Search Results for: International business

BY ALAN OSBORN
THEY’RE not to everybody’s taste, we quite agree, but there’s no doubt that flavoured cigars have a very devoted band of followers and can no longer be dismissed as a passing fancy. Indeed after speaking to a number of the big players it is easy to gain the impression that the flavoured, (or aromatic), segment has (along perhaps with filters) been the only one to buck the cigar sector’s trend of falling or stagnant sales in recent years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ITALIAN law protecting large businesses in financial difficulties from closure has been deemed illegal under European Union (EU) state aid rules, with the European Commission ordering the repayment of any government grants authorised under its terms. The ruling could expose insurance companies to significant commercial risk, given that the law – “urgent measures in favour of employment” – applies to companies with more than 1,000 employees under a specific Italian insolvency proceeding (amministrazione straordinaria).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ADVOCATE General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has recommended that bans imposed by France on the broadcast of alcoholic drinks advertising, especially those on hoardings at foreign international sports events, are legal under European law.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
INTERNATIONAL Paper Co. made a profit in the fourth quarter of last year, despite lagging demand for paper and packaging products in 2003. The Connecticut, USA-based company posted a profit of US$48 million, compared with a loss of US$130 million the same time in 2002.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) is considering plans to lend Belgian steel producer Arcelor Euro 125 million, to invest in a new stainless steel meltshop in Charleroi, including an electric furnace, an argon oxygen decarbonisation converter and a continuous slab casting installation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE RISK of millions of tonnes of uranium mining waste being swept by a landslide into a populous central Asian river basin has prompted the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to redouble its efforts to prevent such a tragedy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FIFTY years after the turn of the tide in the Second World War, the European Parliament is calling for the creation of a comprehensive international legal system to identify the whereabouts of artworks looted by the Nazis, fairly settling ownership and compensation claims.…

BY MARK ROWE
RUSSIAN smokers have undergone a quantum leap in the past 10 years. From smoking the notorious unfiltered Soviet-era papirossi, they now have a wide choice of international brands, for whom this liberalisation has been commercially significant. Russia remains one of the more appealing markets for tobacco companies, with fewer barriers and, for the time being, a fairly laissez faire approach to advertising, as well as a burgeoning middle class with the disposable incomes to afford premium cigarettes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has called on its developed country governments to do more to encourage broadband rollout, saying particular emphasis was needed on expanding services to remote and rural areas. Its detailed report said government’s needed to encourage as many technical means as possible to achieve this end, treating different technologies neutrally.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CONCERNS about biocontamination of food processing and other industries, have sparked the development of an International Organisation for Standardisation (IOS) management blueprint on checks and reforms. *ISO 14698-1:2003 and ISO 14698-2:2003 – contact sales@iso.org…