milk production.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

REUSING and reprocessing clothing, fibres and scraps is an effective way to create sustainability in the apparel industry – however, textile recycling is currently facing barriers associated with cost, time, and technology. But, with sustainability gaining increasing importance in every industry, many services are being offered by both apparel manufacturers and other clothing and sector organisations to help improve recycling outputs.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, IN PORT-AU-PRINCE

HAITI: American universities help Haiti higher education recover from earthquake

Garry Pierre Pierre

Two years after suffering from an earthquake on January 12, 2010, that wreaked intense damage on universities, Haiti’s higher education sector has benefited from international efforts that have revamped not only buildings but helped reconstruct curricula.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

A VOTE in the European Parliament last night (Tuesday 13-9) on the European Union’s (EU) planned raw material strategy has backed creating a more sustainable industry, with a strong focus on the potential of ‘urban mining’ – reclaiming raw materials from landfills, unused buildings and industrial plant in towns and cities.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has been asked to take a proactive role in promoting the use and production of bioplastics at a high level conference and exhibition staged in Brussels by industry body European Bioplastics. ‘Plastics and the Bio-Economy – The Evolution of Bioplastics’ heard calls from the organisation’s chair Andy Sweetman for bioplastics to be added as a priority topic in research and development under the planned EU ‘Innovation Union’ strategy.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE

AUSTRALIA is fast developing into a global force for natural gas, cementing its reputation as a source of valuable materials, such as iron ore, coal, gold, silver, uranium, aluminium, nickel, lead and zinc. In 2010, Australia became the fourth largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) gas – trading 18.38 million tonnes (Mt) in total – according to BP’s Statistical Review of World Energy 2011.…

BY GEMMA HANDY

Endemic corruption in a British overseas territory, compounded by claims of bribery and fraud, saw its constitution suspended and it returned to direct UK rule.

The Turks & Caicos Islands are now being prepared for a return for responsible government, but are sufficient checks and balances in place to prevent a backslide to commercial crime?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank has called on Latin American and Caribbean countries to reform their aviation systems and technology to boost predicted slow growth of air freight. A report predicts cargo traffic between the Latin America/Caribbean and the United States – the most important destination market – will grow 5.8% annually between 2010 and 2027.…

BY MINDY RAN

ROTTERDAM is already Europe’s largest port and hence of importance for the import and export of waste materials from and to the European Union (EU) and this role is to strengthen.

For Rotterdam, the world’s fourth largest industrial port, behind China’s Shanghai and Ningbo, then Singapore, already utilises 26,000 acres, of which 12,500 acres are commercial sites and 13,500 acres water docks, rail lines, roads and pipeline zones.…

BY GEMMA HANDY, ERNIE SEON and KEITH NUTHALL

IT is well recognised by the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) that poor countries can struggle to effectively police anti-money laundering legislation, no matter how effective. But when poverty is combined with a state that is small in size, this challenge can be tough indeed.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE WORLD’s first lab-grown hamburger, is only a year away, according to Dutch scientist Mark Post, who is leading a research team towards developing beef grown from cattle stem cells.

"It is important right now to work on replacement of meat as we know it, because of the environmental and animal welfare issues that come with intense livestock keeping," said Post, a professor of vascular physiology at Maastricht University, in the Netherlands.…

BY MONIKA HANLEY, LEE ADENDORFF, MARK ROWE, ALAN OSBORN, MINDY RAN, GERARD O’DWYER and MARTINA MARECKOVA

FOR an industry that generates energy, heat and maybe cooling, the European cogeneration sector has been operating on a decidedly low output in recent years.…

BY MARK GODFREY

COTTON prices have eased in 2011, lifting the price pressure on major brands, according to VF Asia Pacific president Aidan O’Meara. The Hong Kong-based executive, who oversees 30 brands in the region, says it was the first time in 19 years at VF that he had seen inflation of production costs.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, MARK ROWE, ALAN OSBORN, KATHERINE DUNN, MARTINA MARECKOVA, GERARD O’DWYER and MINDY RAN

In November 2010, Dutch company Remeha released the world’s first, commercially available, micro-CHP combination-boiler for single-family households; the Remeha eVita. This energy-efficient micro-CHP unit, which works with a simple room thermostat, is the result of intensive research and development over the last five years.…

BY MARK ROWE

CO-GENERATION (or combined-heat and power – CHP) plants operate using a variety of technologies: gas turbines, fuel cells, Stirling engines, gas or diesel engines and combined cycle gas turbines. According to the Joint Research Centre (JRC) – the European Union’s (EU) scientific and technical research body – natural gas is currently the preferred fuel across Europe for co-gen, with combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and gas turbine plants expected to become the predominant future technology for large-scale units.…

BY GEMMA HANDY

WORLDWIDE assets of the former leader of a British overseas territory have been frozen amid corruption investigations into malfeasance at the highest level in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

Its autonomous constitution was suspended and the country returned to direct British rule in August 2009 after a UK-appointed Commission of Inquiry declared corruption "endemic".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DUTCH Caribbean island of Curaçao will install access to Interpol’s global databases at Curaçao International Airport, after talks between its government and Interpol’s secretary general. Just north of Venezuela, Curaçao has been a transit point for international crime, especially the drugs trade, and Interpol said airport officials using its databases could henceforth instantly identify a fraudulent passport recorded on its stolen and lost travel documents database.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A KEY European Union (EU) scientific committee is examining chemicals, including those used by the paint and coating industry, to determine their safety to the environment, ahead of a European Commission review. Brussels is scheduled this summer to propose to ministers and MEPs new and revised EU Environmental Quality Standards that limit how much certain chemicals can leach into surface waters, a key issue for coatings producers, especially those producing waterproof paints.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

IT might sound like science fiction, but airport managers really are exploring the use of robots to boost security at airports. Partly this is because for some potentially extreme events, it is better to put a robot in harm’s way, rather than humans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, MARK ROWE, GERARD O’DWYER, ALAN OSBORN and MJ DESCHAMPS

COGENERATION has been something of a test-bed for European Union (EU) energy development policy, and like any experiment, some things have worked and others have not. Also, because other energy priorities have become the subject of more effective legislation recently, cogeneration has been left behind to some extent in the EU’s push for a cleaner, greener, sustainable and more liberal energy sector.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AFTER a production line shutdown on June 8 and the need for three funding injections of Euro EUR61 million within a week, Saab Automobile’s recent cash crisis has the UK automotive industry on edge, according to the Retail Motor Industry (RMI).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DUTCH government has released a paper at the European Union Council of Ministers that presses the European Commission to make good on its plans this summer to propose specific legislation controlling nanotechnology. At a council debate, minutes said the Dutch delegation "argued that the current legislation is not geared to evaluating the specific hazards related to nano-engineered particles."…

BY MARGUERITE-JEANNE DESCHAMPS, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH and WANG FANGQING

All over the world, when, where and what kind of alcohol consumers can purchase varies between each country’s national – and, occasionally, regional – laws. One would understand if alcoholic beverage manufacturers would prefer operating in markets where retailers are free to sell alcohol, versus those were a limited number of agents can make sales.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE and KEITH NUTHALL

IT is more than 18 months since the earthquake that ravaged Haiti seriously damaged Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, notably its air traffic control tower, rendering it unusable. The airport suffered structural damage to its terminal building walls and there were some major electrical faults.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

India’s United Breweries (UB) has told just-drinks that its planned 2011 Indian launch of Heineken is still on schedule, despite widespread reports of delays to 2012. Indian newspapers have quoted unnamed trade officials citing upgrades at UB’s Mumbai brewery as preventing planned Heineken sales from October.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DUTCH environmental campaigners have failed in court to link two European Union (EU) directives in a way that would force pollution permits for coal-fired power stations to respect national emissions limits imposed by EU law. The two directives in question are the 2008 integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) directive and the 2001 directive on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (NEC).…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AS one of the final stages in the converting process, it is important that the coating and laminating of raw materials goes off without a hitch to produce the best possible end product for paper, plastic and textile packagers.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

FEW transatlantic agreements have given rise to more friction and animosity than the Terrorist Finance Tracking Programme (TFTP) set up by the US Treasury in 2001 shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in direct response to them.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DUTCH environmental campaigners have failed in court to link two European Union (EU) directives in a way that would force pollution permits for power stations to respect national emissions limits imposed by EU law. The two directives in question are the 2008 integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) directive and the 2001 directive on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (NEC).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INTERNATIONAL football federation FIFA is struggling to protect its reputation against corruption claims sparking the provisional suspension by its ethics committee of vice-president Jack A Warner, from Trinidad, and Qatari executive committee member Mohamed bin Hammam. Both were accused of trying to bribe Caribbean Football Union (CFU) members for votes in an upcoming FIFA presidential vote.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HIGH sugar prices and tight supplies are a constant worry for confectionery manufacturers this year, and the European Union (EU) has been trying to keep these problems under control. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that global prices rose 81.4% from last July (2010) to this January (2011) and the EU has taken action.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TALKS to agree a new European Union (EU) novel food regulation, which could have banned the use of meat from cloned animals and their offspring collapsed this week (Monday Mar 28). It means that the current novel foods law, adopted in 1997, remains in force, with no outright ban on using these meats in the EU.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR the cosmetics and personal care product sector, the provenance of their ingredients can be important for marketing, and this is particularly the case for bio-based oil and fats. With growing consciousness about the environmental impact of their production and the cultivation of their feedstocks, the personal care sector – a key client of the oils and fats industry – is looking hard at who supplies its ingredients.…

BY ZLATKO ?ONKA?

IF one European country exists that demonstrates the need for the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), it is surely Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH), whose political and economic recovery from war has been halting. The EBRD has worked with the Bosnian government and its Serb and Bosniak/Croat sub-national entities for 15 years and its latest project could be the jewel in the crown of this cooperation – the revamping of Sarajevo International Airport.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has drawn a curtain over the longest running trade dispute in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) history – approving December 2009 deals on reducing EU banana import tariffs. These had been struck with the USA, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela solving complaints the EU unfairly favoured Caribbean island banana exports with quota and tariffs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DESPITE having set a clear goal of ensuring 20% of the European Union’s (EU) energy consumption is drawn from green sources, such as biogas and biofuels, more money and resources must be wheeled into action. That is the claim of the European Commission, in a long-awaited policy paper from its energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, assessing the EU’s renewable energy directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

It is received wisdom that new technology is the way forward for reducing emissions, but pressure group Transport & Environment (T&E) have been arguing that returning to the performance offered by old vans is actually the best strategy.…

BY MARK ROWE

FOR the cosmetics and personal care product sector, the provenance of their ingredients can be important for marketing, and this is particularly important for bio-based oil and fats. These can be the base of such products and with growing consciousness about the environmental impact of their production and feedstock cultivation, the personal care sector – a key client of the oils and fats industry – is looking hard at who supplies their ingredients.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Discord has hit the usually placid calm of European Union (EU) financial watchdog, the Court of Auditors: a dissident ex-member says EU fraud and mismanagement is even worse than we think. Keith Nuthall explains.

It was something of a surprise when Dutch auditor Maarten Engwirda marked his retirement from the Luxembourg-based court with what amounted to an accounting kiss-and-tell exclusive in the Netherlands’ De Volkskrant newspaper.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

HAITI: New university to be built away from earthquake devastation

Garry Pierre-Pierre

A completion date of January 2012 for a new university in Haiti has been announced by the president of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández. This new ‘University of Haiti’ will be built in the northern city of Cap Hatïen, costing US dollars USD30 million, fully funded by the neighbouring Dominican Republic’s government and business community.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

UKIP MEP and former European Commission chief accountant Marta Andreasen has called for the European Union (EU) to use external audits following claims from a former EU auditor that irregularities are swept under the carpet. Andreasen spoke to Accountancy Age in Strasbourg on the claims made byMaarten Engwirda, a Dutch auditor and former member of the EU Court of Auditors (ECA),that the ECA had been systematically intimidated and forced to water down critical findings about EU spending.…

By Keith Nuthall

With the British general election looming this week and the prospect of a change in government, one issue seems to electrify UK electors and politicians above all others, and that is immigration. In a sense, this is not surprising.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

Driven by consumer preference and regulation, the replacement of solvent based coatings with water-based ones has been a slow but steady process, beginning in earnest at the turn of the century in the USA, followed by Britain and Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS sector has long been the focus of some the most direct market intervention by the European Union (EU), and it would seem that the EU still has an appetite for such initiatives, consulting on new guidance on third party access to fixed networks.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD, KARRYN MILLER, GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE, KEITH NUTHALL

FOR niche spirits, obscure can be good – and so products made in countries not renowned for their spirits production can gather export market cache. Latin America and the Caribbean are regions where effort by buyers can pay dividends.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DEFINING a niche drink is an arbitrary matter and what may pass as niche today may well be considered mainstream tomorrow. Flavoured vodka, for instance, had a relatively specialised following in Europe until a few years ago – now it is classified as an official spirit drink under European Union (EU) regulations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DUTCH chemicals giant Akzo Nobel has lost a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) where it was seeking to protect the confidentiality of advice offered by in-house lawyers. The company argued these documents were protected by legal privilege under European Union (EU) law.…

18

EUROPEAN chemical industry federation CEFIC has called for a review of administration under European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH to help small-and-medium-sized companies (SMEs) deal with its burden. As the first key REACH chemical deadline of November 30 approaches, CEFIC director general Hubert Mandery has looked ahead to subsequent deadlines, which involve chemicals used in smaller volumes.…

BY JOHN PAGNI

THE NORD Stream natural gas pipeline, linking Russia with Germany, is not just making political waves, but inspiring technological innovations. Its developers appear to be taking environmental issues seriously. This could appease the project’s doubters.

When completed by the end of 2012, two parallel pipelines will stretch 1,224 kilometres from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald on Germany’s Baltic coast, linking with EU networks, notably those run by DONG Energy (Denmark), Germany’s E.ON…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

REGULATING an industry as dynamic and fast-changing as the electronic communications sector is always tough, especially when attempting to create rules through an international organisation as slow as the European Union (EU). But that is the tough task that the EU’s digital agenda Commissioner NeelieKroes has set herself, with detailed plans being released throughout 2010, notably in her ‘Digital Agenda for Europe’ communication (policy paper).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to unveil new geographical indication protection for popular Netherlands cheeses, Gouda and Edam, although the rule gives flexibility for non-Dutch cheese makers. The regulation will actually protect the names ‘Gouda Holland’ and ‘Edam Holland’, and European Union (EU) manufacturers cannot henceforth market cheeses with these terms if made outside their traditional home region and without prescribed standard processing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TARGETED investments aimed at improving energy self-sufficiency and efficiency maybe the key result of a grand European Union (EU) ‘Energy 2020’ strategy, released this month (November 10) by the European Commission. Building on existing reforms to liberalise and green EU energy production and delivery, the policy paper proposes ensuring energy efficiency is a criteria of public procurement by member states, and also that energy efficiency certificates are created to encourage sustainable energy investment by industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has hailed as a success an initiative to use global expertise to clean up Bangladesh’s notoriously dirty wet textile processing units. The IFC claims it has helped install new cleaner and efficient production equipment in 12 factories thus far, reducing water consumption by annual 75 million litres and saving US dollars USD1million in operating costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEW Zealand-based metals mining company Stracon has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and a Dutch technology firm to establish a satellite-linked remote monitoring centre for plant at a Peru open cast mine. The Netherlands’ EstrellaSat has adapted space technology to create a digital network linking managers at a control centre in its home country to lorries working at the El Brocal mine, 4,500 metres up the Peruvian Andes.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

WHEN it comes to cosmetics, people from east, southeast, and south Asia may have overlapping beauty needs. But given the diversity of the region, it is no surprise to say personal care companies can not use a ‘one size fits all’ strategy.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE CONTINUING turmoil of the economic crisis finds some Brussels officials in a downbeat mood, as the new European Commission team, which took office in February, returns to work after the summer break. This was not improved by the reappointed Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s recent ‘State of the Union’ (as in European Union) speech to the European Parliament.…

BY MARK ROWE

IN the truly global market of the paint industry, nowhere has the maxim of work local, sell local, been adhered to more rigorously than in southeast Asia. The region’s paint market is fiercely competitive, driven by developed nations such as Singapore and populous rapidly developing countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardization (ISO) is developing standards for natural gas fuelling stations to help promote vehicles using this alternative fuel. A new committee ISO/PC 252 will coordinate the work, developing two standards: on fuelling stations for compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A WORLD Bank report has told Latin American countries with major hydrocarbon resources, such as Mexico and Venezuela, to diversify their economies by reinvesting windfall export earnings from emerging markets. ‘Natural Resources in Latin America and the Caribbean: Beyond Booms and Busts?’…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN chemical industry federation CEFIC has called for a review of administration under European Union (EU) chemical control system REACH to help small-and-medium-sized paint and other chemical companies (SMEs) deal with its burden. As the first key REACH chemical deadline of November 30 approaches, CEFIC director general Hubert Mandery said REACH costs hit smaller firms hard, especially for the oncoming two REACH registrations, involving smaller tonnages of chemicals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

GUYANA and Suriname are neighbours with a lot in common – culturally Caribbean, but on South America, they are important shipment routes for illegal drug traffickers and so exposed to money laundering offences. They are, however, not offshore financial centres and so complex financial instruments are not available for hiding the dirty cash generated by organised crime in these countries.…

By Keith Nuthall, International News Services

Both projects draw on the eight volume Unesco-coordinated General History of Africa written from 1964 to 1999 which tried to create a standard for the continent written from an African rather than a colonial European perspective.

An evaluation study on using this general history in higher education throughout the continent will be written this year.…

BY MARK GODFREY

ANYONE familiar with Beijing’s nightlife scene will have noticed a sure rise in the number of women smokers over the past couple of years. An increase in the number of women smokers, from a small base, has encouraged a local cigarette industry facing a public ban on smoking in public places in 2011 as well as rising taxes and an anti-smoking lobby growing in assertiveness.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

DUTCH electronics corporation Philips is working with the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) to bring sustainable energy to African villages, where an estimated 560 million people are left in darkness after nightfall. The resulting restrictions on people’s activities can actually be serious – for instance children are unable to finish their homework.…

By Keith Nuthall

Historians are working with Unesco and educationalists to try to develop a common African history syllabus, including the teaching approach and pedagogical materials. The ambitious project will initially focus on helping primary and secondary schools across the continent and, this coming year, an assessment will consider how universities in Africa could benefit from such work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 12 producers of animal feed phosphates Euro EUR175million for operating a cartel across Europe, inflating feed prices for livestock producers. Phosphates are widely used in feed, including for cattle, pigs and poultry. The Commission said the cartel covered "most of the EU" in sharing markets and fixing prices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) panel has refused to set an advisory limit for the intake of sugar by European Union (EU) consumers. EFSA’s panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergies has concluded in a comprehensive assessment of dietary requirements for EU consumers “there was insufficient evidence to set an upper limit for sugars”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VIETNAM’S Techcombank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, have created a joint US dollar USD50 million fund financing energy efficiency projects in the south-east Asian country. The IFC will also finance with USD20 million an energy efficiency finance programme in the Dominican Republic operated by the Caribbean country’s Banco BHD.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HISTORIANS are working with Unesco (UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and educationalists to try and develop a common African history syllabus, teaching approach and pedagogical materials. The ambitious project will initially focus on helping primary and secondary schools across Africa, and this coming year an assessment will consider how universities in Africa could benefit from such work.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE OIL palm is a prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man – rich in solid saturated fatty acids and able to withstand refining at high temperatures.…

By Keith Nuthall, International News Services 

With the British general election looming this week and the prospect of a change in government, one issue seems to electrify UK electors and politicians above all others, and that is immigration. In a sense, this is not surprising. What could be more an issue of public policy that affects people’s daily lives that the management of who lives in a city, community, neighbourhood or even street?

We all interested in the culture, language, shopping needs, personalities and religion of our neighbours. How they live affects everyone. And when there is change in a community, that can be difficult to deal with – because new friends and acquaintances impact on daily lives.…

BY ALISON MOODIE

THE SOUTHERN African knitwear industry has taken a serious knock over the past decade. Tough Chinese competition, a global recession and as regards the regional powerhouse South Africa – an overvalued currency – these are just some of its problems.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

According to the US department of agriculture (USDA), about 70% of the 2.5 billion litres of fruit and vegetable juices sold in Mexico in 2009 were produced domestically. Mexico exported USdollar USD266.99 million worth of juices in 2009, compared to USD308.23 million in 2008 and USD247.29 million in 2007, according the UN Comtrade database.…

BY WACHIRA KIGOTHO

EAST Africa is developing as an important source of biofuels and biofuel feedstock, with governments keen to attract foreign direct investment for this potentially strategic rural development option.

Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Sudan, and Tanzania are countries where foreign companies are competing to acquire land for biofuel projects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A BID to use the principle of client-lawyer confidentiality to annul fines levied on Dutch chemical group Akzo over its involvement in plastics additives cartel looks likely to fail. An advocate general of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has advised the court to reject a claim that a European Commission probe into the cartel was legally flawed because officials read emails sent between Akzo’s in-house legal team and the general manager of UK-based group member Akros Chemicals.…

BY GERARD O’DWYER

IF there is one region where high standards in fighting money laundering and terrorist finance are expected, it is surely the five Nordic states: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Notwithstanding the criticism leveled at Iceland’s financial regulators during the credit crunch, all five countries have admirable traditions of public openness, government efficiency and international cooperation, especially amongst themselves.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has signalled it is unlikely to intervene to prevent the proposed takeover of Ukraine’s gas pipeline network by Russia’s Gazprom. Displaying his relatively relaxed attitude to closer energy links with Moscow, new German EU energy Commissioner Günter Oettinger told a press conference: "The decision has to come between Kiev and Moscow and not in Brussels."…

BY MARK ROWE

CROATIA is certainly talking a good game when it comes to cracking down on fraud as its European Union (EU) membership negotiations continue apace. The promised land of a seat at Brussels was sufficient to help Social Democrat law professor and classical music composer Ivo Josipovi?…

BY GEORGE STONE

THE KYOTO Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has made slow progress in Africa, but schemes are slowly getting off the ground, led by programmes in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.

Under the United Nations-backed CDM process, projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to sustainable development can earn saleable certified emission reduction (CER) credits.…

BY MARK ROWE

BOTH the oils and fats industry and environmentalists have long been aware of concerns over the oil palm, the prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man.

For almost as long, there have been campaigns to improve its cultivation in south-east Asia, which accounts for around 75% of global supply; but concern is now focussing on South America, where cultivation is growing rapidly, placing pressure on the Amazon rainforest and other wildlife-rich habitats in a belt stretching across central Brazil and Ecuador to Colombia’s Caribbean coast.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

INTRODUCTION

There are signs around the world that the textile market is beginning to recover from the global economic crisis, and developing markets will be leading that recovery. Asia is, of course, at the forefront, but many countries in Latin America have also weathered the crisis and have come out in a surprisingly decent position, with their dynamic textile and apparel industries well positioned for future expansion.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

WHEN an earthquake of a magnitude of seven on the Richter scale struck Haiti in January, it destroyed most of this 9 million population Caribbean country’s infrastructure, including ports and airports. Many businesses have suffered, including the tobacco sector, with many retail outlets ruined, especially in the capital Port-au-Prince whose central business district was shattered by the quake.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MOVES have been made to delay a vote by the European Parliament on the European Union’s (EU) agreement with the United States on passenger name record (PNR) data handovers. The parliament’s civil liberties committee is concerned a ‘no’ vote, which would scrap the system, could spark serious restrictions on EU citizens entering the USA.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency of the World Bank is considering guaranteeing US$260 million investment into a Ghana offshore oil and gas project. It would back Jubilee Ghana MV21 BV, a special-purpose Dutch company owning a floating production storage and offloading facility at the Jubilee Field, 60 kilometres offshore, operated by a subsidiary of Japan’s MODEC Inc.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NEW European Union (EU) energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger has been installed for five years, along with his environment Commissioner Janez Poto?nik and climate action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard. And so utilities executives might be forgiven for thinking that the key political changes in Brussels have now been made regarding the appointment of a new European Commission.…

BY GAVIN BLAIR, FRANCES WANG, RAGHAVENDRA VERMA and KARRYN MILLER

The Asian beer market, having overtaken Europe, is now the largest in the world, according to Japanese brewery Kirin. The region accounts for 31.7% of global consumption, compared to 30.8% for Europe, claims the annual report from the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

WHEN last month’s earthquake flattened the tax office in Haiti, killing the director, many thought that it would take years to restore the country’s tax and accounting system. The headquarters of the Direction Générale de Impôts (DGI) was destroyed and its director general Jean Frantz Richard died.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

A CONTINUING flow of seriously injured people continue to provide deep challenges to nurses at the Port-au-Prince’s barely functioning hospitals, nearly two weeks after a massive earthquake overwhelmed medical staff.

We try to do the best we can," said Enid Paret, a nurse at the University Hospital, the Haitian capital’s largest, which was damaged by the quake but still operates.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

Astride Auguste was late for an exam at Port-au-Prince’s Quiskeya University on that fateful Tuesday January 12, when the earthquake, or ‘the event’, as Haitians have come to call it happened.

Auguste, an undergraduate student in international affairs and management was nearby the campus when she felt the earth shook beneath her.…

BY GARRY PIERRE-PIERRE

HAITI’S troubled fishing industry has been dealt a severe blow by the earthquake that devastated its capital Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. The destruction of the city’s port facilities, warehouses, and distribution systems means that fish, once plentiful in markets, have for the time become a rare commodity, said Michel Chancy, the undersecretary for food at Haiti’s ministry of agriculture, which is responsible for fishing and aquaculture.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE and KEITH NUTHALL

SYRIA is such a staple of Middle East political turmoil, it is easy to forget that it is a near neighbour of Europe: less than 200 miles of sea separate it from Cyprus and it borders Turkey, which could be a European Union (EU) member by 2020.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE EXPERIENCED Dutch politician nominated to serve for the next five years as European Union (EU) digital agenda Commissioner in charge of publishing issues, should face an unusual second European Parliament confirmation hearing. Neelie Kroes, currently serving as competition Commissioner, underwhelmed MEPs with weak answers at a hearing in Brussels on Thursday.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

DUTCH liberal politician Neelie Kroes was assured of confirmation as the European Union’s (EU) digital agenda Commissioner, with responsibility for publishing industry affairs, after an unusual second hearing at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Her one-hour closed-door session with EP party leaders followed complaints that her answers at a first conformation hearing last week were "lacklustre and somewhat vague."…

BY MITCH

As the international community converges on Haiti, many are fearful that the small Caribbean country will become another victim of promised international aid that falters amongst bickering and petty squabbles between donor countries and agencies.

But, in truth, this disaster could serve as a model for international aid done right, with large scale cooperation and organisation that not only relieves the immediate suffering of the Haitian people, but reestablishes the shattered remains of their infrastructure and society.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD’S longest-running trade dispute is over: a deal on European Union (EU) banana imports has been initialled today in Geneva. The EU, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Colombia, Nicaragua, Mexico and United States have struck a long-awaited agreement.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES

NANOTECHNOLOGY scientists remain excited by the advantages various industries can glean from the addition of nanosilver to textiles, but there is increasing opposition to its use in non-medical fields and growing concern that not enough is known about its health and environmental effects.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NOMINATION of an Italian to the important position of European Union (EU) industry Commissioner could be good news for the clothing and textile industry. Antonio Tajani would be replacing German socialist heavyweight Günter Verheugen who has vigorously pushed an activist agenda in Brussels, which has often favoured heavy industry, and the transport sector in particular (which is strong in Germany).…

BY PHILIPPA JONES

THE ADDITION of nanoparticles to paint is the "best way forward" for the growth of the paints and coatings industry, according to Craig Barker, director of regulatory affairs at the Dutch chemical firm Akzo Nobel. However, environmentalists have questioned, at a recent conference debate, whether the oft-touted benefits actually outweigh the risks, given what they consider to be a continuing lack of data about the safety of these products.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DUTCH government has become the first in Europe to move towards automatic universal road pricing by proposing a tax charging motorists on the kilometres they drive. It wants the Netherlands parliament to approve replacing road and car purchase taxes with the charge by 2012, varying rates/km by car model weight and CO2 emissions.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON GAVIN BLAIR ANCA GURZU and KEITH NUTHALL

AS the Copenhagen conference charged with forging a new international climate change treaty gets under way this month, the auto industry worldwide will be looking closely at how the deliberations will affect its business.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round in the doldrums this year, the European Union (EU) has been focusing on bilateral trade deals and European confectionery producers will benefit.

The most important of recently struck agreements has been an EU-South Korea trade deal, which will create a virtual free trade zone between the signatories.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

OUTSPOKEN European Union (EU) information society Commissioner Viviane Reding is to leave her position in Brussels when the new European Commission is confirmed in January. The Luxembourger will be replaced by a tough Dutch free-market liberal Neelie Kroes who takes on a renamed post of digital agenda Commissioner.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

BOTH the strengths and the weaknesses of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the anti-money laundering field derive from its role as the supreme interpreter of European Union (EU) law and its responsibility for applying that law consistently through the Union.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SEIZURES of generic medicines in transit through German and Dutch ports (that prompted complaints from the Indian and Brazilian governments) have now sparked criticism from Oxfam. It and Health Action International Europe said in a report: "The EU’s [intellectual property] policies are increasing the cost of medicines.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

The Venezuelan cigarette market experienced an overall decline in 2008 and the first half of 2009. In 2008, 11.95 billion sticks were sold, an 8.6% drop from the 13.07 billion sticks sold in 2007, according to the United Nations Statistics Division.…

BY KARRYN MILLER, KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

DESPITE following the global trend of increasing anti-smoking campaigns and placing stronger warning labels on cigarette packets, tobacco sales in South Korea are not declining. In fact, the industry has seen a slow but steady rise in total sales over the last few years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INITIATIVE boosting the ability of Latin American and Caribbean countries to prevent precursor chemicals from being diverted from legitimate uses to illegal narcotic production has been launched. The UN Office in Drugs and Crime and European Commission’s three-year PRELAC project will cover: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, LEE ADENDOORF, E. BLAKE BERRY, SYMON ROSS, MONICA DOBIE and KEITH NUTHALL

CONSUMER issues have been a key focus of European Union (EU) initiatives regarding utilities of late. The European Commission’s Citizens’ Energy Forum has been busy, recently focusing on improving billing practices, promoting good practice and calling for "clearer, more understandable and accurate bills".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS Barack Obama wrestles with the challenge of pushing healthcare reform through the US Congress, he could create political capital by highlighting the need to fight fraud in the sector. Keith Nuthall reports.

IT is something of a sacred cow.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to investigate removing plastic from seas and oceans worldwide, amidst growing concern about massive floating islands of plastic debris in international waters. The initiative follows a call by the Dutch government at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers for action, which could involve further pressure to reduce the use of plastics in packaging, sacks and bags.…

BY MARK GODFREY

AS CHINA’S stimulus-primed economy rebounds, increased local emphasis on environmental and quality specifications is playing into the hands of foreign brands like PPG Industries and Akzo Nobel.

"The whole industry is facing consolidation, changing needs from customers, and stricter environmental requirements," said Mike Horton, head of architectural coatings and automotive refinish coatings for the Asia Pacific region at PPG.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) sugar importers can benefit from new liberalised trade rules that came into force today (OCTOBER 1). The European Commission is urging the industry to exploit the new quotas. Notably, exporters from the poorest producer countries – labelled "least developed" by the United Nations – can now send unlimited amounts of sugar to the EU, duty free.…

By Leah Germain

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is investing US$8 million into Colombia’s private higher education sector to promote affordable technical and professional education for the country’s low and middle-income students. The funds will help finance the private Colombian university, Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dios (Uniminuto).…

BY KASHMIR HILL

TEXAS financier R Allen Stanford built an US$8.5-billion Caribbean banking empire catering to 30,000 customers in 131 countries, but this year Stanford was indicted for swindling those investors in a massive, ongoing fraud. The US government is calling it a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of US$7 billion, making it the second largest of the era after Bernie Madoff’s.…

BY MINDY RAN

IT could be a workingman’s cafe just about anywhere: pool tables, basic food where everything is served with chips, TV permanently tuned to football. Except for one thing: this is one of two big truck stops in the Netherlands, nestled between the cross points of two main motorways in the centre of the country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ANNOUNCEMENT this weekend by European Union’s (EU) agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel that she is standing down has sparked intense speculation on her potential replacement. The white-haired 66-year-old Dane has been something of a surprise star in the current crop of rather uninspiring Commissioners: she has handled a tough brief with efficiency and diplomacy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) trade Commissioner has promised the Indian government to try resolving the problem of Indian generic pharmaceutical exports being seized at German and Dutch ports over alleged intellectual property problems. Baroness Catherine Ashton told journalists after a meeting in New Delhi: "We know that we have a problem and it has to be resolved.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) consumer safety alert service RAPEX has released warnings about western Europe-made cosmetics products. In July, it reported a Dutch market withdrawal of France-made Bio Claire lightening body cream over illegal glucocorticosteroid and clobetasolpropionate content. There was a Germany recall of German-made Siriderma skin cream, over silver chloride/titanium dioxide content – which should not be used near eyes under the EU cosmetics directive.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A HAITIAN consortium E-Power SA will receive US$30 million in investment through the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to build a 30-megawatt heavy fuel oil power plant, reducing the Caribbean state’s acute power shortages. US$14 million of this will be syndicated through Dutch development bank FMO.…

BY JAMES FULLER

SMALL island states are always vulnerable in energy sustainability terms, but the growth in renewable energy technologies is giving them a better shot at security of supply. The Caribbean is a case in point, where green energy technologies are being explored across the region.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INTERNATIONAL talks are underway to secure Ukraine funding to pay Russia for natural gas to ensure deliveries to Europe can be guaranteed this winter.

The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have been meeting with Russian and Ukraine officials to head off a repeat of last winter’s supply crisis.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN, Dutch, Israeli and German researchers are creating a database that can advise businesses and others on the potential health, safety and environmental impact of nanoparticles. This NHECD (Nano health-environment commented database) database is being financed with Euro 1.45 million of European Union research funds.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) incoming food health claims labelling regulation was given a drubbing by industry experts and politicians at a conference earlier this week (NOTE – JUNE 2) who called for "time out" on the laws’ implementation to allow for an impact assessment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FINAL shape of the European Union’s (EU) third energy packaging and its varied options on unbundling has generated concern, especially amongst acolytes of full scale liberalisation. The debates over this legislation have pitted countries such as France, with a mercantilist approach that a borderless market is an opportunity for local, especially large, companies; and liberalisers such as the Dutch and the British seeing the union as a massive market in which the fittest thrive, from whatever country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT has long been outmoded and inaccurate to split the world into two camps: industrialised developed economies, and largely agricultural developing countries. The growth of the 1990s and the current decade means there is a wide range of social and economic sophistication and wealth amongst the poorer of these two old-fashioned categories.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IN a battle between two drinks companies with the same name, a Guadeloupe rum-maker has won the right to trademark its moniker – Montebello – fighting off a challenge from a namesake Spanish wine company. The European Court of Justice Court of First Instance has ruled Montebello, of Petit-Bourg, on the French Caribbean island, has European Union trademark rights, dismissing arguments that consumers could be confused with wines sold by challenger Bodegas Montebello, of Montilla, Spain.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

SCIENTISTS from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands have developed a synthetic version of the natural protective cream found on newborn babies. Its properties will in particular help protect babies born prematurely against temperature changes, dehydration and infection as well as providing adults with relief from skin disease.…

BY JAMES FULLER

WHILE the global recession is hitting profits in the oil and gas sector worldwide, the Caribbean’s key producer Trinidad & Tobago remains bullish about the industry bringing it long term financial and economic stability. Indeed, the twin-island country’s minister of energy and energy industries Conrad Enill said this month that both a fifth liquefied natural gas (LNG) train and a new oil refinery are projects which are still firmly on the table for the Caribbean energy powerhouse.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, LEAH GERMAIN and MONICA DOBIE

MAYBE the best sign that renewable energies have hit the mainstream is that they now have their very own international organisation: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Launched in Bonn, Germany, this January, with the support of 76 countries, including its host nation, Spain, Italy, France and Sweden, the roster of signatory nations has since been swollen by India and Belarus.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THE EMPTINESS of the Giordano store in the departures terminal at massive Baiyun International Airport outside the southern Chinese megapolis of Guangzhou suggests hard times for Hong Kong’s most vaunted and ambitious apparel retailer. This is the capital of wealthy Guangzhou province after all, the manufacturing base for most of Hong Kong’s garment firms.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

IN this year’s Money Laundering Bulletin series of articles on the development of an international profession of anti-money laundering (AML) specialists, we have often examined specialists working at the sharp end. But that is not the whole story of course.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INDIA’S US$12.4 billion annual turnover tobacco industry is passing through a difficult period, with little hope for a better future, despite its continued large size – this estimate coming from the Tobacco Institute of India for sales of all tobacco products, chewing tobacco and beedis.…

By Monica Dobie

The ingredients of this cream was discovered through the Dutch researchers unraveling the ingredients of the protective film called Vernix caseosa (VC) that covers the foetus and newborn babies, helping skin growth before and after birth. It provides waterproofing inside the mother’s womb, allowing skin to grow in wet conditions, while after birth it hydrates and cleanses.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A DUTCH city initiative will provide the ultimate in environment-friendly drinks distribution – serving 65 drinks outlets by an electric boat. The service will be launched in 2010 in Utrecht, where a conventionally powered ‘beer boat’ already delivers drinks to bars and restaurants via a historic canal network, including beer from four local breweries.…

BY TONY MALLETT

GIVEN that they work in a country renowned for its knee-deep bureaucracy and fervent industrial action, Belgian truckers seem a surprisingly contented bunch. At least when taken individually.

Despite recent protests about the price of fuel – which resulted in their blockade of the Brussels inner ring road and demonstrations outside the headquarters of both the European Commission and the European Parliament – the pros riding way up high in the cabs of HGVs on Belgian roads seem generally happy with their lot.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

GREEN is the colour for many future oil and gas industry jobs, according to a recent study predicting that environment-friendly energy will not only tackle the world’s energy crisis but also create millions of new jobs worldwide.

Green Jobs, published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington DC-based research organisation, says the renewable sector and its supplier industries already employ at least 2.3 million people worldwide, including about 300,000 workers in the wind power industry, 170,000 in solar photovoltaics and 600,000 in the solar thermal industry alone.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE THUMBSCREWS are being turned on the world’s tax havens, preventing their banks hiding assets from tax investigators worldwide. A comprehensive communiqué from April 1 and 2s’ G20 meeting in London committed member governments "to take agreed action against those jurisdictions which do not meet international standards in relation to tax transparency."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched an investigation into an alleged cartel for heat stabilisers epoxidised soybean oil (ESBO) esters and tin stabilisers, both used in leather production. Brussels has released scant details, referring only to "restrictive business practices", but such cases usually involve alleged price and market share fixing, artificially inflating or protecting prices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-funded research project called SonoDrugs has united universities and high-tech businesses in developing tiny, image-guided medicine capsules which could target medicines to where they are needed in a patient’s body. The aim of the innovation is conveying doses through blood vessels to the centre of an infection or disease, after which the drugs are activated by ultrasound pulses.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

WHILE net revenues for tobacco product sales in some key countries in South America have experienced growth in the last few years, in general the regional tobacco product market is stagnant. Producers blame increased excise rates, public health awareness, and new and more rigidly enforced regulations for the gloom.…

BY JAMES FULLER

THE TWIN island republic of Trinidad & Tobago is many people’s idea of a tropical idyll but Sunita Kissoon, senior nurse/midwife at the Gulf View Medical Centre in San Fernando, says medical care in her country is fundamentally lacking when compared to the UK.…

By Monica Dobie

A European Union (EU)-funded research project called SonoDrugs is developing tiny, image-guided medicine capsules conveying doses through blood vessels to the centre of an infection or disease, after which the drugs are activated by ultrasound pulses. This new technology is initially being developed for cardiovascular disease and cancer by the Euro 15.9 million project, which includes Dutch electronics giant Philips; Nanobiotix, of France; and Lipoid, of Germany; as well as academics from the University of Cyprus, University of Gent (Belgium), University of Helsinki, University of London, University of Tours (France), University Victor Segalen Bordeaux (France), University of Technology Eindhoven (the Netherlands), and the University of Udine (Italy).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PRECEDENT setting decision is expected from the European Commission on subsidising natural gas supplies to specific industries. Brussels has opened a formal investigation into tax exemptions offered by the Netherlands on gas used by Dutch ceramic producers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have approved import quota and tariff levels for cane sugar shipped from India until 2009. The deal has been written into the EU’s sugar agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.

http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st14/st14962.en08.pdf

ENDS…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

A LITTLE noticed event took place in Brussels last month when the European Union (EU) Court of Auditors awarded the president of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering its annual Gold Medal, citing "the co-operation between the two institutions in safeguarding the interests of the European taxpayers."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved a proposed merger between Dutch dairy companies Campina and Friesland Foods, with conditions to avoid competition problems. Brussels allowed the deal after the merging companies offered to sell-off Friesland Foods’ fresh dairy product business and a part of Campina’s cheese business and two Campina long-life dairy drinks brands.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has again censured the European Union (EU) for breaching global trading rules on its long running banana dispute with the USA and Latin America. An appellate panel of the WTO disputes settlement body found the EU’s discriminatory regime favouring imports of Caribbean and African bananas over central and south American fruit illegally harms American fruit companies.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD, in Caracas; MARVIN HOKSTAM, in Paramaribo, JAMES FULLER, in Port of Spain

IT may seem like a good thing for fuel retailers to be based in country that is sitting on a bounty of fuel reserves. But that is not necessarily the case, as many Latin American and Caribbean retailers can testify.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A CONTROLLED opening of Arctic fisheries made more accessible because of the steady retreat of polar ice through climate change has been called for in a European Commission policy paper.

It wants "a regulatory framework for [those] Arctic high seas not yet covered by an international conservation and management regime before new fishing opportunities arise," saying no fisheries should be opened for any country until such controls are established.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, DOMINIQUE PATTON and LUCY JONES

The growth in outsourcing within the clothing and textile sector worldwide has highlighted a key issue, and that is the relative merits of running an integrated company that handles basic production and design, or relying on a string of specialist suppliers to deliver the goods, from fibre supplies, to textile manufacture, design, clothing assembly and retail.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has again censured the European Union (EU) for breaching global trading rules on its long running banana dispute with the USA and Latin America. An appellate panel of the WTO disputes settlement body found the EU’s discriminatory regime favouring imports of Caribbean and African bananas over central and south American fruit illegally harms American fruit companies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have approved import quota and tariff levels for cane sugar shipped from India until 2009. The deal has been written into the EU’s sugar agreement with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states.

http://register.consilium.europa.eu/pdf/en/08/st14/st14962.en08.pdf

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has struck down a European Commission decision blocking a Netherlands law effectively insisting diesel-powered vehicles registered in that country be fitted with filters reducing particulate matter emissions. Brussels claimed this was not a "proportionate" way of reducing pollution.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has cleared the way for national governments in the European Union (EU) to insist that diesel-powered vehicles registered in that country be fitted with special filters reducing particulate matter emissions. Judges struck down a European Commission decision blocking a Netherlands law effectively insisting that such a filter be used on all Dutch-registered diesel cars, lorries and vans.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank making a very tangible contribution to the growth in world trade at a time of global recession by lending US$300 million to help expand the Panama Canal. This 20-year financing will support a US$5.25 billion project to double the canal’s capacity to more than 600 million Panama Canal tons, allowing it to handle large post-Panamax container ships that have become the new industry standard.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has again censured the European Union (EU) for failing to comply with global trading rules on its long running banana dispute with the USA and Latin America. An appellate panel of the WTO disputes settlement body found the EU’s discriminatory regime favouring the import of Caribbean and African bananas over central and south American fruit does illegally harm American fruit companies: "it nullified or impaired benefits accruing to the United States" under the WTO’s general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the takeover of Dutch baggage handling service and systems company Vanderlande Industries BV by fellow Netherlands company SHV Holdings NV, a diverse group with heavy equipment, energy and other interests. Brussels concluded after an inquiry that the deal would not pose competition problems in the European groundhandling sector.…

BY MARK GODFREY

GIVEN the armies of migrant workers slapping millions of litres of paint onto the walls of spanking new hotels and creaking 1950s apartment blocks in and around Beijing during the preparations for the Olympic Games it is not surprising that paint demand in China currently outstrips that of India by five times, in tonnage used.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DUTCH researchers have proved while consumers might say they prefer healthy snacks over fat and sugar laden foods, they actually eat sweet. Wageningen University scientists found half of test participants said they would choose an apple or a banana over confectionery or a molasses waffle.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has challenged rulings by a World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) disputes settlement panel that it is breaking WTO rules simply by having a preferential tariff regime favouring Caribbean and African banana exporters over those from Latin America.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PART of an anticipated wave of European Union (EU) support for its eastern neighbours following the Georgia conflict, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning a USD$18 million long term loan to the Dutch-owned Efes Vitanta Brewery in Moldova.…

By Keith Nuthall

The often controversial European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has started work, with its newly appointed governing board having its first meeting, with the European Commission claiming it will help close Europe’s research spending gap compared with the United States.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has frozen its partnership and cooperation negotiations with Russia over the Georgia conflict, just three months after the talks were launched following long delays. An emergency meeting of the EU Council of Ministers has ordered no meetings will take place with Moscow on the agreement until its "troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August", prior to its short war with Georgia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MAN-MADE ecological disaster that almost destroyed a fishing industry is now being reversed. The northern Aral Sea – once a shallow saline remnant – is now growing again, boosting fish production. Excess irrigation shrank central Asia’s Aral Sea by 70% from 1960 to 2004, and its level dropped about 20 metres, splitting it in two in 1990: a small Northern Aral Sea entirely within Kazakhstan and a large Southern Aral Sea, shared by Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.…

By Alan Osborn

Many European academics and experts in the study of commercial crime are more than happy to discuss the state of play in the sector in an informal way with outsiders; others may be a little more cautious. But all are likely to suggest ways to gain further assistance.…

By Keith Nuthall

European academics are preparing to gather at a high level conference to discuss the problems being caused to higher education by a sharp decline in the European population. The debates at the European University Association (EUA) conference comes as the latest figures from European Union (EU) statistical agency Eurostat confirm the number of young people in European countries is already shrinking and will get smaller.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BANANA and banana product importers cannot sue the European Union (EU) for its alleged failure to abide by its World Trade Organisation commitments through giving special EU market access to Caribbean and African producers, the European Court of Justice has ruled.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN IN depth investigation into the planned acquisition of the Dutch manufacturer of food additive chemicals DSP by US equity company Arsenal, (which controls Velsicol Chemical Corporation), has been opened by the European Commission. Both companies make benzoic acid and sodium benzoate – which are widely used as preservatives in confectionery manufacture

ENDS…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 attacks on the US resulted in a raft of regulations to curb terrorist financing, but seven years on Al Qaeda is still at large, has adapted to the new regulatory environment to raise funds, and morphed into an international terrorist Hydra.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has challenged rulings by a World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) disputes settlement panel that it is breaking WTO rules simply by having a preferential tariff regime favouring Caribbean and African banana exporters over those from Latin America.…

BY STEVEN SWINDELLS

SOUTH African restrictions on the import of Chinese textiles and clothing have not come to the rescue of the country’s ailing textile sector as effectively as had been hoped, Brian Brink, executive director of South African industry group Textile Federation (Texfed), has told just-style.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

ONE of the more colourful (and thankfully less deadly) aspects of Russia’s mini-war with Georgia in August was the simultaneous attach by hackers on Georgian Internet sites, especially those of its government.,

Ones of these were crashed by ‘denial of service’ attacks, where masses of data are sent to particular sites until they cannot handle the megabytes and closedown.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

ONE might suppose that scrapping the European Union’s (EU) restrictive block exemption legislation that helps big car manufacturers and hinders thousands of independent suppliers and garages wanting to repair their automobiles would be welcomed in the after-sales market.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

SUSTAINABILITY has moved firmly to the top of the corporate agenda in the oils and fats sector following Unilever’s announcement in May that it intended to have all of its palm oil certified sustainable by 2015. By any measure this would be a bold pledge but coming from the world’s largest consumer of palm oil (Unilever takes 4% of total global production to make its food and cosmetic products) it serves additionally to raise the bar for others.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

FRITS Vranken, senior vice president for business development at Japan Tobacco International (JTI), has recently seen his role expanded since his 2006 appointment at JTI’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Mr Vranken’s role changed at the start of 2008 to include corporate strategy, tobacco taxation and internal communications.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared a takeover of Dutch based food retail company Schuitema by investment fund CVC Fund IV, owned by CVC Capital Partners Group, of Luxemburg. CVC already controls Leaf International, a Dutch sugar confectionery manufacturer and supplier of Schuitema.…

BY BILL CORCORAN

WITH a crippled economy, inflation running at over 2.2 million per cent and a government partial to confiscating the assets and local operations of foreign companies when it sees fit, doing business in Zimbabwe is undoubtedly a risky undertaking.…

BY JAMES FULLER

MANY nations have has to review their anti-terrorist financing systems and laws since the September 11 attacks in America, with its implications stretching around the world, even to regions usually untouched by political terror, such as the Caribbean.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round negotiations appear to have broken down after nine days of tough, but ultimately fruitless negotiations, WTO officials told just-food.com. Diplomats were at 6.30pm GMT filing into a meeting of the WTO trade negotiations committee, expected to decide what happens next.…

BY MARVIN HOKSTAM

WHEN aviation executives gathered in Sint Maarten for the eighth Airports Conference of the Americas (July 20-22, 2008), not even the cosy Caribbean atmosphere could change their gloomy disposition on their industry. With rising fuel costs, out-of-control energy bills, airline capacity shortages and the effects of terrorism’s relentless onslaught in travel, aviation has no shortage of challenges; the officials acknowledged that there is no quick fix to their problems, so their discussions centred on alternatives.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN END to the world’s longest international trade dispute – over banana and banana products – was close to being solved at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but then the deal just slipped away. At the July ministerial meeting in Geneva that tried and failed to secure agreement over the Doha Development Round of trade liberalisation negotiations, a deal was struck between European Union (EU) and Latin American banana producers to cut the EU’s import duty to Euro 114 (US$179) a tonne by 2016 for so-called dollar bananas from Latin America, after an initial cut to Euro 148 in 2009 from Euro 176 now.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has now formally opened its agency coordinating the policing of fishing rules in its member states’ fishing fleets, amidst a call for it to receive more powers. At a formal launch ceremony for the Community Fisheries Control Agency (CFCA) it its base in Vigo, Spain, a senior Spanish socialist MEP Rosa Miguélez Ramos said she hoped that "unlike previous [EU] agencies, it will extend its remit and its tasks".…

BY ALAN OSBORN

ANGLO-Dutch oil giant Shell is not in much doubt that hydrogen is one of the fuels of the future, if not the fuel of the future. Barely a month ago, in June, Duncan Macleod, (NOTE: SPELLING IS CORRECT) global vice president of Shell Hydrogen, told an clean technology conference in the US that Shell had restructured its organisation "to prepare for hydrogen’s transition into the mainstream, bringing it into our downstream fuels portfolio, alongside gasoline, diesel, LPG, CNG – as well as biofuels and GTL."…

BY SUZANNE KOELEGA and JUHEL BROWNE

"CASINOS are an important part of the development of the Caribbean tourist sector, yet they hold a particular attraction to money launderers. Casinos provide the venues for large flows of cash, which launderers can utilise to disguise the true origins of their criminal proceeds."…

BY MONICA DOBIE

PREGNANT women eating nuts or nut products increase their future babies’ risk of developing asthma by more than 50%, claim Dutch researchers. The data emerged from an asthma and mite allergy study funded by the Netherlands government.

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LAST May, a coordinated attack on essential computer networks in the tiny Baltic republic of Estonia set nerves upon edge amongst European Internet security specialists. Following the removal of a Russian war memorial from the centre of its capital Tallinn, a still unidentified group of computer users bombarded Estonian political, government, media and banking websites with so much data, they were forced offline.…

BY MARK ROWE

IN the past 18 months, the rush toward biofuels as the new green alternative to fossil fuels has of course come to something of a juddering halt. Concerns over just how green they are, and the implications of growing crops for energy rather than food, have led to the UN, major energy companies, scientists and environmental organisations looking beyond the first generation of biofuels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers are debating an urgent rescue package for a European fishing sector that is being buffeted by high fuel prices. European Commission officials are drafting formal proposals, which would suspend certain European Fisheries Fund subsidy controls for two years.…

BY KENCHO WANGDI, in Thimphu, Bhutan; JUHEL BROWNE, in Port of Spain, Trinidad; BILL CORCORAN, in Johannesburg; and KEITH NUTHALL

THE RISING price in oil has hit the prosperity of many companies, communities and countries, but it is the world’s poorest people, living in what the United Nations calls least developed countries that are suffering the most.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) and USA have bought themselves more time to resolve the long-running banana trade dispute that has been subject to World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes procedures since 1996.

They have agreed with WTO officials to postpone the adoption of a ruling branding the EU a scofflaw over its favouring the import of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bananas over those exported from central and south America, usually by US firms.…

BY KARRYN CARTELLE

AUSTRALIA is currently ranked as the eighth largest market in the world – third largest within the Asia-Pacific region after Japan and Hong Kong – in terms of its total stock market capitalisation of AUD$1.63 trillion (USD$1.53 trillion) in 2007 (World Federation of Exchanges figures).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LAST May, a coordinated attack on essential computer networks in the tiny Baltic republic of Estonia set nerves upon edge amongst European Internet security specialists. Following the removal of a Russian war memorial from the centre of its capital Tallinn, a still unidentified group of computer users bombarded Estonian political, government, media and banking websites with so much data, they were forced offline.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON, in London; LUCY JONES, in Dallas; JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo; and KEITH NUTHALL

GIVEN the spate of oil tanker accidents in recent years involving substantial pollution of seas and coastlines around the world, it is no surprise that international organisations have weighed in with regulatory controls and guidelines on shipping standards.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) compliance panel has formally rejected the European Union’s (EU) discriminatory trade regime favouring imports of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bananas over those from Latin America. It said the EU 2005 "duty-free tariff quota for bananas originating in ACP countries… failed to implement the…rulings" of the WTO.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A MAJOR company able to create integrated digital navigation maps and portable navigation devices should be formed, following the approval of a Dutch merger deal by the European Commission. It has green-lighted the acquisition by the Netherlands’ device manufacturer Tom Tom of co-patriots Tele Atlas, which makes navigable digital maps covering Europe and north America.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN auto industry – long the continent’s odd man out in terms of competition law – may have to face a new laissez faire legal regime that would ban formal links between manufacturers, dealers and repairers.

This warning is clear in a report released yesterday (May 28) by the European Commission on how the European Union’s (EU) ‘block exemption’ system, protecting the EU auto industry from the full force of European competition law, has been working.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT is official: the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will have no truck with the European Union’s (EU) discriminatory trade regime favouring imports of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bananas over those from Latin America. In its 2005 "duty-free tariff quota for bananas originating in ACP countries, the European Union has failed to implement the…rulings" of the WTO, ruled a special compliance panel requested by the USA.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has ruled basic packaging logo designs (for instance Adidas’ three stripes) can be protected legally by their owners, only where such symbols do not indicate a general category of goods. Judges said in a case involving German sportswear maker Adidas and Dutch rivals Marca Mode, C&A, H&M and Vendex that Adidas’ three stripes had no obvious link to sportswear and so could be protected: its rivals use two stripes logos.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the takeover over Denmark baby clothes retailer BabySam by Netherlands-based AAC Capital Partners, and a Danish arm of the Polaris equity fund – Polaris Private Equity.

Regulatory approval will kickstart AAC-Polaris plans to turn BabySam into "the Nordic region’s leading integrated baby retail chain", by transforming "the chain of independent shops by merging 12 existing legal entities," said AAC.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE LOW Countries markets of Belgium and the Netherlands are a good place to take Europe’s converting industry temperature as it rides the recession this year. There is no denying that business is down in this key European region, but there are certainly no signs of melt-down and converters in this country appear well positioned to exploit an economic recovery, when it comes.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

INHALING diesel exhaust impairs the brain’s processing of information according to a study from Zuyd University, the Netherlands. Participants inhaled diesel exhaust similar to that breathed by roadside or garage workers during 30 minutes. Their minds displayed stress responses recorded on an electroencephalograph (EEG) whilst controls breathing clean air registered normal brain activity.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, in London, and SUZANNE KOELEGA, in Sint Maarten, Dutch West Indies

AS with much of life today, the future of gambling is closely tied to the Internet, and this development of an international industry based on instant cross-border cash flows has raised understandable concerns about money laundering.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

OFF the coast of Guyana and Surinam, north of Brazil, lie what may be some of the world’s largest untapped oil reserves. They have remained unexplored for years, thanks to a maritime border dispute between the two South American countries, the former an ex-British colony, and the latter once run by the Dutch.…

By Keith Nuthall

The potential riches that can be gained by universities spinning off successful science units into commercial operations has been made clear by a deal involving Britain’s University of Surrey and Airbus-maker EADS Astrium.

It has acquired the university’s Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) for an estimated GBPounds 50 million.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

INHALING diesel exhaust impairs the brain’s processing of information according to a study from Zuyd University, the Netherlands. Participants inhaled diesel exhaust similar to that breathed by roadside or garage workers during 30 minutes. Their minds displayed stress responses recorded on an electroencephalograph (EEG) whilst controls breathing clean air registered normal brain activity.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

OF all the European Union’s (EU) flagship energy projects, maybe none is more central to the goal of ensuring security of supply and none more fraught with political and technical complexity than the proposed Nabucco pipeline designed to bring natural gas from the Caspian region, the Middle East and Egypt into Austria and then on to consumers in western Europe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SAFETY certification of airports in the eastern Caribbean requires significant reform, an International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) report has stressed. Drawing on Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme (USOAP) assessments, it raised concerns about airports in Trinidad & Tobago; Jamaica; Antigua & Barbuda; Grenada; St Kitts & Nevis; St.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) is set to rule that the European Union (EU) is still illegally protecting banana exports from the Caribbean and Africa, but there is no prospect of this long running dispute being solved swiftly.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s controversial proposals promoting biofuels within the European Union (EU) are already running into political difficulties over their environmental impact. The European Parliament’s environment committee has debated the idea and backed a report saying biofuels should generate half of the CO2 created by mineral fuels – when assessing their production, distribution and consumption – to count towards Brussels’ proposed 10% by 2020 fuel target.…

BY LUCY JONES, in Dallas; ALAN OSBORN, in London; KARRYN CARTELLE, in Tokyo; BILL CORCORAN, in Johannesburg; PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut; RACHEL JONES, in Caracas; MARK ROWE; and KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round being slow to proceed since its 2001 launch – and only this year approaching something resembling and end game – free traders wanting to encourage global commerce have looked to bilateral and regional trade deals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has been approving a series of operational programmes for many European Union (EU) member states’ fishing (and aquaculture) sectors, outlining how it will target money from the European Fisheries Fund (EFF).

One of the largest recipients of this Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) subsidy scheme is France, which is to receive Euro 216 million from 2007-13, less than it received under the 2000-2006 Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG), which supplied Euro 278 million.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

A new system of continuous ink-jet printing designed to help textile printers cope with the increasingly rapid turnover of clothes in shops has been developed by the French company Imaje jointly with the Dutch firm Osiris Digital Printing under the EU’s EUREKA initiative which provides support to businesses carrying out cross-border innovative projects.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

ALTHOUGH final Christmas and New Year sales figures are not yet available, every indication from Dutch publishers and retailers is that the Netherlands enjoyed a plump festive season following 12 months in which sales of copies increased by 4.5% – representing in cash terms a 7.5% growth.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Brussels

The operation of the high flux research reactor operated by the European Union’s (EU) Joint Research Centre, in Petten, the Netherlands, has been extended for one more year by the EU Council of Ministers. The reactor will now continue as a research tool until December 2008, with a Euro 8.5 million budget donated by the Dutch and French governments.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has indicated that British fleet drivers who are victims of accidents in other European Union (EU) member states, can sue the insurer of responsible party in the UK. The ECJ precedent-making ruling came in a case where a German driver was injured in the Netherlands.…

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

FUEL companies are getting increasingly involved in support for eco-driving campaigns, but still have the own self-interest at heart, according to Peter Wilbers of Senter Novem, the Dutch energy agency.

Wilbers was speaking at an international forum organised by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris on November 22-23, which brought to together policy-makers, fuel companies, car manufacturers and road users to discuss the role of eco-driving on fuel economy and CO2 emissions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE OPERATION of the high flux research reactor operated by the European Union’s (EU) Joint Research Centre, in Petten, the Netherlands, has been extended for one more year by the EU Council of Ministers. The reactor will now continue as a research tool until December 2008, with a Euro 8.5 million budget donated by the Dutch and French governments.…

BY MARK ROWE

WHICHEVER way you look, the oil and gas sector is investing in biofuels. The larger energy companies – driven by an eye for a new and potentially lucrative market as well as shareholder concern and governmental and international political pressure – are investigating both first and second generation biofuels.…

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

A FEW hours of training and a handful of simple-to-follow driving rules can help significantly reduce CO2 emissions by buses, lorries and other public sector vehicles, and help local authorities do their bit – and be seen doing it – to tackle global warming.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Commission official has told just-food.com that while the European Union (EU) may have lost the latest World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute over market access for banana exports, this ruling should soon become irrelevant.

The senor official at the Commission’s trade directorate general claimed the WTO panel said the ruling will be superseded by liberalisation reforms being implemented for African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) banana exporters.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EU MINISTERS ALLOW DUTCH TO CHARGE CLOTHING CONTRACTORS TO FIGHT VAT FRAUD

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised the Netherlands to derogate from standard VAT law for the ready-to-wear clothing industry by shifting the obligation to pay sales tax from clothing firm sub-contractors to their contractors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has authorised the Netherlands to derogate from standard VAT law for the ready-to-wear clothing industry by shifting the obligation to pay sales tax from clothing firm sub-contractors to their contractors. The aim of this temporary reform – which would last until December 2009 – is, said council minutes: "Preventing fraud in a sector in which collecting VAT is rendered awkward by the difficulty of identifying and supervising the activities of subcontractors."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUM producers from French overseas departments (counties) have been given a 50% tax break on excise duty charged on sales within mainland France, stretching until December 2012. Most affected manufacturers are based on the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe and the Indian Ocean island of Réunion.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ENVIRONMENTAL health officers may think there are a lot of smokers in the UK – in 2005, 24% of adults aged 16 or over in Britain smoked cigarettes, but spare a thought for officials in Greece – home of Europe’s keenest smokers.…

BY SUZANNE KOELEGA, in Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles, JAMES FULLER, in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, and KEITH NUTHALL

A MAJOR shake up is looming in the political organisation of the Caribbean, with the impending dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles federation, and the creation of separate political units for its composite islands Curaçao, Bonaire, Sint Maarten, Saba and Sint Eustatius (Statia).…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels

CONSUMER reaction is critical to the acceptability of the new generation of packaging which uses deliberate interactions between the packaging and food, according to an expert from Montpellier University, France, in a paper delivered to last week’s European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) conference held in Brussels to honour that organisation’s first five years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE USA and the European Union (EU) have opened to the public a disputes panel at the World Trade Organisation considering their 12-year diplomatic battle over the banana trade. Washington – backed by Latin American producers – still claims the EU unfairly favours Caribbean and African banana producers.…

BY MARK ROWE and PAUL COCHRANE

IT is something of an understatement to describe Iran as a peripheral player on the international paint scene. The country’s share of the world market in paints and varnishes in 2007 is, according to research analysts Gobi International, just 0.5%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the proposed acquisition of the Dutch company Numico by France’s Danone. Because both companies are major suppliers of baby food and baby milk products, Brussels gave its competition approval on condition Danone offloads Numico’s baby milk and baby drink business in France.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUM producers from French overseas departments (counties) have been given a 50% tax break on excise duty charged on sales within mainland France, stretching until December 2012. The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved the derogation from standard EU excise rules, after French government claims that these rum manufacturers are vulnerable commercially.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE EUROPEAN Commission’s decision to appoint ‘project co-ordinators’ to try to spark movement in four long-stalled cross-border energy projects in the European Union (EU) has drawn widespread cynicism from many in the industry. However, here and there, there is an admission that these high-level trouble-shooters might just get results where so many others have failed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED States and the European Union (EU) have agreed to open to the public the November 6 and 7 meetings of a disputes panel at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) considering their 12-year diplomatic battle over the banana trade.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Parliament officials have ordered an investigation into the discovery that two buildings the European Union (EU) assembly bought last year in Strasbourg are riddled with asbestos. However, administrators say that the asbestos is located in "a limited number of technical facility rooms" in its Winston Churchill bloc and the Salvador de Madariaga unit, and so "poses no public health risk".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MANY European academics and experts in the study of commercial crime are more than happy to discuss the state of play in the sector in an informal way with outsiders; others may be a little more cautious. But all are likely to suggest ways to gain further assistance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUM producers from French overseas departments (counties) have been given a 50% tax break on excise duty charged on sales within mainland France, which will stretch until December 2012. The European Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved this as a derogation from standard EU excise rules, after French government claims that these rum manufacturers are vulnerable commercially.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has told Greece and the Netherlands to remove obstacles to second hand car imports that would make it easier – if they are removed – for fleet managers to export and sell old vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is preparing to launch a public consultation on a suggested calculation formula for road charging within the European Union (EU) taking transport impact costs into account. The complex factors involved in pricing tolls were effectively ducked when the latest 2006 road charging ‘Eurovignette’ directive was passed in 2006, and the legislation told the Commission to draft a formula by June 2008.…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission was poised when the Petroleum Review went to press to unveil a long awaited package of energy proposals, although Brussels was expected to shy away from tabling wholesale unbundling of gas producers and distributors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CLOTHING companies cannot trademark design shapes after advertising campaigns highlighted particular products, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. In a case between Benetton and Dutch clothing company G-Star International BV, judges ruled such protection is excluded under European Union (EU) directive 89/104/EEC on trademarks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NETHERLANDS’ Koninklijke Friesland Foods has won the right to benefit from a Dutch tax break for the international financing of companies within commercial groups through a case at the European Court of Justice’s Court of First Instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE DISPUTE at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the allegedly illegal protection of African and Caribbean bananas within the European Union (EU) has flared up again. Following a request by the United States a special ‘compliance panel’ has been established today at the WTO to examine whether the EU has fulfilled an earlier ruling ordering European banana market liberalisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced funding to help meat industry organisations promote sales of their products within the European Union (EU). The money will be matched by relevant national governments and by private sources. Italy will benefit the most: the Commission is to spend Euro 1.75 million over three years promoting quality beef and mutton from Italy’s San Daniele and Grana Padano regions; and Euro 2 million promoting over three years the same products from Italy’s Alpine regions, such as the Alto Adige.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DIFFERENT parts of the world have devised a wide range of regulations to promote biofuels as an answer to traditional fuels posed by supply and environmental concerns. Japan began promoting alternative fuels in the mid-70s following the oil crisis, replacing oil-powered electric generators with units driven by alternative fuels, as well as natural gas, coal and nuclear power.…

BY SUZANNE KOELEGA, in Sint Maarten
AS leaders of various Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries and US President George Bush debated regional security in Washington DC in June, Caribbean nations continue to struggle with serious commercial crime that threatens their regional stability.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRENCH and Dutch researchers warn oyster and mussel health is being risked by CO2 emissions’ making the world’s seas significantly more acidic. The Netherlands Institute of Ecology and the Oceanographic laboratory of the French National Scientific Research Centre have noted projections ocean pH will fall 0.4 units by 2100.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, in Sint Maarten
A NEW Caribbean airport terminal has been opened to secure Sint Maarten’s Princess Juliana International Airport’s (PJIA) role as a regional hub. Formally launched by the Netherlands’ Queen Beatrix November 10, the airport serves the world’s smallest territory split between two sovereign states (Dutch Sint Maarten and French Saint Martin).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW fishing access deal has been negotiated between the European Commission and the Ivory Coast. Running six years from this June, the agreement is designed to replace an existing deal in place since 1990. The new deal will focus entirely on tuna, wIth European Union (EU) fishing rights being cut from an existing 9,000 to 7,000 tonnes per year, to be exploited by 25 seiners and 15 surface long liners, (down from 34 and up from 11 respectively under the existing system).The…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DUTCH brewers Heineken, Grolsch and Bavaria have been fined a total of Euro 273 million for operating a beer cartel in the Netherland between 1996 and 1999, with the InBev group, which escaped paying fines by blowing the whistle on the illegal price fixing deal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FRENCH and Dutch researchers are warning that the health of oysters and mussels are being risked by CO2 emissions’ making the world’s seas significantly more acidic. The Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) and the Oceanographic laboratory of the French National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) warn the 25 million tonnes of CO2 absorbed by the sea daily has lowered global oceans’ average pH by 0.1 units since the industrial revolution, (making it more acidic), and they have noted projections this pH will fall a further 0.4 units by 2100.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has backed the British government in a legal row with the European Commission over the re-issuing of fishing licences that had been used by UK-flagged boats transferred to Argentina under a capacity reduction programme mandated by Brussels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission may move against a Dutch ban on copper-based anti-fouling paints for leisure boats, after the European Union’s (EU) Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) concluded The Hague had insufficiently justified the law. In an expert opinion, the committee concluded the Netherlands government’s explanation “does not provide sufficient sound scientific evidence to show that the use of copper-based antifouling paints in leisure boats presents significant environmental risk.”…

BY DEIRDRE MASON
WITH every new piece of European Union (EU)-inspired road and vehicle-safety legislation brings a new opportunity to make and sell the kit to local authorities so that they can comply. Speed limiters may not be the newest story in safety equipment, but the requirements to fit them had a further boost on January 1 this year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s consumer alert service RAPEX has warned of a voluntary recall of ‘Rival de Loop’ double effect mascara in the Netherlands. This followed the discovery of excess bacterial contamination in 17% of the line, which was totally recalled.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has rejected arguments by the European Commission that when a member state receives funding to reduce the size of its fishing fleet, it should not re-issue licences left unused when boats are transferred to a non-European Union (EU) register.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
DUTCH scientists from Eindhoven Technical University have developed an inexpensive software patch that can reduce CO2 emissions in new vehicles by 2.6%. The patch shuts alternators on and off when a car or van’s speed makes it inefficient for the engine to power it, conserving energy and improving the overall efficiency of the engine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A JOINT European Union-African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States study into women working in developing country aquaculture has concluded such businesses are probably more economically and environmentally sustainable with female management involvement than men-only enterprises. The report has just been released by the European Commission and includes case studies.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
DUTCH scientists working with Ford Motors have designed a simple and affordable way to reduce CO2 emissions in new vehicles by 2.6%, an innovation that could help auto manufacturers meet future European Union (EU) fuel emission guidelines.

Drs Michiel (NOTE: SPELLING IS CORRECT) Koot and John Kessels of Eindhoven technical University, in the Netherlands, have developed a software patch that shuts an alternator on and off when it is inefficient for the engine to power it, therefore conserving energy and improving the overall efficiency of the engine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) US$85 million loan to ISTIL Ukraine, will help the Ukraine’s only modern mini-steel mill using an electric arc furnace and continuous casting technology to raise Euro 3 million in Kyoto Protocol carbon credit sales.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s proposal to simplify the organisation for milk and dairy products, announced last month, is already having profound effects on the industry says Dr Joop Kleibeuker, Secretary General of the Brussels-based European Dairy Association in an exclusive interview with just-food.com.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) US$85 million loan to ISTIL Ukraine, will help the Ukraine’s only modern mini-steel mill using an electric arc furnace and continuous casting technology to raise Euro 3 million in Kyoto Protocol carbon credit sales.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DUMPER trucks sufficiently roadworthy to use public roads should still be categorised as off-road dump trucks if that is the main purpose of their design, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. This comes in a customs case involving Dutch second-hand dumper truck importer BAS Trucks and Rotterdam customs office over classifying a MAN and a Scania vehicle, both with driver cabs and tippers for sand, stone and rubble.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SOUTH Asian tsunami did not just destroy homes and businesses – it wrecked schools, social clubs, and sports facilities. Now a donation of 50,000 footballs has been made to encourage sporting fervour in Aceh, Indonesia, the region worst hit by the disaster.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NICARAGUA has joined the latest round of formal disputes talks demanded by Ecuador at the World Trade Organisation, over the European Union’s banana import system, which Managua says favours Caribbean island producers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union anti-fraud agency OLAF has uncovered a rules-of-origin fraud where 4,000 tonnes raw cane sugar was illicitly imported into Britain and Malta under duty-free African-Caribbean-Pacific quotas. The sugar was Brazilian, evading Euro 2 million duties.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the acquisition from ICI of Dutch-registered flavourings and fragrances manufacturer Quest International by Switzerland-based Givaudan, which operates in the same sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SOUTH Asian tsunami did not just destroy homes and businesses – it wrecked schools, social clubs, and sports facilities. Now a donation of 50,000 footballs has been made to encourage sporting fervour in Aceh, Indonesia, the region worst hit by the disaster.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has awarded a network of European researchers Euro 2.4 million to chase one of the pharmaceutical industry’s Holy Grails: a malaria vaccine. Coordinated by Dutch biotechnology company Crucell, researchers will over three years conduct pre-clinical trials of a peadiatric vaccine where a version of the BCG (tuberculosis) vaccine is the vector for a malaria antigen.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agency OLAF has helped uncover three rules-of-origin frauds costing EU coffers millions of Euros. In one case, an OLAF-German police inquiry has uncovered the loss of Euro 50 million in duties by the illicit rerouting of Chinese energy-saving lamps via Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Sri Lanka and Tunisia to evade 66.1% anti-dumping duties on China-made lamps; Euro 7 million of avoided taxation has been recovered.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF has uncovered a rules-of-origin fraud, where 4,000 tonnes of raw cane sugar was illicitly imported into Britain and Malta duty free, using special rights available to African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) countries. The sugar was actually Brazilian and refined in Bulgaria, so Euro 2 million duties was evaded.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has voted that subsidies paid to banana producers in EU non-European territories – such as French Caribbean islands Guadeloupe and Martinique – remain linked to production.

ENDS…

BY WESLEY GIBBINGS, in Port of Spain, Trinidad

THE WHITTLING away of preferential export markets for traditional Caribbean agricultural production has sparked economic pain in the region, but it has also generated innovation in the form of new confectionary and sweet baked products, available for export.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THINK of Latin American mines, and political and industrial
relations instability springs to mind. Pictures of poncho’d Bolivian Amerindians demonstrating against poor conditions,
hurling rocks at robocops armed to the teeth….

The truth is that the mining industry often gets a bad rap in Latin America and, to be honest, it has often been run poorly, especially in environmental terms.…

BY JAMES FULLER, in Port of Spain

CRICKETERS and illegally-licensed drivers are two of the more unusual factors currently affecting the Caribbean paint market.

The impending Cricket World Cup, to be held in the West Indies during March and April 2007, has spawned a flurry of construction activity with resultant benefits for the paint industry.…

BY WESLEY GIBBINGS, in Port of Spain

TIME-WAS that food production in the Caribbean was dominated by commodities, with sugar and bananas being king and queen of island economies. Protected from the rigours of world markets by age-old ties to current or former colonial markets, these cash crop supplies remained largely unchanged for centuries.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

IRAN’S US$1 billion paint sector is going through a boom period: it is expected to grow by up to 20% this year on the back of strong decorative paint growth, an expanding automotive sector, and surging demand for specialised paints in the shipping and energy sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) VAT laws can be mightily complex, and offer plenty of opportunities for fraudsters revelling in regulations lacking in clarity and simplicity. Add high technology to the mix and carousel fraud was born. It’s a problem that has sparked tough police action and regulatory reform.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is moving towards supporting environment-friendly road transport, rather than dedicating resources to promoting public transport, a European Parliament debate organised by the Automobile and Society Forum, has heard. The European Commission is currently reviewing its 2001 transport white paper and its working papers have noted "disappointment" over the results of the EU’s pro-public transport policies.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

By many measures, the Dutch are the world leaders in paint and coatings which is not quite the same as saying they’re the largest suppliers or that Dutch paints are the best known though they do come at or near the top in both categories.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The European Investment Bank is to make loans of Euro 200 million each to two Belgian water companies: Aquafin, which manages wastewater treatment in Dutch-speaking Flanders, and SPGE (Société Publique de Gestion de l’Eau) which has similar responsibilities in French-speaking Wallonia.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The Dutch are Europe’s top recyclers of household rubbish, recycling 65% of their total waste according to a new study by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR). Next come the Austrians at 59% and the Germans at 58% says the report though it notes that in parts of Germany some local areas charge per kilo of waste not recycled and the regional collection of recyclable materials goes up to more than 65 per cent.…

BY MARK ROWE

IN the years that followed the turn of the century, the Ukrainian economy was an optimistic place. Even two years ago there was a political certainty that encouraged investment from abroad and galvanised domestic paint companies to venture their capital on medium-term plans and encouraged the wave of acquisitions that snapped up several of Ukraine’s brand-name paint groups.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INTERNATIONAL cartel, inflating bitumen prices for road projects in the Netherlands, has been punished and broken by the European Commission. It fined 14 companies Euro 266,717 – among them British bitumen suppliers BP and Shell- for participating in a cartel setting the price of this crucial construction material.…