Search Results for: Italian

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
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has approved the proposed directive limiting emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic solvents in paints, varnishes and vehicle-refinishing products, accepting changes made by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers in January. Because the parliament refrained from any further amendments in this second reading of the legislation, it will now be rubber stamped by ministers and become EU law.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MONACO is all about money. A glamorous speck of high-rises looming above the French Riviera, it is famous for wealthy glamour, tax exiles, racing-cars and gambling. Given this cocktail, it is hardly surprising that this, Europe’s second smallest country by geography, has attracted allegations that it has been the site of money laundering.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A REPORT on a new BSE strain that has been discovered in Italy has suggested that it may cause a form of the related human disease CJD that has hitherto been considered to occur spontaneously. Its authors, coordinated by Italy’s National Academy of Sciences, have announced that the unusual BSE variant resembles this ‘sporadic CJD’ disease, rather than vCJD, already known to be caused by eating infected beef.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
ABUSE of drugs and alcohol in the workplace may be a growing concern in European Union (EU) countries but there seems little evidence that the relevant authorities are unduly alarmed by it. An informal survey by Occupational Health of organisations and government departments suggests that little attempt has been made so far to assess the scale of the problem, still less to devise legislation aimed at workers, as distinct from society in general.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
AN INDIAN-Italian sole-making joint venture is doubling its production. Suolificio Chennai (Madras), linking India’s Forward Shoes with Italy’s sole maker Suolificio Malaspina, was set up in 2001 to produce 500,000 pairs of soles; it doubled its capacity last year and plans to do so again this year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A ROW amongst European parliamentarians over which committee should review the controversial REACH system could delay consideration of the chemical control proposal until a new parliament is elected in June. Left wing MEPs want REACH examined by the environment committee, which might well table amendments to beef up REACH’s controls.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THERE is a two-word prefix that seems to be coming out of every American food manufacturer’s new-product department: Low-Carb.

The US is fighting an obesity problem. A staggering (in some cases – literally) 64 per cent of the population is overweight and the number of people carrying more than 100 pounds over their ideal weight has quadrupled in the last 20 years to one in every hundred.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A ROW amongst European parliamentarians over which committee should review the controversial REACH system could delay consideration of the chemical control proposal until a new parliament is elected in June. Left wing MEPs are keen for the proposal to be examined by the environment committee, which would be able to exploit its responsibility to table amendments to beef up REACH’s controls.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SPECIALISTS from the Office International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation are investigating outbreaks of “atypical” BSE strains in Italy and Japan, to confirm whether they are new strains of the disease. An ad hoc group of experts from the UK, Switzerland, Italy and Japan has been convened at the OIE’s Paris headquarters to review new test data.…