Search Results for: Italian

When France’s fast-food chain O’Tacos (www.o-tacos.fr) announced in 2020 that it would be selling in Italy its halal-certified French-style meat and vegetable wraps, Italian Muslims took this as a sign that halal was going mainstream in their country. O’Tacos’ first Italian outpost will open in January 2022 in Rome (delayed by Covid-19) and more openings in 2022 are planned in major Italian cities, including Milan and Bologna, said Yassin Baradai, founder of Milan-based Meem Communication (https://meemcommunication.com/…

European Union (EU) law enforcement, perhaps emboldened by the launch of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), has launched a series of cases and inquiries, including against high-ranking politicians accused of corruption. For example, Gabrijela Žalac, Croatia’s regional development and EU funds minister from 2016-9, and three accomplices, have been arrested, on EPPO orders, for alleged fraud regarding the purchase by her ministry of deliberately overpriced software for a public company.…

In 2019, before Covid-19 knocked the industry off a seemingly unstoppable growth trajectory, 95 billion gallons of fuel was burned by commercial airlines worldwide said statistical service Statista.

Speaking to Petroleum Review, International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) deputy director for environmental protection Jane Hupe said analysis undertaken by the UN agency found “that, by 2050, it would be physically possible to meet 100 percent of international aviation jet fuel demand with sustainable aviation fuels, corresponding to a 63 percent reduction in emissions.”…

Britain’s open register of beneficial ownership was groundbreaking worldwide but its effectiveness as a bulwark against money laundering is being debated, even as both the European Union (EU) and the US move ahead at varying pace to replicate the system. The question of whether BO registers should be open or closed is one that is being discussed in countries around the world.…

Global supply chain delivery delays and price tensions continue to disrupt Italy’s otherwise robust food can production sector. With profit margins squeezed, food canners expect prices to rise across the board for these long shelf-life food staples

According to Italian can manufacturing industry association ANFIMA’s most recent data, Italy produced 698,523 tonnes of rigid metal packaging (tinplate and steel) and 24,745 tonnes of aluminium packaging in 2020, up 3.6% and 7% from the same period the previous year, respectively.…

Somalia universities are developing innovative ways to attract and retain women in their higher education sector either as students, administrators or as part of the teaching staff. In this way, higher education institutions in this country that is still recovering from civil strife and armed unrest, are seeking to undermine the lack of positive policies and ongoing discrimination preventing women undertaking higher learning and gaining academic jobs in Somalia.…

With its complex supply and distribution chain, the international knitwear sector fosters innovation, with commercial partners cross-fertilising technical and design ideas that span digitisation and mechanical smarts, as well as consumer-focused creativity.

One key area of innovation in the past year has been warp knitting – for instance by leading northern Italian warp seamless knitwear manufacturer Cifra (1), which last December (2020) launched an innovative and sustainable garment concept for women, spanning beachwear, athleisure bodywear and lingerie.…

Aviation has always been regarded as a tougher sector to convert to low carbon fuels than road transport, because of the high intensity burn required to power planes – which traditionally been supplied by fossil-based kerosene. And a lot is burned.…

The Moroccan garment manufacturing industry is targeting market diversification in the UK as one way of recovering from Covid-19.

Clothing makers in thus key European near-sourcing hub are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic, with general secretary of the Moroccan Textile and Garment Industry (AMITH) Fatima-Zora Alaoui highlighting to Just Style the postponement of its production showcase Maroc in Mode, which had been scheduled for October, until March 2022.…

With electronic communication methods proliferating, as machine learning and artificial intelligence systems develop fast, the potential for using technology to detect deception and lies is growing. But interrogation experts maintain that the most effective way of detecting lies and deceit remains a combination of face-to-face interviews, backed up with analysis that can help them assess the resulting exchange.…

The question of when and whether lobbying is ethically questionable or even a criminal bribe is a complex issue, with rules varying according to jurisdictions. Often, actions that are politically embarrassing, are definitely not bribes, or indeed unlawful in anyway. For example, on September 15, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney survived a no-confidence vote in the Dáil Éireann over his handling of the appointment of former minister for children Katherine Zappone as his country’s ‘Special Envoy to the UN on Freedom of Opinion and Expression’.…

With electronic communication methods proliferating, as machine learning and artificial intelligence systems develop fast, the potential for using technology to detect deception and lies is growing. But interrogation experts maintain that the most effective way of detecting lies and deceit remains a combination of face-to-face interviews, backed up with analysis that can help them assess the resulting exchange.…

The question of when and whether lobbying is ethically questionable or even a criminal bribe is a complex issue, with rules varying according to jurisdictions. Often, actions that are politically embarrassing, are definitely not bribes, or indeed unlawful in anyway. For example, on September 15, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney survived a no-confidence vote in the Dáil Éireann over his handling of the appointment of former minister for children Katherine Zappone as his country’s ‘Special Envoy to the UN on Freedom of Opinion and Expression’.…

The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has published a blueprint for how upcoming international sustainability reporting standards can be implemented within national and regional jurisdictions. IFAC foresees a different approach for a first block of rules – on investor-focused sustainability information – than for policy-focused sustainability reporting (a second projected block).…

Last July (2020), Infracapital, the infrastructure team at UK-based investment managers M&G plc, invested EUR 110 million (USD130 million) in EnergyNest, a small Norwegian company that has developed a novel thermal battery technology. Its ThermalBattery (a trademark) batteries, consisting of a concrete-like storage material made from abundant, recyclable and non-hazardous geomaterials, store excess industrial heat until needed, enabling the transfer of industrial waste heat into electricity and renewable power in industrial heat processes.…

INTRODUCTION

In a global textile and clothing market that is increasingly integrating design with functionality, the potential of luminescent yarns is becoming ever more apparent. The focus of groundbreaking research and development, there is widening diversity in this segment from luminescent coatings on yarns to those that integrate LEDs (light-emitting diodes).…

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.…

Turkey is struggling to recover its position as an important supplier of high-end and luxury fabrics, recouping sales lost on cost to Chinese rivals. The industry retains great potential strength, being the world’s fifth largest supplier of textiles selling USD12 billion exported annually, according to Istanbul Textile and Raw Materials Exporters Association (İTHİB – İstanbul Tekstil ve Hammaddeleri İhracatcilari Birlig).…

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.…

INTRODUCTION

ROBOTICS are not new to the textile and clothing sector, and have driven productivity improvements for more than a decade. But these technologies are becoming increasingly more adaptable and more autonomous, offering the many stages in the textile and clothing and distribution chain the potential to increase margin.…

INTRODUCTION

The textile industry is one of the world’s oldest manufacturing sector, yet it is also one of the most dynamic, constantly reinventing itself. Today, the development of micro-factories might herald root-and-branch change in how the textile and clothing industry operates, a transformation driven by advances in digital textile printing.…

ITALY’S postal police suspect that the owner and manager of now bankrupt Italian cryptocurrency exchange BitGrail may have been involved in one of the country’s biggest cryptocurrency hacks resulting in approximately EUR120 million in losses. Public prosecutors in Florence are expected to bring the accused (formally named by his initials FF in these proceedings, under Italian privacy laws) before a criminal court over his alleged involvement in the scam, which defrauded over 230,000 users worldwide. …

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.…

While the antibacterial properties of textiles have been a trend in the fashion sector for some time, particularly for athleisure clothing integrating odour-limiting properties, Covid-19 has prompted many textile and fashion companies to conduct research and development into fabrics and clothing killing or harming viruses. …

CUSTOMS forces can benefit from new sensor kit, enabling them to scan containers to ensure contents are as declared on docket – but to use these techniques to fight trade-based money laundering, they need to be integrated with accurate financial intelligence.…

COVID-19 has unleashed a significant boom in demand for apparel and other wearables that are anti-viral, cleansing consumers’ bodies of viruses, as well as bacteria.

Companies making fibres and yarns have been quick to tout anti-viral technologies. Examples include HeiQ Materials AG – a Switzerland based textile innovation specialist, which has been selling a new anti-virus textile treatment HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, added to textile products during final processing and utilising anti-microbial silver, whose charge attracts viruses to spherical liposomes which deplete the virus membrane of cholesterol, allowing the silver to kill them.…

INTRODUCTION

NEW technology can deliver effective maintenance strategies to clothing and textile manufacturers, helping them go beyond reactive and proactive maintenance, moving into the more sophisticated world of prediction. The goal is to deliver an optimum maintenance strategy that enables manufacturers to get the most value out of their plant and equipment by spending the least amount of time, resources and money to deliver effective performance.…

THE EUROPEAN Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has warned that 3% of registrations of chemicals made under its REACH system have been lost through Brexit, with 2,900 UK registrations now void. This means their company registrants can no longer sell these chemicals on the EU market.…

Already described by its proponents as a “wonder material” with numerous applications across the nonwovens sector, researchers now believe that graphene can play a “critical” role in the defeat of the coronavirus pandemic.

From advanced personal protection equipment (PPE) to air and water filtration systems, nonwovens manufacturers around the world have capitalised on this carbon-based material’s anti-viral capabilities to boost their product ranges.…

COVID-19 has unleashed a significant boom in demand for apparel and other wearables that are anti-viral, cleansing consumers’ bodies of viruses, as well as bacteria.

Companies making fibres and yarns have been quick to tout anti-viral technologies. Examples include HeiQ Materials AG – a Switzerland based textile innovation specialist, which has been selling a new anti-virus textile treatment HeiQ Viroblock NPJ03, added to textile products during final processing and utilising anti-microbial silver, whose charge attracts viruses to spherical liposomes which deplete the virus membrane of cholesterol, allowing the silver to kill them.…

In India, the increased demand for branded food products and workplace restrictions on industrial labour caused by Covid-19 has inspired automation among food manufacturers. This investment is expected to standardise and increase the quality of products well into the future, well beyond the end of the pandemic.…

ITALIAN chemical manufacturers Far Polymers Srl, Gamma Chimica SpA, Carbochem Srl and Jeniuschem Srl have asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to scrap anti-dumping duties imposed last September (2020) by the European Commission on imports from China of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).…

The size of India’s biscuit and cookie market, valued at USD4.7 billion in 2019 by GlobalData, registered a sudden expansion during the Covid-19 related lockdown, due to a sharp increase in at-home consumption. The industry is growing at a rate of 9.7% annually, according to figures released by GlobalData, with sales moving towards healthier premium categories, such as low sugar digestive biscuits.…

The size of India’s biscuit and cookie market, valued at USD4.7 billion in 2019 by GlobalData, registered a sudden expansion during the Covid-19 related lockdown, due to a sharp increase in at-home consumption. The industry is growing at a rate of 9.7% annually, according to figures released by GlobalData, with sales moving towards healthier premium categories, such as low sugar digestive biscuits.…

IMPORTANT building blocks of anti-fraud regulatory and law enforcement policies and programmes for the European Union (EU) have been introduced in the past two months, as the EU continues to grapple with endemically high levels of financial crime and corruption.…

The international gold trade is worth over USD6 trillion a year, according to the World Gold Council (WGC), but oversight of the supply chain is considered weak by many critics, relying on self-regulation, making it vulnerable to money laundering.

Gold remains scarce and hence valuable: from antiquity until 2019, just 197,576 tonnes has been mined – equivalent to a 21.7 metre cube, according to the World Gold Council.…

Traditionally a society of meat lovers, Russians are now developing a taste for vegetable and cereal-based products that reflect the taste and texture of meat – food manufacturers are eager to cater to this trend.

International companies have been entering this segment in Russia, while ambitious local startups are rapidly expanding their production capacities.…

Hit heavily by Covid-19 and short of governmental help, Romania’s clothing manufacturers are pessimistic about their prospects. Romania’s textile and clothing brands fear it might take a long time to recover from the pandemic, after eight months of restricted business, and falling incomes.…

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 Federation of Accountants (IFAC) has released a white paper saying that the accounting profession needs to learn from the challenges of Covid-19, investing in boosting communication skills. This will enable accountants to be more effective pro-active trusted partners with their clients, able to adapt to flexible and remote working even after the pandemic subsides.…

COVID-19 and the expansion of home-based working it has forged has posed significant challenges to AML/CFT training and mentoring. As a result, vendors, AML bodies and experts have been developing new services and strategies to ensure that AML officers keep their skills honed during the pandemic.…

THE FOOD industry is one sector that has performed well during the Covid-19 crisis, but like others, it has become more vulnerable to crime during the pandemic. Brenda Dionisi and Keith Nuthall examine these commercial crime trends in Italy.

THE REPUTATION of Italy contains many remarkable feats – and amazing food is one of them.…

The South African digital printing sector has struggled over the past few years to compete with the lower prices of textile manufacturers from Asia, while the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the sector hard. But for the companies that have survived the disruption, business is getting back to normal, with the post-Covid 19 localisation trend of shorter supply chains giving orders a boost.…

The Covid-19 crisis has had many negative impacts, and one has been the undermining of legitimate businesses. In countries with strong organised crime traditions, this has meant more opportunities for money launderers to subvert hard-pressed entrepreneurs or take them over, to use their businesses as fronts for cleaning criminal proceeds.  …

From sustainability to flammability, anti-viral protection to anti-corrosion, the potential applications of nanocoatings in the aerospace industry are “nearly endless,” say researchers who have noticed a sharp uptick in their use. This is particularly in relation to space missions and technologies.…

Switzerland may be a small country of 8.5 million people, with an area of 41,285 km², 60% of which is mountainous, but its paint and varnish industry is substantial and growing, despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, it helps that Switzerland is rich.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) continues to struggle to clamp down on fraud within its revenue collection and spending programmes – making progress, but with major scams still emerging within the EU’s complex international decision-making systems.

In its latest annual ‘fight against fraud’ report (1) (2), covering 2019, the European Commission reports that 939 discovered irregularities were reported as fraudulent (8% of the number), involving EUR461.4 million in lost money (28% of that affected by irregularities).…

A LEGAL challenge has been made at the European Court or Justice (ECJ) to a new European Union (EU) regulation that orders sellers of paints and coatings containing titanium dioxide (TO2) – an important whitener –  to include health warning messages on packages.…

Malaysia’s 1MDB scandal is one of the largest ever embezzlement and money laundering cases, with Malaysian courts considering how at least USD4.5 billion was stolen and then spent or laundered from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). Former Prime Minister Najib Razak has now been convicted of charges associated with the scandal.…

ITALY’s paint industry is hopeful that the end of the country’s Covid-19 lockdown will herald a surge in business, interrupted by the pandemic. Gianni Martinetti, president of the Paints and Varnishes Group of AVISA, the adhesives and sealants, paints and varnishes and inks division of national chemicals industry association, Federchimica said: “The hope is that, after two very hard months of lockdown, we can start again with the same liveliness that was found in the first quarter of 2020.”…

A MAJOR expansion in collecting sales information within the digital economy across the European Union (EU) and beyond has been proposed by the European Commission, to crack down on widescale tax evasion.

The EU executive has proposed reforms to an EU directive on administrative cooperation between tax authorities (see https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/sites/taxation/files/2020_tax_package_dac7_en.pdf)…

An Egyptian state-owned holding group is to build the world’s largest spinning factory, set to open in 2022, a key part of the country’s drive to modernise its textile and garment industry.

“It will have 182,000 spindles under one roof. Daily capacity will be 30 tonnes of fine yarn from Egyptian cotton, with average thread count 116 and a maximum count of 200,” Dr Ahmed Mostafa, chairman of the Holding Company for Cotton, Spinning, Weaving and Garments, told just-style.…

While Argentina’s textile industry is poised for growth over the next few years, the expansion of its use of digital printing will probably lag as companies recover from a deep recession in 2020 caused by Covid-19 and underlying economic weakness, executives said. …

TEXTILE and fibre innovators worldwide are seeking to tap growing demand for antimicrobial, virus and bacteria killing fibres and fabrics generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, encouraging clothing and fabric-makers to develop groundbreaking new technology.

Indeed, for companies such as HeiQ Materials AG – a Switzerland based textile innovation specialist – the pandemic has “opened a whole new chapter for the development of antimicrobial surfaces and textiles”, its co-founder and CEO Carlo Centonze told just-style.…

THE COVID-19 pandemic will not just threaten business failure for many clothing brands and manufacturers, it may herald the end of the current high production, fast fashion model and result in fewer, smaller collections from more sustainable supply chains, experts have told just-style.…

INTRODUCTION – SERIES

A series of reports from WTiN is exploring the need for the textile and clothing sector to protect itself against attacks from cybercriminals as it invests in new transformative Industry 4.0 technologies – extended reality, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things.…

The suspension for alleged corruption by senior officials at a financial intelligence unit (FIU), the cornerstone of any jurisdiction’s AML work, would be shocking. But if those suspensions were at the FIU of the world’s only purely theocratic state, such reports would sound like the work of thriller fiction.…

The president of Italian food industry association Federalimentare has told of his concern about the medium- to long-term effects of the drop in demand for Made in Italy foods caused by Covid-19 epidemic affecting the country.

Ivano Vacondio said that the current spike in domestic food demand is “atypical and fleeting”, noting that hoarding by Italian consumers has, until now, camouflaged problems that will soon emerge, he said in statements sent to just-food.…

Italy’s textile sector is running at reduced capacity due to the tougher health protocols that have been put in place to protect workers from Covid-19 contamination, the president of Confindustria Toscana Nord, Andrea Cavicchi, told WTiN.com.

All textiles mills in manufacturing centre Prato were operational following the March 12 decree, which shuttered until March 25 much commercial activity across the country, including clothing stores, allowing manufacturing activities to continue only if companies respected stricter health protocols aimed at mitigating the spread of the infectious disease.…

WHILE clothing manufacturers within Italy have not been told to close outright in the country’s bid to fight the Covid-19 virus, many have been subject to major disruption during this health emergency. A drop in demand for clothing and textiles in China and the cancellation of fairs and missions both abroad and in Italy have hit brands hard, with events being called off and many catwalk shows at Milan Fashion Week (18-24 Feb 2020) having taken place behind closed doors as the virus outbreak gathered strength.…

The vice president of the Tunisian Textile and Garment Federation (FTTH) has warned that this important north African outsourcing hub faces harmful disruption from the Covid-19 crisis, despite the proactivity of the Tunisian government. It and the Central Bank of Tunisia have announced emergency measures to support businesses, such as cutting interest rates, delaying the date of tax payments and supporting banks who lend with delayed repayments.…

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.…

GEOGRAPHICAL indications can be controversial legal protections that some food manufacturers regard as being unjust restrictions on trade in quality food items that are inspired by traditional products.

Of course, for companies based in traditional production regions of goods such as Prosciutto ham and Irish whisky, they can be a Godsend – preventing illicit competition (as they see it) from banking on a reputation for taste that has been created by protected manufacturers in previous decades, even centuries.…

The can making and filling sectors have become beneficiaries – at least in the short term – of consumers turning their kitchen cupboards into pandemic pantries, stockpiling canned food and other long-lasting products because they fear of food shortages because of Covid-19.…

WORRIES about the future of manufacturing in Europe are certainly not being applied to the continent’s nonwovens industry, which has been growing steadily in recent years. Indeed, last year, the overall production of nonwovens in Europe in 2018 grew by around 1.3% year-on-year to reach 2.76 million tonnes, (the most recent Europe wide figures released by industry association EDANA).…

THE ITALIAN food sector is at risk of major disruption from the outbreak of coronavirus in the north of the country, national food producer association Coldiretti has warned, since quarantined zones created by the Italian government affect 11 municipalities located in the Po Valley, an area which extends from in the Lombardy to Veneto region and which represents more than one third of Italy’s agri-food sector including supply chains of top selling foods like Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano.…

Supermarkets in Italy will stay open through the Covid-19 crisis, guaranteeing sales for Italy’s retail food brands, the Italian government has confirmed. This is despite tough new prevention measures imposed across the country on March 11, to slow the virus’ spread – these may actually increase food retail sales as from March 12, all commercial activities across Italy were closed until March 25, including bars and restaurants, with only food delivery to homes allowed as regards food service.…

In a market long dominated by well-established players, the success of ‘masstige’ beauty brands, which combine elements of mass and luxury products, is creating fierce competition in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Consumers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman looking for skincare and cosmetics are increasingly shopping from South Korean brands such as Etude House, which opened a branch in Dubai Mall in 2018 and is known for its quirky kitsch products, and The Face Shop, which arrived in Dubai in 2008 and recently renovated its four concept stores in the city.…

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.…

WHISTLEBLOWER laws may not be new, but they are becoming stronger and being implemented in an increasing number of jurisdictions worldwide – with progress being notable in Europe. The European Union (EU) has ensured in a new directive, approved last October (2019), that all 28 member states within the union last year – ahead of Britain’s January 31 exit from the EU – acquire whistleblowing laws with teeth through a new directive approved by EU ministers last October (2019).…

Millions of documents leaked from UK-based corporate services firm, Formations House, have revealed the ultimate beneficial owners of some 400,000 secret offshore companies as well as the alleged criminal activities of some. The firm operates from a front office located at 29 Harley Street, in central London, with back office support reportedly coming from Pakistan.…

ITALY’S cosmetic and personal care product market remained strong through 2019, with major players in the industry focused on strengthening digital retail and production strategies to further connect with consumers, while deepening their presence in foreign markets, particularly in Asia. 

The year 2019 was also dynamic in terms of acquisitions, with a handful of Italian BPC (beauty and personal care) companies buying businesses that specialise in new and different products to extend their reach in new product categories, both domestically and abroad.…

BEAUTY consumers worldwide are demanding more transparency in manufacturing processes and ingredients, less environmental impact, and simple and clean ingredients. So goes the product, so goes the packaging. The beauty industry is responding with brand packaging and labelling that transmits a marketing message that the beauty product inside may be healthy and full of goodness.…

The US-China trade war that has been hindering commerce since 2018 has hit the Chinese clothing and textile export sector severely, but companies that have invested in manufacturing sites outside China have been better protected, Esquel CEO John Cheh has told just-style.…

Time was that the Gulf was a hotspot for paint and coatings sales and production, with frothy demand fuelled by major building projects – most met by locally manufactured product. But today, demand for paint in the Gulf countries is sluggish due to low oil prices, depressing overall economies and a drop in the number of infrastructure and real estate projects under construction.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) knitwear sector will be pushed to improve its sustainability within 100 days of a new European Commission taking office, expected to happen on December 1. That is the deadline that a new Commission executive vice-president Frans Timmermans must meet to propose a ‘green deal’ package of reforms, that will include new commitments for EU industries to reduce waste and pollution.…

African garment and textile manufacturers are trying to create more synergy to better integrate the supply chain within the continent, but North African producers still dominate, and are expanding capacity, particularly in Egypt, say participants at a major regional industry meeting.…

African manufacturers are trying to integrate sustainability in their textile and fashion supply chains as retailers demand compliance with increasingly high standards fuelled by consumer pressure. But to do so, manufacturers are asking for assistance from international organisations to implement change.…

A free trade deal between Europe and Australia is in the making but European Union (EU) trade negotiators have managed to generate some serious concerns among Australian dairy industry in the process. The EU wants Australia to recognise the exclusive rights of EU cheesemakers to the traditional names of almost 60 different types of cheeses through Australia recognising EU geographical indications (GI) within any agreement.…

RETALIATORY duties imposed by the USA in a trade dispute with the European Union (EU) over aeroplane subsidies will, argues Italian farmers union, Coldiretti, shrink Italian food exports to the US by 20%, with the Italian speciality cheese sector being the hardest hit.…

Digital textile printing is growing in Egypt with companies acquiring new machines and a major new player entering the market to take advantage of low labour costs and the country’s geographical proximity to buyers in Africa and Europe. Domestic demand for digitally printed textile products, however, has been sluggish, while exporters are struggling to remain price competitive compared to Chinese competitors.…

The new so-called European Union (EU) sixth anti-money laundering directive that harmonises penalties for money laundering across the bloc is a key back up to the EU’s existing AML legislation. While dubbed the sixth anti-money laundering directive (6AMLD), Directive (EU) 2018/1673 on combating money laundering by criminal law (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2018/1673/oj…

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.…

The Italian National Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC – Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione) has finally issued a fine for retaliatory measures against a whistleblower, nearly 10 months after Italy’s whistleblower protection legislation took effect on December 29, 2018. The 2017 law (179/2017) protects public employees reporting illegal conduct in a public or government administrative body by outlawing retaliation including sanctions, dismissal, demotion, transfers to other offices, or any other measures having a negative effect on their working conditions. …

THE NEW European Commission, which is now expected to assume office on December 1, is expected to push the further harmonisation of European Union (EU) food labelling rules regarding nutrition. Incoming EU health commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, of Cyprus, said she wanted to see the Commission act against pack claims declaring that products were healthy when they contained “a high level of sugar, fat or salt”.…

RUSSIA’S dairy industry has been trying to develop its size and sales while its government’s restrictions on European Union (EU) dairy imports remain, but there are questions about how well producers would cope with imports once these sanctions are, eventually, lifted.…

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.…

COSMETICS companies serving the south Asia market may grumble that they are facing challenges, but the reality is the region’s emerging markets offer growth rates that can only be dreamt of in richer countries.

India’s beauty and personal care product market is a case in point.…

INTELLIGENT materials make for packaging with better functionality and security, and innovative producers worldwide are developing better protection for personal care products.

Market researcher Smithers Pira, in a January 2018 report The Future of Active & Intelligent Packaging to 2023, notes potential uses for cosmetics manufacturers includes greater levels of engagement with customers, more personalised products and enhanced security and tracking features.…

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%).…

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.…

Japan is financing a United Nations (UN)-led project to bolster employment and garment design in the West Bank of Palestine. The project was officially launched this month (July), with Japan’s ministry of economy, trade and industry (METI) providing USD446,428 for the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to spend on promoting “employability for women and youth in the State of Palestine through supporting the garment and textile value chain”.…

INTERNATIONAL, regional and national regulators are cooperating more widely as they create strategies and operations to fight fraud that is often conducted on a trans-national basis.

For instance, European Union (EU) police agency Europol has worked with financial intelligence units (FIUs), such as the USA’s FinCEN, and FIU umbrella organisation the Egmont Group to raise concern about business email compromise fraud (BEC).…

BULGARIA’S plastics industry has been making the most of the growing demand for supplies from major western markets. The sector has been particularly buoyant over the past five years, with Bulgaria’s comparatively low costs and occasional regulatory light touch making its plastics companies competitive with competitors in western Europe.…

THE SOMALI National University (SNU) this week held its first graduation and convocation ceremony since the breakout 30 years ago of the civil war that has wracked the country.

This June 24 ceremony was attended by Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo, and the Italian deputy minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation Emanuela Del Re among other dignitaries was hailed as a symbol of progress in Somalia higher education sector.…

Industry forecasts for Italy’s paints and coatings market are expected to remain relatively stable through 2019, mainly sustained by stability in the domestic construction and automotive sectors and continuing sales growth in foreign markets. Data from market research provider Euromonitor International released last December (2018) projected production turnover in Italy to grow by 0.5% in the 2018-2019 period, with an estimated value of just over EUR6.1 billion in 2019.…

Just four months before Italy’s much-anticipated Formula One (F1) Grand Prix was set to roar through the Monza racetrack on September 6-8, (2019), a major arrest involving money laundering within FI was made in Dubai. Luigi Provini was handcuffed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) emirate and placed on a direct flight to Rome, for questioning by Italy’s Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza – GdF).…

BANGLADESH’S major textile and clothing manufacturers are pumping millions of dollars into digital printing, encouraged by the lure of better margins, cost savings and shorter lead times, industry watchers say.

With conventional textile printing losing its prominence, the country’s top textile producers have spent around USD30 million buying European and Asian digital printing machinery in the past three to four years, industry experts have told Digital Textile.…

MONGOLIA’S grassland ecology has always lent itself to livestock and hence milk production, so it is no surprise that the development of a dairy industry has been a priority for its government and international institutions.

A five-year loan worth USD12 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development via Mongolia’s XacBank announced in February (2019) is just one such related initiative.…

THE LONG lines of customer to the cash register in Inditex stores – the giant Spanish company behind High Street fashion brands Zara, Bershka and Pull&Bear (among others) – are also now buying personal care products as well as clothes. They funnel customers through shelves that are not only bursting with low-cost impulse buys, such as hair accessories, smart phone covers and key rings, but now also Inditex scents.…

Coated, laminated and padded textiles play key roles in a vast range of emerging products, with experts explaining at a Berlin conference how the technical textile sector has been continuously developing cutting edge technology to make such materials.

The International Conference on Textile Coating and Laminating (TCL2019), held in mid-March in Berlin, Germany, had a special focus on bedding developments.…

Gluten remains one of the most commonly reported allergens in European Union (EU), despite the existence of an EU regulation (EU) 828/2014) harmonising information provided to consumers on the absence or reduced presence of gluten in food.

While this might be expected to pressure manufacturers to provide low gluten or gluten free lines, the rules have proved burdensome and complex to implement, say industry experts – blunting the law’s impact.…

The Czech textile industry has a long traditional presence in the country, and local textile printing firms are steadily adopting digital technologies. One of the key players is OP Tiger, which significantly increased its output after it moved last September (2018) to a new facility in Hrbovice, near the town of Ústí nad Labem in North Bohemia.…

This year’s edition of Italy’s premier beauty trade fair, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna (March 15-18) and its packaging “show within the show” Cosmopack have showcased innovations that will help pull the global personal care product sector towards a more sustainable future.

The 52nd edition of the successful B2B platform drew over 265,000 cosmetic beauty professionals, boasting an increase in visitors from abroad by 10% compared to the previous year.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industry association CAOBISCO has raised concerns that EU exporters will be unable to exploit the reduction of Japanese tariffs under the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), in force since February 1. CAOBISCO is concerned about how the deal includes rules of origin forcing its members to demonstrate how they source specific volumes of ingredients from the EU, rather than their value, which would be easier to demonstrate.…

IN a world increasingly hungry for natural gas, recent foreign investment in liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects has raised the likelihood that the substantial gas reserves of some sub-Saharan African nations will make it into global markets in the decade ahead.…

The production line at UD Trucks headquarters in Ageo, just north of Tokyo, is – at first sight – much like any other auto-making plant but look closer and the company’s original and vibrant coatings system sets this company apart.…

Considerable investments continue to be made in Italy’s beauty and personal care market continue despite this being a stagnant market, according to sector-specific and general economic data and forecasts,

Despite this, global retailers in the beauty and personal care (BPC) industry continue to eye up what remains one of continental Europe’s largest domestic BPC markets, knowing that consumer demand remains solid, even if not growing.…

There are two displays in the Moscow office of the CFO of Volvo Car Russia, Vladimir Lagutin, that catches the attention, immediately: a large elegantly-framed poster of UK electronic music band Depeche Mode and a case of tennis balls.

“Those things – music and tennis – keep me from being stressed,” says Lagutin.…

The conventional arms trade has a reputation for using side payment sweeteners to secure multi-million dollar deals. But despite allegations of corruption in numerous jurisdictions, the legitimate arms trade is not on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) radar. Should it be?…

Representatives of the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers have struck a provisional deal over legislation insisting that the content of cadmium within phosphate fertilisers sold within the EU should be capped at 60 mg/kg.

Under the agreement, which will need to be confirmed by the full European Parliament and Council of Ministers, the limit would apply three years after the new rules enter into force.…

THE DRAFT Brexit agreement that has caused political controversy in the UK, but which the European Union (EU) insists is its final offer, would – if approved – see the immediate retention of much existing cooperation between Britain and the remaining EU.…

With traditional universities increasingly using web-based learning as a way of recruiting students world-wide, University World News spoke to the head of Italy’s top online university to see how it has developed a successful model for international higher learning

Enrollments for the 2018-2019 school year at the Rome-based International Telematic University, Uninettuno, have exceeded expectations, university rector Maria Amata Garito, shared with UWN: “I can confirm that enrolments have jumped quite a bit this year – up by circa 200% compared to last year,” said Garito.…

Egypt’s anti-money laundering AML regime is being undermined by the lack of an independent judiciary and the economically-active military increasingly above the law, despite reforms to the law governing an Administrative Control Authority charged with curbing corruption.

Another concern voiced by AML experts is the weakening of Central Bank of Egypt’ independence under the government of strongman President Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi, a former field marshal.…

The future holds bright promise for India’s instant noodles segment as it will grow at an average annual rate of about 7% until 2023, predicted consultancy firm Technopak.

This market is so big that all noodle companies can co-exist, Suman Dabas, Technopak’s associate director food and agriculture, told just-food.…

Egypt’s attempts to crack down on corruption, commercial crime and money laundering are real. But they are being undermined by low existing standards, government authoritarianism and blind-eyes turned to military wrong-doing, anti-crime experts argue. Paul Cochrane reports.

The Egyptian government talks a good game when it comes to fighting financial crime.…

The Indian beauty and personal care industry is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.6% until 2022, according to research conducted by market analysis company Euromonitor International, down from the 9.1% year-on-year growth to USD14 billion that the sector reported in 2017.…

THE SCALE of Italy’s paints and varnishes sector remained relatively unchanged through 2017, according to AVISA, a division of Federchimica, the national chemicals industry association. Werther Colonna, president of AVISA, told Polymers Paint Colour Journal (PPCJ) that the sector suffered a difficult year in 2017, marked by a succession of ups and downs, which translated into fluctuating monthly sales.…

A NEW EUR16 million research project – majority funded by the European Union’s (EU) Horizon 2020 programme – will scale up industrial production and consumption of sustainable aviation fuel, made from lipids such as used cooking oil. Researchers will also investigate Camelina a drought-resistant non-food crop grown on marginal Mediterranean agricultural land.…

MEMBERS of the European Parliament (MEPs) are risking conflicts of interest and potentially breaching their code of conduct by accepting extra paid work Transparency International EU revealed in a July 10 report. ‘Moonlighting in Brussels – side jobs and ethics concerns at the European Parliament’ showed 31% of the 751 MEPs declared sidelines, up to 104 earning above EUR100,000 over the past four years, and between nine and 30 earning more from the extra work than their EUR8,484 monthly salaries.…

AGREEMENT has been struck between the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers on criminalising money laundering across the EU through a new EU directive. Ministers and MEPs will now hold formal votes and debates on a common legal text with a view to securing formal approval for the legislation this year.…

VIRTUAL reality (VR) systems are increasingly available and useful for the civil aviation sector – with their training benefits a key focus of an International Air Transport Association (IATA) conference. Its first ever Aviation Virtual & Augmented Reality Summit (AVARS), in Geneva, June 5 and 6, (2018), showed how shocking viewers through VR can really make a difference – the death of a virtual passenger underlined the importance of such tech in safety training.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has launched a wide-range of initiatives to fight fraud, counterfeiting and corruption as it seeks to help law enforcers gain an advantage against cross-border crime.

A key element of this work is the so-called EU ‘security union’, about which proposals were tabled by the European Commission in April.…

Green and European Free Alliance (EFA) members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are calling on the Spanish government to block a requested extradition to Switzerland of a French-Italian whistleblower arrested in Spain on April 4.  Hervé Falciani revealed details of 100,000 accounts held by French nationals, including politicians and celebrities, to France’s then finance minister Christine Lagarde (now managing director of the International Monetary Fund – IMF) in 2006 and 2007 when working as a computer scientist at HSBC’s Swiss affiliate.…

THE ORGANISERS of Italy’s premier beauty trade fair, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, are claiming a record number of visitors and international buyers attending this year’s 51st edition of the event from March 15-19. Exceeding the 250,000 visitors from last year’s Cosmoprof, attending foreign buyers, distributors and retail representatives grew 11% in 2018, year-on-year.…

THE NONWOVEN adult incontinence market in Europe is offering hygiene product manufacturers and brands a chance to profit in a wider sanitary segment that has been and remains highly competitive.

Western Europe has a high per capita consumption in sanitary protection and a fiercely competitive retailing environment, according to Miles Agbanrin, an analyst for market researcher Euromonitor International.…

The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) conference in Washington DC, on April 25, has heard how the clothing sector needs to boost innovation to sharpen its competitive edge in commercially uncertain times.

Whether creating prototypes from designs within minutes through 3D printing, fabrics being dyed as completed pieces and introducing wearable technology throughout wardrobes, speakers stressed how new concepts could all become mainstream in the clothing industry’s future.…

THE DECISION of the European Commission not to propose a harmonised European Union (EU) approach for excise duty on e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products has been welcomed by the tobacco sector for avoiding punitive taxation on a nascent segment.

But should such rules ultimately be introduced the tobacco sector may not oppose them if they reflect the lower health risks involved in consuming such products by enabling lower excise duty bands.…

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.…

WITH boasts of being the strongest, thinnest, most flexible material that is also super-lightweight and an excellent thermal and electronic conductor, the ‘wonder material’ graphene is finding its properties a game changer in the sporting arena – including at last month’s Winter Olympics (February).…

CONSUMERS do not like sales tax, and they are particularly sensitive to tax-based price increases when new taxes are introduced. So, it is maybe no surprise that personal care product sales in the Middle East have been dampened by the introduction of value added tax (VAT) in both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in January 2018, inflating beauty product prices.…

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.…

High on the agenda of Dr Oetker India managing director and chief executive officer Oliver Mirza is making India a major production hub, not just for manufacturing packaged foods scoring sales in India’s growing markets, but also for exports.

In a wide-ranging interview with just-food on the sidelines of the India Food Forum, staged in Mumbai last month (January 17-19), Mirza said that by 2020, Dr Oetker India was targeting sales of Indian Rupees INR10 billion (USD155 million) of which its sub-brand FunFoods will account for INR5 billion (USD 77.50 million).…

MERGERS and acquisitions are always motors of change in the beauty and personal care product sector, and 2017 saw some significant shifts in the key Italian industry. Important acquisitions designed to extend product portfolios and boost market share included the move by Lombardy-based global leader in colour make-up and skincare Intercos to acquire leading contract manufacturer of skin-, hair- and body-care, Cosmint.  …

WITH natural beauty product sales increasing in many countries of the world, it is maybe not a surprise to hear that this is happening in Africa’s most sophisticated market – South Africa. Research indicates that the use by South African personal care product companies of phytochemicals, naturally occurring biologically active compounds in plants and algae, in formulations and plastic packaging, is on the rise.…

With its history of currency counterfeiting, drug trafficking, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and the laundering of related proceeds and payments, there is surely no state worldwide that has a worse money laundering track record than that of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK, North Korea).…

THE EUROPEAN metals industry has reacted positively to the European Parliament’s endorsement, on November 15 at a Strasbourg plenary meeting, of new European Union (EU) anti-dumping rules which are scheduled to come into force early next year.

However, sector representatives cautioned this week that while the proposals, first presented by the European Commission in November 2016, were stronger and clearer than past rules for erecting such protective duties, “the proof is in the pudding”.…

WHILE the Vatican City State and Holy See’s acceptance that their financial institutions could be exploited by money launderers is far more realistic than the denials of 10 years ago, a much-anticipated Italian court ruling has shown much work is needed to clear dirty money from these hallowed accounts.…

COMPANIES and citizens defrauding European Union (EU) revenue collection (including
customs duties and cross-border VAT fraud) and spending programmes, may from 2020 face
direct criminal proceedings brought by a European Public Prosecutor (EPPO). The EU
Council of Ministers has approved establishing this new institution in 20 of the 28 EU
member states – Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia,
Germany, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal,
Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.…

Ethiopia’s energy sector is undergoing a rapid transformation, becoming a trail blazer for renewables growth in Africa. Although still one of the continent’s poorest nations in Africa (gross national income per capita just USD660 in 2016, says the World Bank), its potential for green energy production is massive.…

AFTER introducing digital printing and leading Bangladesh’s knitwear sector by example, the country’s knitting major, the Knit Concern Group, has said it will ramp up its capacity to digitally print 1 million metres of fabric monthly by 2022. Presently, the knitter, based in Narayanganj, near Dhaka, can digitally print 260,000 metres of fabric a month.…

THE BRAZILIAN arm of Brussels-based speciality chemical firm Solvay says that it is prospering in Brazil though sales of biodegradable polyamide yarn Amni Soul Eco, reflecting the demand for bio-based materials and products in Latin America’s largest country.

Renato Boaventura, CEO of the Brazil Rhodia Solvay Group’s ‘fibras global business unit’ told WTiN.com…

ITALIAN companies must indicate the production site or packaging plant used for processed foods on the label, Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies announced last Friday (September 15).

“The Council of Ministers approved the draft decree this morning,” a press statement noted.…

British Prime Minister Theresa May is to ask the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate UK companies’ role in a USD2.9 billion Azerbaijan money laundering scandal, unveiled in a September 4 report from the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), based on data leaked to Danish newspaper ‘Berlingske’.…

DESPITE relatively stagnant year-end results in 2016 for the paints and coatings market in Italy, last year proved unexpectedly dynamic in terms of sales and acquisitions, with several companies in the sector moving to increase their market share in specific subsectors of the market.…

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 EUROPEAN Parliament must “urgently reform” its ethics system, according to anti-corruption organisation Transparency International, which claims MEPs including former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage, Italian Socialist Renato Soru and French Christian Democrat Michèle Alliot-Marie have not properly accounted for their earnings.…

THE GREEK government says that it and seven other European Union (EU) member states may launch legal action over the Chinese government’s refusal to ban China-registered trademarks of products falsely marketed as traditional EU-made foods.

A document released by Greece’s economy and development ministry has claimed that France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain have agreed to join forces to finance a case in the Chinese courts.…

RUSSIAN clothing and textile consumers are increasingly choosing to buy products with natural materials and brighter colours, grassroots retail managers in Moscow have told WTiN.com.

Speaking from the major wholesale and retail complex ‘Textile Profy Moscow’, which commands 120,000 square metres in selling areas, its managers said Russian consumers are increasingly eschewing subtle and muted colours.…

EASTERN and central European food consumers have often complained that international branded food tastes worse in their countries than in western Europe – even when comparing the same brands in similar packaging.

But the question is whether these grumbles are effectively urban myths – or if there is evidence suggesting that these differences are real.…

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. …

The European Union (EU) and China have struck a geographical indications deal involving both parties preventing the names of 100 traditional food and drink items from either jurisdiction being used by manufacturers not based in their historic production regions or following standardised production techniques.…

THE UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), scheduled April 1, 2019, will be a real challenge for the European cosmetics industry, John Chave, director-general for EU industry body Cosmetics Europe told Soap Perfumery & Cosmetics in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the key European Cosmetics Week 2017 event in Brussels.…

GLOBAL knitwear outsourcing centre Bangladesh is expected to soon ratify the emerging market D-8 PTA preferential trade agreement, newspaper reports in Dhaka say, indicating the government may have loosened demands over rules of origin. Bangladesh has been pushing for its manufacturers to gain privileged access to D-8 markets (Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Turkey, as well as Egypt if it also ultimately ratifies), if 30% of value in a product is created within Bangladesh.…

CORRUPTION issues continue to challenge the European Union (EU) as it seeks to renew its popularity amidst the start of the Brexit negotiations and the rule of a French President in Emmanuel Macron who says EU must reform, root-and-branch, or die.…

THE ASSESSMENT of whether boards are effective and if members need to be replaced is never an easy decision, and whether guidance on this process should be detailed or broader in scope can be a hotly debated subject. A taste of such discussions can be seen in the response of the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) to two closely-linked European Banking Authority (EBA) guidelines on board assessment and internal governance for financial institutions, that will take effect in the European Union in mid-2017.…

Italian state-controlled oil and gas producer ENI has cemented its role as a major gas player in Mozambique, after further defining in 2017 the scope of its Coral FLNG (floating liquified natural gas) project in this southern African country. However, doubts are emerging that ENI will actually deliver significant volumes of Mozambique’s huge gas reserves to Italy, and consequentially the rest of Europe, as an alternative and more secure source of natural gas.…

GLOBAL knitwear outsourcing centre Bangladesh is expected to soon ratify the emerging market D-8 PTA preferential trade agreement, newspaper reports in Dhaka say, indicating the government may have loosened demands over rules of origin. Bangladesh has been pushing for its manufacturers to gain privileged access to D-8 markets (Iran, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria and Turkey, as well as Egypt if it also ultimately ratifies), if 30% of value in a product is created within Bangladesh.…

Italy’s ministry of agriculture, food and forestry has confirmed to just-food that it has notified the European Commission of a national decree proposal that would make origin labelling mandatory for all foods containing durum wheat, including dry pasta. The measure would be applicable to foods sold in Italy only, with labels indicating where the wheat was cultivated and milled, protecting Italian wheat producers, with the idea being supported by Italy’s farmers’ association Coldiretti.…

Southern Italy’s Pastificio di Martino has added four new fresh pasta brands to its already extensive roster of dry pasta brands, following the acquisition of a majority 66.67% stake in Grandi Pasti Italiani. This company is the maker of the Italgnocchi, Bertarini, Pasta Di Casa Mia, Le Delizie del Pastaio brands, and is based in the central Italian region of Emilia-Romagna.…

RUSSIAN air traffic controllers in Smolensk have been blamed by Poland’s Deputy Prosecutor, Marek Pasionek, for the 2010 air crash in Russia that killed Poland’s president Lech Kaczynski and 95 other senior Polish politicians. Speaking at a press conference on April 3, Pasionek said that a detailed investigation had revealed “evidence that has allowed prosecutors to formulate new charges against air traffic controllers, citizens of the Russian Federation”.…

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.…

German carmaker Volkswagen and one of its brands Audi both have downplayed allegations from two European consumer organisations that they still are cheating on nitrogen oxides (NOx) tailpipe emissions. Italy’s Altroconsumo and sister organisation Belgium’s Test-Achats, on April 11 published the same tests results, which both Volkswagen and Audi have rejected, claiming the organisations should release more test data to prove their cases.…

The oil and gas industry is reshaping its strategies, practices and values as it responds to global agreements on climate change and sustainable development. The 2015 United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – which came into effect in January 2016 – are prominent among global governance challenges driving change in the oil and gas industry, but pressure just keeps building.…

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.…

Speaking to University World News, Mr Jimale recalled how he graduated from SNU faculty of veterinary in 1983, then becoming a lecturer in the same department, in the years before the 1991 collapse of the Somali government in the midst of civil war.…

THE EUROPEAN Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) is predicting that trade in clothing and textile products between Vietnam and the European Union (EU) will grow significantly once the free trade agreement struck between the two jurisdictions comes into force next year (2018).…

Professor Mohamed Ahmed Jimale, Rector of the Somali National University (SNU), hopes his work will enable poorer Somalis to attain the kind of education that launched him on his career.

Speaking to University World News, Mr Jimale recalled how he graduated from SNU faculty of veterinary in 1983, then becoming a lecturer in the same department, in the years before the 1991 collapse of the Somali government in the midst of civil war.…

Italy’s premier beauty trade fair celebrated half a century this year in Bologna with a host of special events that ranged from an opening cocktail party on the fair grounds to a special dance performance held in the Bologna city centre.…

DIGITAL printing is all about potential for production flexibility and creativity, and the technology can unleash new design, even in countries were higher tech manufacturing and finishing is rare – such as Russia.

Take Alexandra Kaloshina, the owner of the Moscow-based Solstudio Textile Design – she is pushing ahead with developing and printing innovative collections for a Russian market that is always hungry for new designs, and if they are locally-made – so much the better.…

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.…

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 Arabian peninsula oil-producing nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have long been considered a lucrative consumer market for international brands. Many businesses flourish in the region and the beauty and personal care product industries are no exception.

According to Euromonitor International, the retail value of the GCC region’s beauty and personal care market was USD9.3 billion in 2016 – member countries are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).…

Researchers believe designers will expand the use of graphene in textiles for bio-medical, sportswear, fashion, furnishings, military and security equipment.

Isolated by scientists from graphite in 2004, a layer of pure carbon, graphene is the thinnest known compound. It is just one atom thick (a million times thinner than a human hair), the strongest compound ever discovered (between 100-300 times stronger than steel), the lightest material (with one square metre weighing only 0.77 milligrams) and very flexible.…

THE PAKISTAN and Italian textile industry sectors have agreed three memoranda of understanding (MoU) designed to ramp up cooperation between their companies and sectoral associations.

The Italian textile machinery manufacturing association (L’Associazione Costruttori Italiani di Macchinario per Industria Tessile – ACIMIT) signed three separate MoUs with the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA), the Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PHMEA) and the Pakistan Readymade Garment Manufacturer and Exporters Association (PRGMEA).…

THE DIRECTOR-general of the European Union’s anti-fraud office – OLAF – has argued that the only way to stop counterfeit cigarettes and other goods entering Europe is to tackle the trade at source. Giovanni Kessler spoke out at a joint OLAF press conference with the Belgian Customs and Excise Administration in December to showcase how their cooperation had smashed a cigarette smuggling ring.…

THE OLIVE oil industry has traditionally been dominated by some key major European players, notably Spain, Italy and Greece, but with global consumption rising, production is emerging in countries which have previously relied on imports.

International Oil Council statistics show how new production centres are being created.…

India’s Patanjali Ayurved Ltd has rejected a December (2016) ruling against the booming packaged food company in a misbranding case as politically motivated and will appeal, the company’s managing director Acharya Balkrishna told just-food in an exclusive interview.

Mr Balkrishna, who also owns 94% of the company shares, criticised the judgement from the additional district magistrate in Patanjali Ayurved’s home city of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, who fined the company Indian Rupees INR1.1 million Rupees (USD16,100) for selling certain food products, including mustard oil, in 2012 with its own labels, as Patanjali products, even though they had been manufactured by another company.…

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.…

SMART e-textiles are set to revolutionise the industry in the coming years as the wonder material of the 21st century is introduced into an array of innovative applications.

Researchers believe designers will expand the use of graphene in textiles for bio-medical, sportswear, fashion, furnishings, military and security equipment.…

The Italian beauty and personal care industry has headed into 2017 with optimism, on the heels of a still slow yet solid recovery in the domestic market and the strengthening of its competitive edge in foreign markets. Although the most recent confirmed data goes back only to 2015, industry association Cosmetica Italia’s latest forecast for the sector, released in July 2016 and entitled, ‘Economic Forecasts, Trends and Investments in the Cosmetics Sector – July 2016’, gives a good idea on the 2016 year-end results we can expect from the Italian cosmetics industry.…

INTERNATIONAL Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo and its New York branch have been fined USD235 million for breaking New York state anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, including those based on the federal USA Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has also ordered that the bank continue a robust review of its AML procedures under an independent consultant.…

India’s domestic clothing industry has suffered a drastic slump in demand and production following the central government’s sudden decision to withdraw high denomination currency notes valuing 86% of total cash in the economy.

“For the first two weeks [following 8 November demonetisation announcement] there was almost a 50 percent crash in the retail sales,” Rahul Mehta, president of Clothing Manufacturing Association of India, in Mumbai, told just-style, “it has since recovered but is still down by 25 percent in smaller outlets.”…

Clothing brands and manufacturers wanting to maximise their financial performance are being offered an increasingly varied and sophisticated aware of software systems guiding their planning and operations.

US-based Centric Software Inc provided an update to its flagship PLM (product lifecycle management) solution in this summer, adding features to gain additional financial insight, perform deeper financial analyses and render information available offline, to further streamline planning, costing and quote management.…

Just this month, Italy’s Carabinieri police seized more than EUR30 billion in assets, including a regional amateur football club, belonging to clan members of one of Italy’s most powerful organised crime organizations – the Calabria-based ‘Ndrangheta. Brenda Dionisi reports from Milan on crime, gambling and the ‘beautiful game’ in Italy.…

The manufacture of textiles for European buyers is likely to move away from its Chinese production base and move back closer to “home”, particularly in the technical markets, Lutz Walter, secretary general of the European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP) – the largest European textiles research and innovations network – has told WTiN.com.…

The year-long European Parliament investigation into the ‘dieselgate’ emissions fixing scandal, plus the shockwaves from the revelations themselves, are driving a sea-change in Europe’s type approval system.  The European Union’s democratic assembly set up a Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) last December (2015) to probe EU compliance with emissions and type approval laws after it emerged that Volkswagen and probably other carmakers had used illegal defeat devices to cheat tests.…

When British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set his sights on opening a restaurant in Hong Kong, it wasn’t just about introducing a new style of dining. In a sub-tropical city where the corporate uniform is a pin-striped suit and formal job interviews are de rigeur, ‘Jamie’s Italian’ went to the opposite extreme, with a recruitment and training programme that was completely informal and utterly radical.…

When British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set his sights on opening a restaurant in Hong Kong, it wasn’t just about introducing a new style of dining. In a sub-tropical city where the corporate uniform is a pin-striped suit and formal job interviews are de rigeur, ‘Jamie’s Italian’ went to the opposite extreme, with a recruitment and training programme that was completely informal and utterly radical.…

As China’s banks get bigger, they are also drawing the attention of global money laundering investigators. Eyes were certainly focused on Bank of China (BoC) earlier this year: the bank stands accused Florence police and public prosecutor’s office of funnelling EUR4.9 billion from Italy to China between 2007 and 2010 with Italian authorities claiming much of that figure was from the proceeds of crime.…

CLOTHING manufacturing will be completely changed by the internet and digital printing over the next five to 10 years, Lutz Walter, secretary general of European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (ETP) – the largest European textiles research and innovations network – told just-style at a October 12-13 ‘European Textiles: Going Digital – Going High-Tech’ conference in Brussels.…

Earlier this year Italian pasta giant Barilla presented its latest technological innovation: a next generation 3D printer that swaps ink for pasta dough and is able to make unique pasta shapes in just minutes.

Barilla is among the world’s first food producers to leverage the latest digital technologies and apply them to food production.…

European Union (EU) lawmakers in a key European Parliament committee are split over how to amend proposed reforms to the 28 country bloc’s automotive type approval controls. These members of the parliament’s internal market and consumer protection committee discussed on Thursday (September 29) changes suggested by British Conservative MEP Dan Dalton on proposals from the EU executive, the European Commission, to overhaul EU type approval rules – its key goal is making them sufficiently tight to prevent a repeat of the Dieselgate scandal where emissions controls were circumvented.…

A top Volkswagen official refused to acknowledge to a European consumer organization (BEUC) conference in Brussels yesterday (September 28) that the company had acted illegally in Europe in fitting defeat devices to its cars, despite apologizing for doing so. Imelda Wander-Lamé, Volkswagen’s director of group after sales, told the ‘Fitness check on the car sector in Europe’ conference on the dieselgate scandal and its aftermath: “We are truly sorry for this inconvenience and loss of trust that we caused to our customers.”…

THE EUROPEAN chemical industry association Cefic has criticised the European Commission’s criteria for defining endocrine disrupting (hormone affecting) chemicals, saying resulting guidance could over-regulate harmless chemicals. “For the industry to ensure that people and the environment are properly protected, it is essential that the criteria enable the identification of harmful substances.…

Earlier this year Italian pasta giant Barilla presented its latest technological innovation: a next generation 3D printer that swaps ink for pasta dough and is able to make unique pasta shapes in just minutes.

Barilla is among the world’s first food producers to leverage the latest digital technologies and apply them to food production.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has completed the first phase of an assessment designed to help the European Union (EU) frame its own blacklist of jurisdictions deemed un-cooperative over tax evasion and avoidance. Brussels has released a ‘scoreboard’ of non-EU jurisdictions judging whether they exchange information with foreign tax authorities, have preferential or low tax regimes, have close and important economic and financial links with the EU and are politically stable (and hence more attractive as a tax haven).…

Beauté Prestige International’s (BPI) acquisition of the Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) fragrances, colour cosmetics and skincare products business, approved by the European Commission on August 19, will boost personal care product sales for the Shiseido Group, BPI’s parent company, said the Japanese company.…

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.…

Three out of four people polled for a European Parliament-commissioned survey have said they wanted the European Union (EU) to do more to tackle tax fraud. Asked whether they would like the EU to intervene less than at present or more in “the fight against tax fraud” 75% said more, 14% said they wanted no change, 5% less and 6% answered they did not know.…

FOOD and drink manufacturers based in Britain face a risk that their exports to the European Union (EU) will attract duties now the UK government has confirmed it will push ahead with leaving the EU following the June 23 Brexit referendum result.…

South America’s cosmetics and personal care sector is looking to bounce back from a slowdown caused by the region’s macroeconomic troubles, but political pressures and regional trade alliances are driving individual country markets down divergent paths.

Over the last year, countries across the region have been buffeted by economic turmoil that has had a knock-on impact on the cosmetics sector.…

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.…

One month after the UK’s Brexit referendum vote to leave the European Union (EU) on June 23, the British clothing industry has been weighing up the immediate impact and trying to assess what might happen in advance of any longer-term trade solution.…

As part of the Italian government’s plan to cut its public debt, state-owned air-traffic controller ENAV launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the Italian Stock Exchange’s Mercato Telematico Azionario (MTA) trading section today (July 11). The offer will last until July 21, (ENAV employees have until July 20 to buy stock).…

Significant European Union (EU) company law changes are set to add to the training challenge for non-executive directors who are working on boards outside their home country. The difficulties are compounded where flexibility for member states or companies to implement directives, regulations and recommendations adds local nuances to the know-how required to serve on a board in a jurisdiction with which a director is not previously familiar.…

HAVING a strong reputation for sustainable practice is increasingly a strong marketing card, for the confectionery sector as much as any other consumer industry. But with its extended international supply chains, demonstrating a high regard for environmental good practice is not always easy for the confectionery sector.…

Non-executive board members will may be well advised to acquaint themselves with new European Union (EU) legislation that may force their companies to yield up data if law enforcement authorities think it may help prevent crime.

New legislation has been passed by the EU amidst continuing debate over the issue of mandatory ‘backdoors’ access to encrypted data – highlighted by the USA Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) request for information from Apple over the San Bernardino shootings.…

Significant European Union (EU) company law changes are set to add to the training challenge for non-executive directors who are working on boards outside their home country. The difficulties are compounded where flexibility for member states or companies to implement directives, regulations and recommendations adds local nuances to the know-how required to serve on a board in a jurisdiction with which a director is not previously familiar.…

MIRRORING how Spain is crawling out of its long recession, the country’s personal care product market is recovering. UK-based market researchers Euromonitor released a report last month concluding: “After years of decline in value terms, beauty and personal care finally saw a positive performance in Spain in 2015.”…

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.…

The goal of uniting Europe under a single sky of system-wide ATM interoperability, once an improbably futuristic idea, was given a tangible push forward at the SESAR Global Demonstration held in Rome on June 8 and 9. The two-day event, which took place at the Prototype Systems Centre of Italian civil aviation authority ENAV (Ente Nazionale per l’Assistenza al Volo), spotlighted the ways that System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) can simultaneously and seamlessly streamline ATM operations.…

The Italian government has signed a legislative decree making origin labels mandatory for milk and dairy products sold in Italy, noting the country origin of their milk, and where packaging and processing took place. The law is now being assessed by the European Commission for compliance with European Union (EU) laws before it can be implemented.…

THE EUROPEAN nonwovens industry has been pushing ahead, maintaining consistent growth above increases in GDP for the whole economy, increasing its international collaboration, and the successfully exploring new markets. And while it is rarely prudent to make anything more than short-term predictions about cost and tariff problems, such difficulties faced by the European nonwovens sector seem have been pushed into the background. …

INCREASING demands on the part of European Union (EU) textile buyers for compliance with environmentally sustainable standards have inspired a major project launched by Moroccan trade groups into improving the practices of the country’s denim industry.

This is called the Moroccan Denim Cluster (MDC), founded in 2014 as an industry association for this segment.…

ITALY’s parallel Cosmoprof and Cosmopack shows always push quality in key aspects of the personal care product industry and its 2016 edition was all about precision, personalisation, portable beauty and high-tech beauty solutions

An innovative new beauty product presented at this year’s 49^th edition of the international beauty trade show, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna [March 18-21, 2016] proves that, like smart-fashion, the cosmetics and personal care sector is ready for portable technology.…

THE GLOBAL trade in counterfeit and pirated goods could be so large, it might account for 2.5% of imports and exports worldwide, a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU) has claimed. Released today, (April 18) ‘Trade in Counterfeit and Pirated Goods: Mapping the Economic Impact’ has valued imported fake goods worldwide at USD461 billion in 2013, compared with total global imports of USD17.9 trillion.…

KNITWEAR manufacturers used to plan production a year in advance, but the advent of fast fashion has changed all that. Today, suppliers are being asked to supply goods in some cases weeks in advance of a product line going to market.…

THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drafted plans to led EUR1 billion to TANAP Dogalgaz Iletim, the Azeri-Turkish consortium developing the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TAP) from the Shah Deniz production field in Azerbaijan to European and Turkish markets. The loan, which still needs approval from the EIB board of directors, will help ensure the TAP project proceeds.…

MEPs have voted to adopt a European Union (EU) regulation harmonising animal welfare rules, with a key goal toughening up the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The measures will place an increased onus on farmers to practice good husbandry that helps prevent disease outbreaks.…

ITALY’S textile, finishing and clothing sectors have been given detailed guidance on reducing the toxicity of its manufacturing processes, with advice being released by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (the National Chamber for Italian Fashion), following wide industry consultation.…

Airless packaging producers around the world are increasingly giving brands a cutting edge in market competitiveness – the technology is spreading in North America, Asia and Europe, although it is struggling to find footholds in Latin America.

In the most mature airless packaging markets within north America and Europe, companies have introduced innovations combining airless technology’s protection of product with extra features that allow, for example, more precise application and help brands with customisation.…

Non-financial reporting requirements that come into force throughout the European Union (EU) at the end of the year are as crucial as the annual financial report. This was the message to emerge from a Brussels conference on ‘Non-Financial Reporting: The impact on the relationship between Boards and Auditors’ that the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) co-hosted with the European Confederation of Directors’ Associations (ecoDa) and the European Confederation of Institutes of Internal Auditing (ECIIA) on March 15.…

Chinese tourism is changing the locations where cosmetics are sold internationally – and also changing how corporations are marketing to a savvier and better travelled breed of Chinese consumers, according to a detailed research report by a Hong Kong investment bank.…

PAKISTAN’S textile producers will continue to benefit from European Union (EU) preferential tariffs following a European Union’s decision not to suspend Pakistan’s ‘generalised scheme of preferences plus’ (GSP+), status despite concerns about its human rights record.

The scheme has been beneficial to Pakistan’s textile industry – textiles and clothing account for around 75% of Pakistan’s exports to the EU.…

The ongoing diplomatic row between Turkey and Russia over the Syria civil war continues to take a bite out of Turkish textiles exports, a bilateral trade which had already been declining.

After Turkey downed a Russian jet near its border with Syria in November, Moscow introduced an array of economic sanctions, including tightened custom checks on textile imports.…

Mr Balkrishna, who also owns 94% of the company shares, criticised the judgement from the additional district magistrate in Patanjali Ayurved’s home city of Haridwar, Uttarakhand, who fined the company Indian Rupees INR1.1 million Rupees (USD16,100) for selling certain food products, including mustard oil, in 2012 with its own labels, as Patanjali products, even though they had been manufactured by another company.…

FOOD and drink export subsidies are to be scrapped after a World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, agreed to phase out these trade sweeteners. Developed country members have promised to remove export subsidies immediately for basic food products, with a slower phase-out for many processed foods and drinks, pigmeat and dairy products.…

The beauty and personal care (BPC) market in Italy ended 2015 on a positive note, recording marginal growth in market sales, production and exports, according to a December 2015 report ‘Trends and Investments in the Cosmetics Sector’, released by the national cosmetics trade association, Associazione Italiana delle Imprese Cosmetiche (Cosmetica Italia).…

TUBES, bottles, and jars for packaging cosmetics and personal care products are not only becoming increasingly user-friendly and sustainable, suppliers and brands are looking for extra added-value features to promote sales. These range from useful applicators and storage devices to precision dosing, attracting consumers looking for convenient packaging.…

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.…

Many countries are still assessing the impact of Bitcoin and other virtual currencies on national currencies, their potential for criminal misuse, including money laundering. In Italy, with its strong organised crime, the concern is especially intense, and the government is discussing how to regulate virtual currencies to prevent their abuse.…

The conflict in eastern Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of Crimea has had significant ramifications for both countries’ oils and fats industries. These are sizeable sectors in Russia and Ukraine, and the industries – and consumers – have certainly felt the impacts of these often traumatic geopolitical events.…

AFTER a difficult few years brought about by a global economic recession, Portugal’s footwear and clothing industries is growing and underpinning the country’s business recovery.
Last year (2014) the country’s shoe exports hit a record high of around 89 million pairs sold overseas, bringing in EUR1.8 billion (USD2.06 billion) in receipts according to the Portuguese Association of Industrial Footwear, Accessories, Leather Goods and Substitutes (APICCAPS), helping a country still recovering from crippling government austerity measures.…

The Italian government has launched a clampdown on corruption after both houses of the Italian parliament backed a law that targets crimes involving public administration, especially fraud, and takes a tougher line on the mafia. Under its terms, criminals face increased prison terms – up to 26 years for mafia-related crimes – and a maximum 10 years for most corruption-related offences such as bribery and offering or demanding sweeteners for contracts.…

EUROPEAN dairy producers are keen participants in the European Union (EU) protective systems that prevent competitors from claiming to sell products made using traditional production methods and ingredients. The systems: PDO (protected designation of origin); PGI (protected geographical indication); and TSG (traditional speciality guaranteed) promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs.…

The latest report from European Union (EU) police agency Europol report has revealed the true extent of “the complex reality” of counterfeit goods networks across Europe. But what are the latest scams and how successful has Europol been in tackling them?…

Best-selling Australian author and accounting historian Jane Gleeson-White sees accountants as potential revolutionaries with the power to save the planet. Now, there’s a thought.
They need to be creative, however. And while such tactics are generally associated with the mafia and corporate crooks, laundering the proceeds of drug cartels or squirrelling profits away from the view of the taxman, Gleeson-White, 54, challenges this perception.…

The majority of Italians want to know where their food comes from, according to the results of an 11-question government survey gauging consumer opinions on the importance of food product traceability. Launched by Italy’s ministry of agricultural, food and forestry policies last November (2014), 26,500 Italian consumers participated in the online survey until March 31, 2015.…

IF the record turnout at this year’s edition of the cosmetics and personal care industry’s premier international trade fair, Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna (March 20-23), in Italy, is a sign of resilience amidst the still weak global economy, than the future is starting to look bright for the beauty business.…

In the highly competitive global lollipops market, manufacturers are creating innovative additions to this traditional confectionery to attract consumers with innovative designs attempting to generate an emotional response to these products. Around the world, lollipop manufacturers are tailoring shapes and designs to match seasonal holiday images; incorporating glow-in-the-dark features; and combining confectionery items such as lollipops and gum.…

Australians have some of the highest meat per capita consumption rates in the world and consume 121.2kg of meat per capita/year according to data from the Food & Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO). This is nearly three times the global average of 42.2kg per capita/year and slightly higher than countries with similar demographics and culinary traditions like the United States, Canada and Britain.…

Following 25 years of discussion and debate, the Italian government may soon agree a long-awaited National Plan on Airports, which will determine how and which airports will receive public funding for future infrastructure projects. The goal is to create a more integrated national airport network that will better connect Italy to major international and European air hubs.…

THE ITALIAN government has been breaking ground in its attempt to make its biofuels sector more sustainable, but ongoing discussions at the European Union (EU) on how much member states can subsidise biofuels are impeding Italy’s progress.
In 2014, Italy become the first EU member state to set national blending targets for conventional and advanced biofuels.…

THE RE-EXAMINATION of European Union (EU) market authorisations following concerns over clinical trials conducted by GVK Biosciences in Hyderabad, India, has sparked intense debate in Brussels.

A European Parliament hearing has heard comment and details about the recommendation from the European Medicine Agency’s committee for medicinal products for human use (CHMP) that some 800 forms and dosages of medicines approved in the EU be suspended.…

IN the highly competitive cosmetics and personal care market, producers of secondary packaging are creating ever more advanced, innovative shapes and decorations to attract consumers. Whether it conveys a message of sustainability, luxury, or simplicity – secondary packaging continues to play a crucial role, often communicating multiple ideas and emotions to consumers in an instant.…

THE EUROPEAN Committee of Sugar Manufacturers (CEFS) has called on the European Union (EU) and US negotiators for a Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) to exclude sugar and high sugar products from this planned trade agreement.

“The US market is a mature and saturated market, not attractive for the EU,” Marie-Christine Ribera, CEFS director general, told TTIP negotiators during an event dedicated to interest groups affected by the agreement, held in Brussels on February 4.…

TEXTILE exports from Serbia to Russia have been increasing, as European Union (EU) exports fall amidst the continuing diplomatic standoff between Brussels and Moscow over the Ukraine crisis. The Serbian government has also been working to prevent EU exporters using Serbia as a backdoor conduit for textile re-exports to Russian markets, taking advantage of the 2000 Serbo-Russian free trade agreement.…

THE CHAIR of the European Medicine Agency’s (EMA) committee of advanced therapies (CAT) has claimed a sharp increase in the development of such sophisticated medicines. Paula Salmikangas told a European Biopharmaceutical Enterprises (EBE1), EMA and Italian government-run workshop, in London, there had been “major growth” in advanced medicines development.…

ONE benefit – for consumers at least – with European Union (EU) legislation, is that it often allows national governments to gold plate rules based on such EU guidance. Whether that is a good idea for food and drink manufacturers of course is another question, and such a debate is now happening in Italy.…

The days of Italian consumer spending extra Euro on a high performing hydrating face cream or premium fragrance may be on hold as the majority of Italian consumers are currently seeking better value for money in their beauty and personal care (BPC) purchases.…

Recession-hit Italians looked to the comfort that only make-believe worlds can provide this past Christmas, as feel-good fiction took the top spots in a December 2014 national ranking of the 30 bestselling titles in bookstores.

According to data from Informazioni Editoriali collated for the Italian Association of Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori – AIE), a sentimental page-turner published by Longanesi, ‘Avrò cura di te’ (I will take care of you), co-authored by bestselling writers Massimo Gramellini and Chiara Gamberale, topped the national rankings, making it Italy’s preferred read or gift during the Christmas and New Year rush.…

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.…

THE ITALIAN government seems to have withdrawn support for the South Stream pipeline under the Black Sea as European Union (EU) relations with Russia continue to cool. Italy was expected to be a key customer of South Stream gas, but its government is now promoting a new strategy securing a diversified range of energy imports, including supplies from Africa and the Levant.…

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”.…

A European Parliament committee yesterday (Dec 3) vowed to swiftly approve any formal proposal for mandatory labelling for processed meats, claiming 90% of its members favour such a European Union (EU) law . Parliamentarians of all stripes claimed a comfortable majority of European Union consumers want to know where their meat comes from and what it consists of following the horsemeat scandal of two years ago.…

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.…

While eastern Europe’s cosmetics sector seems in general to be emerging from its post-recession doldrums, the conflict in Ukraine has begun to significantly impact that country’s cosmetics industry. Analysts warn that tit-for-tat sanctions with Russia and uncertainty over the annexed Crimea and the future of the contested east of the country is halting investment.…

Rising incomes and a continued tightening of food safety enforcement is boosting demand in China for commercial packaged oils, with consumers moving away from the bulk oils that have dominated past markets.

Overall, while year-on-year growth in global oils and fats production has averaged 3% in each of the past two years vegetable oils sales in China will rise an average 16% per year in the period 2014-2018.…

THE BRITISH government has been accused of trying to block agreement over European Union (EU) legislation curbing lightweight plastic bags usage to favour a UK plastics company with close links to the country’s ruling Conservative Party.

A Danish Green member of the European Parliament (MEP) Margrete Auken made the claims ahead of an important ‘trialogue’ meeting on Monday (November 17) between representatives of the parliament, European Commission and the EU Council of Ministers, to agree the directive.…

DOCUMENTS obtained by Confectionery Production from the European Union (EU) indicate that Ukraine has lost up to USD126 million’s worth of confectionery export sales to Russia this year, because of Russian trade restrictions.
EU briefing papers note that Ukraine has been complaining to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since October 2013 about alleged “unjustified barriers to trade caused by the measures of the Russian Federation, in particular, on Ukrainian confectionery products.”…

GUIDO Rasi, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has been forced from his job by a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that concluded his 2011 appointment had been flawed procedurally. Rasi, a former director general of the Italian medicines agency, was supposed to serve for at least five years, with his renewable term of office expiring in November 2016.…

SENIOR figures in the Italian textile sector are optimistic that their industry will benefit should the European Union (EU) and the USA strike a deal during negotiations for a planned Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP). 

Eliminating or reducing tariffs on textiles at the US border would offer significant gains to Italy’s textile producers, said Filippo Laviani, a Europe and international trade regulation specialist with Italy’s largest fashion trade association Sistema Moda Italia: “Customs tariffs [in the US] are still high, like for example, the circa 20% tariff applied to wool men’s suits imports and the 32% duty applied to T-shirts made of synthetic fibres,” he told WTiN.com.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament on Wednesday (8 October) voted to accept the Spanish commissioner-designate Miguel Arias Cañete for the climate and energy portfolio after a week of uncertainty. However, it rejected the former Slovenian prime-minister Alenka Bratušek as vice-president for the energy union in the new European Commission due to take office on November 1.…

A NEW flexible method of shipping liquids is poised to offer the petroleum industry advantages for moving fuel by-products and lubricants used in drilling. This involves using flexitanks, which are expansive, flexible (although sometimes rigid and foldaway) polyethylene bags that fit inside shipping containers, and are capable of transporting up to 24,000 litres of liquids at a time, say companies in the sector.…

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 EUROPEAN Commission has ended the special measure giving private storage aid to manufacturers of cheese of bearing European Union (EU) geographical indications suffering from Russia’s import ban, but it continues it for butter and skimmed milk powder.

Brussels decided on September 23 to end the cheese storage aid scheme “following a disproportionate surge in interest from cheese producers in certain regions not traditionally exporting significant quantities to Russia”, a statement released on the day reads.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has ended the special measure giving private storage aid to manufacturers of cheese of bearing European Union (EU) geographical indications suffering from Russia’s import ban, but it continues it for butter and skimmed milk powder.

Brussels decided on September 23 to end the cheese storage aid scheme “following a disproportionate surge in interest from cheese producers in certain regions not traditionally exporting significant quantities to Russia”, a statement released on the day reads.…

Thailand’s paint and coating industry is facing a challenging time as its country grapples with economic and political difficulties. Thailand’s economic growth has slowed significantly over the last two years. GDP expanded by 6.6% in 2012, as the country recovered from the devastating floods of 2011, which hit northern, north-eastern and central Thailand, as well as parts of Bangkok.…

Italy’s food producer association Coldiretti has said Italian food exports to Russia fell 63% in August compared the same month the previous year, after the one-year import ban on European Union (EU) meat, fish, dairy products, fruit and vegetables imposed by Moscow on August 7.…

CANADA will start developing capacity to produce hormone-free meat for the European Union (EU) market following the conclusion of an EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), a senior European Commission official has said. The end of technical negotiations was formally announced on Friday (September 26) during an EU-Canada summit in Ottawa.…

Kevin McCarthy, the recently appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Microsoft’s Consumer Channels Group, is planning to use his expertise in manufacturing and managing consumer space to spin energised growth into what is, as he puts it, is “already an amazing business model.”…

AN ITALIAN-Chinese company is attempting to emulate IKEA in the automobile market, by offering a modular home and small-workshop production system for putting together a part-made car.
Based in Hong-Kong with a research and development centre in Busto Arsizio, Italy, OSVehicle is currently developing a homologated, modular car platform, called the Urban TABBY, with the key components for making a finished car that is legal to drive on roads across the European Union (EU).…

Product lifecycle management (PLM) systems help apparel companies share information more efficiently and plan for future lines more accurately as time-to-market shrinks.

Software such as the WFX Cloud PLM helps speed up companies’ processes from product concept and design to delivery at stores, said Jatin Paul, CEO of WFX (World Fashion Exchange).…

Kevin McCarthy, the recently appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Microsoft’s Consumer Channels Group, is planning to use his expertise in manufacturing and managing consumer space to spin energised growth into what is, as he puts it, is “already an amazing business model.”…

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 EUROPEAN Commission has launched the second phase of its fuel cells and hydrogen joint undertaking, sinking EUR1.33 billion into hydrogen-based energy and transport fuel technology until 2020. The European Union (EU) is planning to contribute up to EUR665 million, leveraging at least EUR665 million from private sources.…

European food manufacturers have welcomed progress on a transatlantic free trade deal at a meeting of negotiators and business leaders in Brussels but warned that American non-tariff barriers need scrapping to enable exporters to take full advantage of an agreement.
Speaking to officials and industry representatives at Wednesday’s (July 16) meeting, Roxane Feller, economic affairs director at trade association FoodDrinkEurope, said: “The United States is our top trading partner.…

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”.…

THE MIDDLE East cosmetics market is weathering the region’s current political and economic instability in the region. While the markets in the Levant are experiencing tough times, Gulf sales continue to grow. Retailers and manufacturers are also offsetting the losses incurred in depressed and unstable countries by exporting to burgeoning African markets.…

THE INDIAN cosmetics market has been growing consistently at around 15% annually, and given the country’s large and growing population, much of which still spends very little on cosmetics, long term growth seems assured. This is the assessment of Technopak, a consultancy firm based in Gurgaon, near New Delhi.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has used the momentum created by Europe’s financial crisis to push through legislation on taxation issues that have been politically unpalatable during times of prosperity and growth. But it has not brought European Union (EU) countries’ tax systems closer together through overall harmonisation, to the chagrin of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which still struggle with different systems across EU member states.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a new directive designed to speed the roll-out of high speed broadband systems across the EU. The new legislation insists that any utility network operator – including electricity and water companies, as well as telcos – should have the right to offer telecoms operators access to their infrastructure to install broadband systems.…

Italy has been censured by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for delays in recovering illegal excise duty breaks granted to Eurallumina when buying liquid fuel for its alumina production in Sardinia. The ECJ backed the European Commission in the case, which accused Italy of breaking EU law by failing to recover these subsidies, after the Commission had deemed them illegal in 2005.…

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”.…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) launch of a disputes proceeding at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over Russian anti-dumping duties on German and Italian van exports might seem like diplomatic overkill. But experts say there are good geo-political reasons behind the case brought by the EU executive, the European Commission.…

A European Commission investigation into Fiat’s tax arrangements in Luxembourg has put the spotlight on alleged backdoor subsidies received by Europe’s automobile manufacturers and comes at a difficult time for the sector.

At the heart of the probe is the suggestion that Luxembourg authorities gave Fiat finance and trade an unfair advantage over other companies in a 2012  “tax ruling” that calculated the company’s taxable profits.…

International and domestic paints and coatings companies are benefiting from strong economic growth in Malaysia, and growth is set to continue for both industrial and decorative products.

According to data from the Malaysian Paints Manufacturers Association (MPMA), the total sales of the Malaysian paints and coatings industry grew 17.6% to 210 million litres in 2013, with sales in terms of value climbing 14.7% to Malaysian ringgit MYR1.8 billion (USD558 million).…

JAPANESE food manufacturers are targeting south-east Asia as key export markets, leveraging their products’ sophisticated, fashionable and healthy image. Indeed, with a significant proportion of south-east Asian consumers becoming richer, the perception that Japanese brands can be relatively expensive can help marketing and certainly not harm sales, they say.…

Global technology analysts Gartner Inc is well known for its articulated predictions. An announcement in January 2014 to accompany its report on ‘Predicts 2014: The Rise of the Postmodern ERP and Enterprise Applications World’, highlighted the complex, and at times conflicting scenario facing companies considering moving their enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the cloud.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers are now considering a new EU animal health law, which has been approved by the European Parliament, and which would unite 40 pieces of existing EU legislation, easing implementation by meat and livestock businesses.

Swedish liberal MEP Marit Paulsen – an environmental and food quality expert – piloted the legislation through the Parliament, amending the text originally proposed by the European Commission to put more emphasis on the prevention and control of animal diseases.…

Parma ham consortia in northern Italy are to share EUR2.7 million in European Union (EU) funds over three years for a major EUR5.4 million promotion in the USA.

It is the single biggest award among 20 programmes that are to receive

EUR23 million in EU support over the period as part of an overall EUR46.5 million promotion of agricultural products within the EU and in non-EU export markets.…

A more sustainable fashion industry requires complete transparency and control over every aspect of production. That was the message at the third biennial Copenhagen Fashion Summit, held last Thursday (April 24) in the Danish capital. More than 1,100 participants convened at the Copenhagen Opera House, with 23 speakers focusing on consumer behaviour, recycling and CO2-emissions, all to guide the fashion industry down a more sustainable path.…

AS labour costs in China continue to rise, its apparel and textile industry is seeing orders being transferred to other outsourcing locations as foreign buyers seek lower cost manufacturers. This move could be especially damaging for smaller, low-end Chinese manufacturers, leaving China-based orders increasingly concentrated amongst larger companies, according to a report from the China Cotton Textile Association: “Small to medium manufacturers said their orders dropped sharply during the first quarter of the year while big manufacturers said they had enough orders to keep them busy,” it explained.…

WHEN the Percassi family, owners of the successful make-up brand KIKO Make Up Milan, purchased in October 2013 a UNESCO-listed historic industrial site called Crespi d’Adda in northern Italy, it was not only a sign of their success, but proof of the old adage that tough economic times can be good for the beauty industry. …

Innovations in sustainability for cosmetics and packaging were highlighted at the 47th Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna (April 4-7), in Italy. From natural, innovative materials to using traditional materials specifically designed to protect sustainable and organic products, Cosmoprof and its related Cosmopack exhibition emphasised the latest in cosmetics and personal care innovations, and offered a look at trends to come in 2015.…

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.…

A GLANCE at Hong Kong’s official trade data gives the impression that all is rosy for the Chinese special administrative region’s (SAR) knitwear manufacturers. In 2013, Hong Kong exported knitted and crocheted fabrics worth USD2.5 billion, up 4.1% year-on-year, easily outpacing the 1.6% growth posted by the city’s overall textile exports valued at USD10.7 billion, according to figures from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC).…

BUDGET airlines have a major impact on airport expansion or contraction across Europe, but their importance can be particularly pronounced in countries towards the east, whose economies are still catching up with the west of the continent.

Even in Poland, which avoided recession since the financial collapse of 2008, some airports have asked city and regional governments for help when they cannot attract enough trade – in one recent instance following a decision by Ryanair to cut routes.…

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.…

A preliminary investigation by Livsmedelsverket, Sweden’s food safety authority, has established that between 25 to 30 tonnes of fillet beef mixed with buffalo meat may have been sold, or marketed for sale as imported Italian beef. Livsmedelsverket ordered an immediate product recall when the hybrid meat was discovered on March 10, and now says this sale occurred during a 10-week period to mid-March.…

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project is to develop a new system of controlling the salting stage during dry-cured ham processing, aiming to reduce salt content. The ‘PROCURED’ initiative aims to cut the amount of salt in the production of dry-cured meats, such as prosciutto, lardo, bresaola, capicola, guanciale and soppressata.…

NEGOTIATIONS for a renewed International Agreement on Olive Oil are intensifying in Madrid. The agreement runs out at the end of this year and its member jurisdictions, of which the European Union (EU) is the biggest, are working to forge a new agreement by December.…

In the first year of his pontificate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis, has had to deal with his healthy share of scandal. His reaction to the most recent accusation of money laundering by a former Vatican accountant has been swift – some even say revolutionary – for one of the world’s oldest and most secretive financial institutions.…

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.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released official guidance on how to protect the environment when ‘fracking’ for shale gas. It has given European Union (EU) member states 18 months to follow its suggestions, saying it will “review the effectiveness” of this voluntary approach after this deadline.…

Italy has won the latest skirmish in its continuing campaign against the UKs ‘traffic light’ labeling scheme that flags food as ‘more’ or ‘less’

healthy by using red, yellow and green to denote levels of total fats, saturated fats, sugar and salt in 100 grams of product.…

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 USE of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in the food and drink sector might have grown exponentially in the past 10 years, but the technology is likely to become even more ubiquitous worldwide. UK-based retailers and pioneers in the use of the technology Marks & Spencer and Tesco can now chalk up a decade of experience in the use of RFID, from distribution centre (DC) operations right through to retail floor item-level tagging.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) telecoms sector will be able to tap significant research funds from the EU’s new Euro EUR80 billion Horizon 2020 research programme, which began on New Year’s Day and will run until 2020. The European Commission has already made its first formal call for research proposals, which are generally made of consortia with companies working with universities and research groups from different countries.…

With consumers becoming more aware of the environmental impact and social implications of the fashion and textile industries, Italian luxury textile manufacturer Canepa is addressing these issues in practical ways. Canepa, for instance, became a signed supporter of the Greenpeace Detox Campaign in September 2013.…

BRAZIL-based textile industry conferences in 2014 will focus on innovation, with the country’s fabric sector seeking to trade up to higher end products.

Fairs such as Première Vision, have been growing in size. The bi-annual event was staged this month in São Paulo from January 21-22, with a follow up meeting from November 4 to 5.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

THE USE of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags in the food and drink sector might have grown exponentially in the past 10 years, but the technology is likely to become even more ubiquitous worldwide. UK-based retailers and pioneers in the use of the technology Marks & Spencer and Tesco can now chalk up a decade of experience in the use of RFID, from distribution centre (DC) operations right through to retail floor item-level tagging.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) telecoms sector will be able to tap significant research funds from the EU’s new Euro EUR80 billion Horizon 2020 research programme, which began on New Year’s Day and will run until 2020. The European Commission has already made its first formal call for research proposals, which are generally made of consortia with companies working with universities and research groups from different countries.…

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.…

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.…

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has censured Italy for failing to recover illegal state aid subsidies given to non-ferrous metal producers Eurallumina, Portovesme, Syndial through special low electricity tariffs. This followed the European Commission in 2011 ordering the recovery of Euro EUR12 million paid to zinc and lead producer Portovesme; EUR5 million paid to aluminium maker Eurallumina EUR5million; and EUR300,000 paid to ILA, which makes processed aluminium products.…

INCREASINGLY stringent regulations governing the cold chain transport of medicines for human use are tipped to become a major driver for the uptake of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology by pharmaceutical suppliers in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to a recent report published by industry analysts Frost & Sullivan, America and Europe currently divide the biggest slice of market share in the global market for cold chain RFID.…

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. …

LUXURY knitwear brands in India are increasingly recognised and valued but catering to aspirational ‘closet’ customers is a challenging task, according to market leaders who spoke at the recent “CII-ET Dialogue on Luxury” conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the Economic Times in New Delhi.…

A series of infrastructure improvements are in the works at Italy’s major airports following the end of a decade-long freeze on airport charges which has left the country’s transport hubs way behind the pack.

Indeed, 2013 was a good year for Italy’s airport sector: a new charges scheme was introduced at major airports across the country, putting an end to a decade-long policy paralysis.…

A EUROPEAN Union-funded ‘BETITEX’ research project has brought together a consortium of 10 partners to develop protective, biodegradable textiles that can kill ticks and bedbugs. The Euro EUR1.5 million (USD2.06 million) project will focus on developing personal protective equipment for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and also “domestic use in the form of home linen,” according to a European Commission note.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik today revealed the EU’s long-awaited plan to reduce the 8 billion plastic bags that the European Commission believes are “littering” Europe today.  He has proposed altering the EU’s packaging and packaging waste directive so member states have a commitment to reduce consumption of single-use plastic bags.…

Bangladesh’s top steel maker BSRM Group has secured USD115 million in what is billed as one of the largest ever syndicated loans for a local company, officials and bankers have told Steel First.

A total of 25 banks and financial institutions, including the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM), participated in the syndication, co-arranged by UK-based Standard Chartered Bank and local lenders IDLC Finance Limited and City Bank Limited.…

Finnish steel maker Outokumpu has told Steel First that it still hopes to finish its sale of Italian steel subsidiary Acciai Terni Speciali (Terni) by the end of this year, saying talks should take another “six to eight weeks”.

Outokumpu vice president for communications Saara Tahvanainen said: “Discussions continue with a number of interested parties.…

INDIA’S luxury apparel market poses huge challenges for western brands due to a local preference for ethnic designs, especially for dresses, according to the latest market intelligence revealed last week at the ‘CII-ET Dialogue on Luxury’, a daylong conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and India’s Economic Times newspaper, in New Delhi.…

Local authorities in the Tuscany city of Prato have called on the Italian government to help finance more safety checks on local Chinese-run clothing and textile factories following Sunday’s deadly factory fire. It killed seven Chinese workers and seriously injured two.…

Italy’s most powerful trade union has pledged to campaign to expose black market practices and assert workers’ rights in the clothing industry after a fatal fire at a Chinese -run garment factory in Tuscany, Italy early yesterday.

The Confederazione Generale Italiana del Lavoro (CGIL) hit out after seven people died when the blaze swept through an illegal dormitory in the roof space of the factory on the Macrolotto industrial estate near Prato.…

AUTHORITIES in Italy have seized and frozen assets belonging to a Rome company that abused financing from the European Development Fund (EDF) destined for development projects in some of the poorest parts of Africa.

The action follows a joint investigation – Operazione Pioggia nel deserto, or Operation Rain in the Desert – by the European Union (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF and the Italian financial police the Guardia di Finanza, which together uncovered frauds depriving the EU of more than EUR9 million.…

ORGANISERS of the 13th Vietnam International Textile & Garment Industry Exhibition last week (October 24 to 27) noted a surging attendance, but some visitors suggested a broader range of exhibitors could pay dividends.

Staged at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh Exhibition & Convention Centre, the event brought 210 textile machinery and fabric and accessories exhibitors from 10 Asian countries into contact with an estimated 10,000 visitors.…

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.…

A PUBLIC-private partnership that is preparing to start its second phase in 2014 wants to make fuel cells and hydrogen a market reality in Europe in the years to come, according to Bert De Colvenaer, its executive director.

“The fuel cells and hydrogen technology is ready for demonstration, but it will take another couple of years before it is ready for market,” De Colvenaer said, speaking during an European Parliament event held in Brussels.…

ITALIAN government officials are finalising a major funding and standards scheme for universities, which they hope will be enacted despite Italy’s endemic political instability. The plan has been developed by Italy’s ministry of education, university and research (MIUR), and will span three years (2013-2015), setting higher academic standards for both state and non-state universities.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has gone on the record and confirmed it is working on a legislative proposal to limit the use of plastic bags. Julius Langendorff, deputy head of unit at the directorate general for the environment said: “We are working on a proposal on plastic bags which we hope will see the light of day still this year,” he said, speaking at an event organised by the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment (Europen) in Brussels on Wednesday.…

French luxury conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton has told the European Commission of the benefits that would flow from its planned merger with Italian cashmere giant Loro Piana. In a filing to Brussels designed to encourage it to grant competition approval, LVMH said the deal will help “capitalise on their shared philosophy for exceptional craftsmanship, creativity and long-term vision and commitment to build up noteworthy synergies, to the benefit of consumers.”…

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) food and feed safety rapid alert network (RASFF) has warned of continued detections of salmonella contamination of imported meat and meat products across Europe. In most instances, consignments were exported from other EU member states. It reported six salmonella meat contamination cases between October 21 and 24 for instance.…

A NEW strain of a listed disease has been identified in an outbreak of bluetongue virus in central Italy, according to the information provided to the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE) by the Italian health ministry’s department for veterinary public health.…

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.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has recommended a tough new action plan to equip the European Union (EU) to fight organised crime at international, European and national levels.

Among measures called for are abolition of banking secrecy and EU tax havens, and a ban on participating in public procurement bids or running for or holding public office in the EU for people convicted in cases of organised crime, corruption and money laundering.…

The Italian government has told Steel First that it has stalled the formal proposal of a decree which would allow the resumption of operations at iron and steel companies owned by Italian holding company Riva Steel.

These remain suspended while Italy’s ministry of economic development has been drafting a law which would normalise the management of Riva’s seven plants, which employ some 1,400 workers.…

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.…

THE INDONESIAN textile industry is being targeted by Italian machinery suppliers, who are aiming for further strong growth in sales to Indonesia over the next few years noting that the south-east Asian country’s textile industry is set to update much of its plant.…

Operations at iron and steel companies owned by Italian holding company Riva Steel are set to resume this Monday (Sept 30), following an accord reached late on Friday (Sept 27) in Rome between Italian government officials, Riva Steel and bank representatives.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF has signed a new cooperation agreement with Italian supreme audit institution the Corte dei Conti. The deal will enable the EU agency to help the Italian body pursue frauds involving the misallocation of EU funds to private individuals.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) treasuries are losing almost Euro EUR200 billion-a-year in unpaid VAT lost because of non-compliance or non-collection, a European Commission report has concluded. A study of data into 26 member states covering the years 2000 to 2011 calculated that EUR193 billion was lost in 2011, comparing predicted and actual VAT revenues.…

THE WIDESPREAD disruption to European air-travel caused by the dramatic large-scale volcanic eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in March 2010 has prompted close assessments of air traffic control procudures in countries with significant seismic activity.

The 2010 disruption was a costly experience for airlines and air-passenger traffic.…

CROATIA became a European Union (EU) member state on July 1, and will be hoping that its significant olive oil sector will grow though eased EU market access and production support from Brussels.

Marta Bogdanic, director of projects for the food business group at the Croatian food and retail group Agrokor, which produces and sells a range of award-winning Croatian olive oils, and owns the largest olive groves in Croatia, told Oils & Fats International that Croatia’s EU accession will pose several challenges for the country’s olive oil sector.…

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.…

VIETNAM’S plans to undertake a major expansion of its textile, texting finishing and fibre production sector were a key focus of an International Exhibition on Garment Manufacturing Equipment and Fabric, held in Ho Chi Minh City from July 11-13. WTiN.com attended the conference, where 125 exhibitors from 17 countries and regions showcased a range of garments, leather and footwear, and other industry products.…

CROATIA, which joined the European Union (EU) on July 1, aims to revive its knitting sector following a decline in recent years. While understandably cautious about the next few years, given the current economic troubles in Europe, Croatia plans to capitalise on the potential benefits and opportunities from being an EU member state, focusing on innovation and higher-value products in order to become more competitive.…

Although it has been the subject of intense speculation over recent years, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tagging has fulfilled many of the predictions made by industry forecasters more than 10 years ago, when pilots of wide scale deployment by giant department store retailers began.…

The European co-generation sector has been looking hard for a competitive edge and one area of innovation that has helped it improve its energy efficiency is in the convergence of software, control and instrumentation, internet and wireless communication, and smart grids.…

WITH Europe’s economy still struggling to deal with the fall-out of the global financial crisis, its co-generation sector has had to fight to expand, or in some cases hold its position. Tightening national government budgets have meant that the co-gen industry has had to argue persuasively for public subsidies and tax breaks, or even the right to have equal treatment with renewable energies.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament is powerful these days – far from the talking shop of its first direct elections in 1979. Today the European Parliament’s (EP) consent is required to authorise most European Union (EU) laws, and as telecoms observers know, these comprehensively impact European electronic communications.…

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.…

OLAF, the European Union’s (EU) beleaguered anti-fraud office, has played a key role in investigations that saw law enforcers in Sicily bust a major scam involving EU funds. At least 47 people including prominent politicians were under investigation last week, 17 in custody, and assets worth Euro EUR28 million were seized in operations by Italy’s Guardia di Finanza directed by the state prosecutor in the Sicilian capital Palermo.…

THE ITALIAN government has passed a decree law banning the sale of non-biodegradable plastic bags, despite a legal challenge by the British government, which claims Rome is breaching European Union (EU) internal market rules.

Italy notified the European Commission on March 12 that it intended to pass a decree that would ban the sale of shopping bags not made of paper, natural fibres, polyamide fibres and polymers.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) negotiators are approaching the final decision over the future of EU sugar quotas, with a deal expected between the European Parliament and EU Council of Ministers by the end of June. What is almost certain is the current phase-out date of 2015 is dead.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the acquisition of Polish personal care products retailer Polbita by Austrian banking group Erste and the Italian-owned Polish bank Alior Bank. Brussels waved through the deal imposing no conditions using its fast-track simplified merger review procedure.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed re-imposing tough definitive countervailing and antidumping duties on imports into the European Union (EU) of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from India. The countervailing duties have a standard rate of 69.4% and the anti-dumping duties Euro EUR153.60 per tonne.…

A SPECIAL European Parliament committee has called for all criminals convicted of serious crimes including corruption or money laundering to be banned from tendering for any public contract within the European Union (EU) for at least five years. In a non-binding motion, the EP’santi-organised crime committee also voted for anyone convicted of corruption to be barred from standing for election to public office for the same period of time.…

A joint meeting of national and European parliamentarians (MEPs) in Brussels last week (Tuesday 7^th May) lambasted European Union (EU) member governments for foot-dragging in the fight against organised crime and money laundering in particular.

“The information exchange between authorities across the continent is abysmal.…

By Kaci Racelma, in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria; and Paul Cochrane, in Beirut 

This article appeared last March (2012) in Commercial Crime International, a specialist title run by the International Chamber of Commerce. It foreshadowed the Islamist-related unrest and rebellion that actually occurred later in Mali and Algeria….

COMMERCIAL crime may not be as omnipresent in North Africa as in some other parts of the world, but companies operating in the region have risks to contend with. Corruption is rife, smuggling across the borders with Sub-Saharan countries is a major activity, and terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) are in the ascendancy. Kaci Racelma and Paul Cochrane take a detailed look at these problems.

 “CORRUPTION is systemic in all of the Maghreb, and not likely to change,” said Dr Geoff Porter, a political risk and security consultant specialising in North Africa. “We’ll have to see what happens in Tunisia. It was a cesspool of corruption under the previous government and while the new one seems to have a zero tolerance policy to corruption, it has not been in power long enough to gauge its effectiveness,” said Dr Porter, founder of US-based North Africa Risk Consulting.…

THERE are many ways to maintain and repair a road, so it always makes sense to look widely at good practice examples. Here The Surveyor has used its foreign correspondent team to assess techniques in some diverse pars of continental Europe.…

THE ARAB Spring may have increased short-term doubts about the political stability of Europe’s southern and eastern Mediterranean neighbours, but the long-term case for energy cooperation between these regions is surely unarguable.

Europe needs more energy than it can generate, and it has (for the time being at least) money to buy energy from north Africa and the Levant.…

ALTHOUGH China is known for skilled workers making clothing for big brand names, the country still relies heavily on imports when it comes to high performance nonwovens used in the medical, automotive, environmental protection and other fields, according to Beijing-based China Nonwovens & Industrial Textiles Association (CNITA).…

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.…

EUROPEAN clothing suppliers flocked to this year’s Intertextile Beijing Apparel Fabrics 2013 show to explore China-based sales, but told just-style of concerns that excess domestic inventory might impede export sales in this key emerging market. This year’s show at the China International Exhibition Centre was notable for a year-on-year 36% rise in European exhibitors, including a similar expansion of companies exhibiting at the pavilion operated by Italian textile producer organisation Milano Unica.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) needs to act on its long discussed goal of creating an EU public prosecutor to protect its financial interests and should also introduce an EU-wide definition of mafia-style organised crime, MEPs said this week. A European Parliament’s special committee on organised crime, corruption and money laundering (CRIM) has now recommended in draft proposals that an EU prosecutor should coordinate and encourage national investigations, while interacting with law enforcement agency Europol, judicial cooperation unit Eurojust, and EU anti-fraud office OLAF.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) economy and finance ministers have blocked an attempt to grant the European Commission special powers to authorise emergency measures by member states wanting to fight a sudden outbreak of major VAT fraud, such as carousel frauds.

At present, if such steps breach the EU VAT directive, unanimous authorisation is required from the EU Council of Ministers.…

POLITICAL battle-lines are being drawn over the oncoming debates at the European Parliament and the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers on the shape of the revised tobacco products directive. While formal amendments have yet to be proposed, preliminary discussions are giving the industry a good idea of the challenges to be faced over the coming months.…

THE EUROPEAN Parliament (EP) has backed budget cuts to the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) agreed last month by European Union (EU) heads of government and the move is expected to have a negative impact on EU livestock farmers. MEPs did not challenge the planned 11% reduction in the overall CAP spending for 2014-20 to a total amount of EUR373.18 billion, despite vocal opposition from some members when the budget deal was struck on February 8.…

ONE (0.001%) in every 100,000 coins denominated in Euros and handed in or detected by the authorities is counterfeit, data from the European Commission show. The EUR2 coin is the most faked, representing two out of every three dodgy coins removed from circulation.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) confectionery manufacturers and their suppliers stand to boost their export sales and reduce import costs with the launch of talks to forge the two largest bilateral trade deals ever sought by the EU – with the USA and Japan.…

Amazon Italia Logistica Srl has announced the opening of a new distribution centre at Castel San Giovanni, just over 20 km from the northern city of Piacenza, where the company says it will create 1,000 new jobs over the next three years.…

With Italy in the grip of a post-election stalemate that could result in a short-term centre-left minority government, desperately needed reforms to the university sector and funding increases could be stalled for months if not longer. Italy’s beleaguered tertiary education sector has seen a decline in enrolments of 58,000 students over the period 2003-2012, according to the latest figures from the education, universities and research ministry, and many institutions are struggling with critical financial shortfalls.…

SPORTS regulators, police and other ‘actors’ in the emerging global scandal over match-fixing and other forms of bribery, fraud and corruption need more dedicated accounting skills in-house to prevent, detect and prosecute offences.

“Sporting institutions are behind the curve and need specialists including people trained in forensic accounting within them,” said Dr Graham Brooks, a leading independent analyst of sports crime, and senior lecturer at the Institute of Criminal Justice Studies (ICJS) at the University of Portsmouth, in southern England.…

THE ENERGY sector has been left guessing whether there will be a robust future international climate change agreement after the latest global diplomatic meeting on the subject in Doha, Qatar. Delegates attending the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change were tasked from November 26 to December 7 with solving two key issues: devising a post-Kyoto Protocol agreement that will kick in from 2020; and also devising a holding agreement for countries wanting to reduce emissions from the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol this December until the new agreement comes into force.…

Mossi & Ghisolfi, an Italian petrochemical multinational with headquarters in the northern city of Tortona, has commenced operations at a second generation bio-ethanol demonstration plant that uses rice straw and the common giant cane ‘Arundo Donax’ as a feedstock.

The plant is located in Crescentino, about 120 km southwest of Milan in Italy’s Piedmont region.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) Japanese knitwear manufacturers are assessing the opportunities offered by the planned EU-Japan free trade agreement (FTA), with negotiations about to begin, having been authorised by the European Union (EU) member states before Christmas.

“We will try to develop good contacts with the Japanese industry to try to come up with solutions during the negotiations that could be beneficial for both whenever possible”, said Luisa Santos, head of international trade at the European apparel and textile confederation (Euratex).…

Malaysia’s textile and clothing industry is planning to focus on three key areas – higher value fashion, dyeing and finishing, and technical textiles – to sustain strong growth and continue to compete with significantly lower-cost competition elsewhere in Asia.

The country’s textile and apparel exports grew 28.4% to USD3.8 billion in 2011, according to the Malaysian Textile Manufacturers Association (MTMA), with a further significant increase expected in 2012.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA

With Italy tottering on the brink of a political crisis that could topple the technocrat government of Mario Monti before Christmas, proposed higher education reforms will probably be stalled at least until a new government is formed following Spring elections, and maybe longer.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WHILE oxygen is essential to human life, it can of course also be a cosmetic product’s worst enemy.

For most cosmetics manufacturers, prolonging the life of their products means creating packaging with as tight a seal as possible – hence, the industry’s growing demand for airless packaging, helping assure both a brand and its consumer that a cosmetics product will be good to the last drop.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA, ITALY

On paper, the anti-money laundering procedures of the Holy See and the Vatican City State are being strengthened by an almost hasty reform process. And a recent report from European regional AML body Moneyval has welcomed the progress, albeit with some caveats.…

BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; ANDREW KURETH, IN WARSAW; LEE ADENDORFF, IN ITALY; DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS; AND ALAN OSBORN

STANDARDIZATION remains the main hurdle European Union (EU) countries will have to pass to see an increased uptake of electric vehicles, auto industry specialists at a recent conference in Brussels organized by the Public Policy Exchange has determined.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE BRITISH government will have to carefully assess whether its feed-in tariff system gives unfair advantages to UK-based utilities and their suppliers, following a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) disputes case brought by China. It has argued that Italy and Greece have broken WTO fair trading laws by unfairly favouring local companies in contracts securing subsidies under feed-in tariff systems.…

BY LENA SMIRNOVA, IN MOSCOW

BUSINESS coaching classes may not require students to swallow pills, don ear muffs and wiggle in straightjackets, but for some Russian businessmen this is a novel practice that appears similar to a traditional psychological experiment. And it is one they are often hesitant to participate in.…

BY BLAKE BERRY, IN WARSAW; JOHN PAGNI, IN HELSINKI; DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS; LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA, ITALY; CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; MJ DESCHAMPS; AND ALAN OSBORN

IF you are a biofuel manufacturer, you could be forgiven for being frustrated with the complexity of the market in Europe.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, IN LONDON

Professor Guido Rasi, executive director of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has told Manufacturing Chemist of his concerns about the availability of medicines in the European Union (EU).

Speaking in his office at EMA headquarters in London’s Canary Wharf, Professor Rasi said EMA wanted "to see what role we can play and what counsel we can give in respect of the problem of the (drug) shortages."…

BY ALAN OSBORN

Last minute efforts are underway to rescue the European Union’s (EU) Erasmus student exchange programme which has been threatened, among other EU activities, by budget cuts ordered by the EU Council of Ministers. The key date is November 9th when representatives of the Council will conclude 21 days of negotiations

with delegates from the European Parliament in a "Conciliation Council" to see if funding can be restored.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s energy committee has rejected attempts to introduce a moratorium on offshore gas drilling in the Arctic, overruling a contrary vote by the EP’s environment committee last month. Instead, the committee proposed new amendments to a proposed law on European Union (EU) oil and gas exploration, ensuring that companies have ‘adequate financial security’ to cover liabilities from any drilling accidents in all EU waters.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

THE European Parliament’s special committee on organised crime is considering whether to recommend a European Union (EU)-wide definition of mafia-related crimes. Other draft anti-mafia proposals going through committee include finally pushing ahead with long-standing proposals to create an EU public prosecutor coordinating the defence of member states’ financial interests.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a strategy designed to encourage the growth of cloud computing and data services, especially through the development of common standards and certification.

Brussels’ policy paper (called a Communication) ‘Unleashing the potential of cloud computing in Europe’ is a wide-ranging action plan that is designed especially to promote interoperability between cloud services.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA; MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, IN MUMBAI; WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI; AND LEAH GERMAIN

DESPITE the financial storm clouds that have disrupted Europe’s economy over the past few years, the continent’s luxury apparel sector has proved remarkably resilient, with global demand for their products rising.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

CLOTHING labels worldwide are usually a standard read, with fibre names such as ‘cotton,’ ‘nylon’ and ‘polyester’ – apparel compositions which remain generally constant from season to season. When it comes to luxury textiles and apparel, however, there seem to be more evolving trends in terms of fibres used – along with more dynamic changes in supply and demand.…

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 LEE ADENDORFF, IN ITALY

WHILE trade fairs remain the primary channel for finding suppliers for any kind of fabric, the sourcing of luxury fabrics and fibres has seen a small revolution over the last decade – thanks in large part to the development of web-based technologies that have integrated face-to-face contact with online services.…

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.…

BY ROBERT STOKES

Uncertainty over feed-in tariffs has dogged development of the solar power industry in parts of Europe such as Spain where it once thrived on subsidies.

In concentrated solar power (CSP) arrays, mirrors guided by tracking systems focus sunlight onto a small area where a working fluid becomes hot enough to produce steam to drive electric turbines.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA, ITALY

Student groups are threatening protest action after the Italian parliament gave the final green light to a law on Tuesday (Aug 7), giving universities the power to raise fees for students who are taking too long to complete their studies.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

HIGHER value cigarette brands are gaining favour in Peru’s fast growing economy even as its tobacco industry tries to counter a trend back towards illicit purchases of single sticks, for which it blames tax and anti-tobacco legislation.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF

The rector of one of Italy’s top technical universities has told University World News that recently introduced merit-based public funding of higher education could lead to the emergence of a handful of highly competitive research universities in the country.…

BY MARK ROWE

CROATIA has a strong tradition of knitting that features heavily in the traditions of the country’s rural hinterland and this could stand its knitwear sector in good stead for the country’s 2013 accession to the European Union (EU).…

BY MARK ROWE

CROATIA will join the European Union (EU) in one year’s time (on July 1, 2013), and while the country’s low wages offer opportunities to sell local textiles and clothing into the EU, the Croatian sector could be in better shape.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

PERU’S clothing and textile industry has been moving up market to carve out sales in a sector whose low end continues to be dominated by Asian suppliers, and the country’s dyeing and finishing sector is benefiting.…

BY JONATHAN GILBERT, IN BUENOS AIRES

ARGENTINA’S increasingly protectionist government is under fire from local ham purchasers after confirming that it was blocking imports of Spanish and Italian ham as it seeks to protect domestic meat producers.

Anger is growing in Europe over Argentina’s controls on a wide range of imported goods with the European Union (EU) launching disputes proceedings at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) last month (May 25) against the South American nation, alleging it is violating international trade rules.…

BY JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

PERU’S clothing and textile industry has been moving up market to carve out sales in a sector whose low end continues to be dominated by Asian suppliers, and the country’s dyeing and finishing sector is benefiting.…

BY MARK ROWE

WITH its location adjacent to Europe’s key fashion centre Italy, a highly skilled labour force and low wages, Albania’s textile industry is repositioning itself amid the unrelenting economic crisis that is gripping Europe. A well-educated workforce and widely spoken Italian, English and Greek add to the appeal, according to Diana Cekhodima Sokolaj, president of the Albanian Fashion Designers Association.…

BY KITTY SO

FORD, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, Mazda, and Hyundai: the list of car manufacturers switching to bioplastics for internal components is full of heavyweights and growing.

Attracted initially by environmental benefits, car makers and their suppliers now ask what added functionality they can get from non-compostable, bio-based materials.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

Fast fashion has had a fundamental impact on the apparel industry in the space of just a few decades, with global fashion giants such as Zara and H&M demonstrating a previously unthinkable production speed, with the ability to get a garment from concept to store in less than 12 weeks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

The European Union (EU) is set to improve prevention of major-accident hazards involving dangerous chemicals used for metal processing. The EU Council of Ministers yesterday (June 26) approved a new EU directive that will replace the existing Seveso II chemical explosion prevention directive by June 1, 2011.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

WHILE the most common selling points for apparel used to be that that they would keep you warm (or cool) – and look good at the same time – rapid advancements in technology have been creating a whole new industry of ‘smart’ fabrics, which can offer all sorts of intelligent, functional properties to its wearers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS the troubles of the Euro cast doubts over the viability of key European Union’s (EU) economic policies, the EU appears to have rediscovered ambition in crafting EU institutions and programmes for fighting commercial crime. Keith Nuthall reports.…

BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, IN ROME

Italy may not have the strongest tobacco black market, but it is a key portal into Europe for smuggling. This is fuelled by Italy’s long-coastline and strong organised crime organisations. Italian law enforcement has been fighting the problem, making seizures.…

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 LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA

The Politecnico di Milano, one of Italy’s leading technical universities, has announced that from the beginning of the 2014 academic year, all Master of Science and PhD courses will be taught exclusively in English. The switch to English at the expense of Italian however has met with opposition from some of the institution’s professors, and 285 have signed a petition to the Rector.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE BUZZ around intelligent textiles and garments may have continued for about a decade, with research projects and prototypes cropping up worldwide – however, the industry stays tip-toing on the brink of success, with barriers remaining in terms of consumer demand, cost and applications.…

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 CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS

The European Commission’s higher education chief has defended the European Union’s (EU) planned U-Multirank university rankings system against its critics. Speaking at the annual international symposium on university rankings and quality assurance which took place in Brussels on Thursday, Jordi Curell, the Commission directorate general (DG) for education and culture’s director of lifelong learning, higher education and international affairs, admitted: "When we started working on the project of U-Multirank, many people from the higher education community opposed to it".…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD AND JONATHAN DYSON, IN LIMA

SOME of world’s most coveted fibres, Vicuña, Guanaco, Alpaca and Llama, all hail from rugged Andean region in South America. Vicuña fibre, known locally and in the trade as the "gold of the Andes" and "the fabric of the gods" is a key part of the global high-end luxury market for rare and superfine fibres.…

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; DAVID HAYHURST, IN PARIS; LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA; BLAKE BERRY, IN WARSAW; AND ALAN OSBORN

RISING energy prices and Europe’s continuing economic malaise has increased fuel poverty across the continent. The UK government defines fuel poverty as where to heat a home to an adequate standard of warmth, a household must spend more than 10% of its income.…

BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, IN ROME.

The salvage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship which crashed off the island of Giglio, off Tuscany, Italy, in January is due to begin soon and is expected to yield around 45,000 tonnes of scrap steel.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ALUMINA producers in Ireland, Italy and France have escaped an order from the European Commission that they pay their respective governments additional excise duty for heavy fuel oil they bought between 2002 and 2003. Brussels had told them to pay up because the companies had enjoyed a reduced rate of duty, which the Commission concluded was an illegal disguised subsidy.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, IN LUCCA

The threat of increased fees for Italian students looks set to become a reality in the near future as universities wrestle with shrinking state funding and budget shortfalls. While the technocrat government headed by Mario Monti tries to pass a massive reform package liberalising diverse sectors of the economy and jump-starting growth, the issue of university funding and competitiveness is coming to a head.…

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 KACI RACELMA, IN TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA; AND PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

COMMERCIAL crime may not be as omnipresent in North Africa as in some other parts of the world, but companies operating in the region have risks to contend with.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is to further reduce its maximum rates for mobile roaming tariffs from July 1, and also introduce cap EU mobile data service charges for the first time. Under a deal struck between the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, these would cost no more than Euro EUR0.70 cents from that day, with the cap falling to EUR0.45 cents in 2013 and EUR0.20 cents in 2014.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

BILATERAL trade agreements between European Union (EU) and emerging economies have helped cushion EU plastics moulders and machinery suppliers as more important domestic markets have weakened in recession and the Eurozone crisis.

It is a two-way street: lower priced machinery from China and India has made inroads into EU markets for applications requiring less technologically sophisticated kit.…

BY KACI RACELMA, IN TIZI OUZOU, ALGERIA

A TERRORIST attack on March 3 targeted the local headquarters of Algeria’s national rural police force ‘El Dark El Watani’ (in the southern Algerian border town of Tamanrasset with a booby-trapped car, leaving 23 people wounded.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has created a special committee of inquiry to probe how organised crime is infiltrating Europe’s economy, financial systems and governments and recommend ways of fighting its influence. Committee members will question business, police, judges, victims’ organisations and civil society groups.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, IN BRUSSELS

‘CELEBRITY’ fragrances have become such a huge industry that even the Pope now has his own eau de cologne – according to Italian perfumer Silvana Casoli, (whose clients include Madonna and the King of Spain), this unique blend reflects the German pontiff’s love of Bavarian forests and their flora and fauna, creating an aura of "peace and tranquility".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a second European Court of Justice (ECJ) case in six months where it is seeking the repayment of what it regards as illegal subsidies paid to metal companies in Sardinia, Italy.

Last September, Brussels started an ongoing ECJ case seeking the repayment of Euro EUR25 million claimed illegal fuel oil subsidies paid to Russian-controlled Eurallumina SpA, which operates the Mediterranean island’s Portoscuso aluminium plant.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN government is to fund a Euro EUR9 million United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)-coordinated project promoting HIV/AIDS medicine production in South Africa. UNIDO said that the scheme would help develop a good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant line of production to manufacture vaccines in South Africa and conduct a therapeutic clinical trial with an anti-HIV vaccine candidate developed at the Italian Institute of Health (ISS).…

STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ITALIAN MEP is pressing the European Commission to propose European Union (EU) labelling controls on cosmetics to inform gluten intolerant consumers if this substance is present in products such as lipsticks, lip balms and lip pencils.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is coming under pressure to act against child labour in the global cocoa sector, with proposals being debated at the European Parliament to track cocoa produced with the help of children. That could mean an EU law creating a monitoring system making it clear to consumers where cocoa products risked being tainted by child labour, maybe through the "possible introduction of ‘child-labour free’ product labelling," said a draft report from the EP’s international trade committee.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, MJ DESCHAMPS, AND JULIAN RYALL

The management challenge of introducing increasingly sophisticated labels is compounded by the continuing diversity of labelling laws worldwide. These can be a major headache for textile and clothing companies, especially those with global supply chains.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening Italy with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over a restriction it imposes on generic drug manufacturers. Italian law prevents them from filing marketing authorisation requests before the penultimate year of a patent’s expiry which Brussels says breaks EU genetic medicine legislation.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, IN LUCCA, ITALY

FICTION by popular media personalities dominated Italian bestseller lists over Christmas and the New Year. Radio and TV host Fabio Volo blitzed bestseller lists with his latest novel ‘Le prime luci del mattino’ (the first light of morning) – in market leader Mondadori’s top-five right through the first week of January.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy

ITALY: Chinese university to open branch in Florence

Lee Adendorff

Ties between Italy and Chinese academic institutions are set to strengthen with the opening of a branch of eastern China’s Ningbo University in Florence. A campus building has been identified in the Tuscan capital for exclusive use by Ningbo and the first Chinese professors and students will arrive in September.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PLASTICS companies selling products and materials in the European Union (EU) will have to check whether they are using seven ingredients placed on an EU list of substances of potential very high concern regarding damage to the environment and human health.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

IN an economic climate where industries are trying to cut costs left and right, it only makes sense that the converting industry at large – a key element of many manufacturing sectors – has been raising the bar when it comes to waste handling and recycling.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

THE ONGOING influx of more complex, scientific formulations in anti-aging creams, skin care solutions and more, paired with an economic climate that does not exactly allow its consumers much breathing room for frugality, is highlighting the need for cosmetics packaging to keep products fresh.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINNERS

TUNISIA

Of all the countries disrupted by the Arab Spring revolts in 2011, Tunisia liberated itself in the swiftest and most business-friendly fashion. This key European supplier rid itself of despotic President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali on January14, and one week later, its textile and clothing sector was back at work.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RETAIL – WINNERS AND LOSERS

WINNERS

MARKS & SPENCER

Times may still be tough in its home British market, but M&S showed forward-thinking foresight in 2011- on sourcing transparency and the environment: potential key issues for future consumers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WINNERS

VF

In one of 2011’s biggest deals, US-based VF announced its plans to buy major footwear brand Timberland in a US$2bn takeover. As well as boosting earnings by US$700m a year, the purchase would leverage VF platforms in Europe, Asia and Latin America, and boost e-commerce operations.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

FROM fabrics that moisturise and kill bacteria to bizarre weather and media scandals, the global style sector in 2011 certainly had its share of unusual news and unpredictable developments.

The year started off with the backlash of December’s massive snowstorms disrupting post-Christmas shopping along the northern east coast in the US, causing an abrupt halt to a two-month spending spree which began at the beginning of November 2010.…

BY PETER DA COSTA

The European fashion industry’s big names have been told by European Union (EU) industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani that their design and craftsmanship would enable the sector to hold its own in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Speaking at a lunch in Brussels yesterday, attended by just-style, Tajani said European fashion design needed to be guided by demanding tastes of Europe’s customers at home rather than the demands of retailers abroad, and quality would surely follow: "European fashion is for consumers, not only companies", he said.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND AMELIA SMITH, IN LONDON

THE NEW authorities in Libya are optimistic about the future of oil production and the role of international oil companies (IOCs) in the rebuilding of the country, now the Gaddafi regime has been destroyed.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

ASK a school supplies business owner in Beijing why she loves a certain knitted cashmere line and her response might make you blush.

"Thermal underwear, great!" laughs Liu Qiao, 47. "I bought a pair of cashmere long johns for my husband last year and he loves them.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

INTERNATIONAL luxury fashion brands are trying to tap India’s fast growing westerns-style clothing ready-to-wear market and at the same time improving their sourcing chains for luxury fabrics.

At an October (11) conference – ‘Dialogue on Luxury – Making India a Source and Destination of Luxury’ – held in New Delhi, big brands Altagamma, Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo and Jimmy Choo announced their expansion plans in India and discussed strategies to make their Indian business more profitable.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

A POTENTIAL liberalisation of Chinese luxury good import tariffs could lower the price of high-end cashmere goods in China, bringing them closer to Hong Kong and Europe prices, an international conference has been told.

The move has been spurred by a boom in personal imports by travelling wealthy Chinese.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has confirmed betraying fellow cartel members to the European Commission does not always wipe-out European Union (EU) anti-trust fines – whistleblowers must not assist former comrades at all.

Italian tobacco company Deltafina warned a tobacco cartel ring it had told the Commission about their illegal alliance, for leniency on fines.…

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 MJ DESCHAMPS

BETWEEN rising costs for raw materials and a global push towards more environmentally-friendly production, label converters and equipment manufacturers are becoming increasingly focused on getting things done right the first time; and getting them done quickly, at that.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

FieldFresh Foods, a venture between India’s Bharti Enterprises and Singapore-listed Del Monte Pacific, has launched pasta sauces across India.

The venture has started to sell the products throughout India as demand for Italian food grows and producers vie for market share.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is staging a re-evaluation of the sweetener aspartame after it agreed to bring forward from 2020 a scheduled inquiry, despite recent scientific assessments failing to reveal fresh concerns about the sweetener.

Indeed, EFSA reviewed the latest studies on aspartame only in April, but accepted a European Commission request for a new study.…

BY MICHAEL KOSMIDES, IN ATHENS

A spectre is haunting Europe: the spectre of a possible Greek Euro exit and default. GrExit, as it has been termed, could have catastrophic repercussions for European and possibly the global economy or it could provide some kind of solution for the troubled Eurozone and the heavily indebted country.…

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

Pantelleria Airport, located on the small, volcanic island of Pantelleria in the Strait of Sicily, is about to become the first airport in Italy to make use of an innovative new co-generation technology project co-funded by the US’s Solergy Inc.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE FORMER owners of cosmetics companies bearing their own names can block the trademarking of these titles by subsequent owners, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. This judgment came in a case involving Italian fashion designer Elio Fiorucci who had sold Fiorucci SpA and its intellectual property to Edwin Co Ltd, of Japan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved without condition the proposed acquisition of Italian luxury goods company Bulgari by France’s Moët Hennessy-Louis Vuitton Group (LVMH) of France. Both sell high end cosmetics and perfumes, but a Commission competition inquiry concluded "the combined activities of LVMH and Bulgari do not give rise to high market shares under any plausible market definition."…

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

EUROPE is perhaps the world’s most diverse continent, culturally, socially and economically, and so it is maybe little surprise that its successful co-generation projects are extremely varied.…

BY JUSTIN STARES

ACCOUNTANTS could help the European Union’s (EU) anti-fraud watchdog track down embezzlers, according to the newly appointed chief. In an interview at his Brussels office Giovanni Kessler, director general of European anti-fraud office OLAF, believes there is room for greater involvement of the private sector in both uncovering fraudsters and reporting fraud.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is drafting legislation seeking to break regulatory and financial logjams preventing the European Union (EU) achieving ambitious planned gas infrastructure investments. A Commission working paper predicts the proposal will come in October and warned red-tape and financial shortages are potentially delaying cross-border interconnection and pipeline projects worth billions of Euros.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

RECYCLING products as large as motor vehicles; or encouraging public authorities to buy environment-friendly autos seem such good ideas, laws insisting this happens is surely just commonsense? Not so in Europe, it would appear, where a string of countries are in trouble for not implementing the European Union’s recent (EU) green procurement directive; and one – Italy – is facing potential legal action for flouting the EU’s end-of-life vehicles (ELV) directive, even though these was approved in the year 2000.…

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 MJ DESCHAMPS

THE LORO Piana family started out as Italian merchants of wool and cashmere fabrics at the beginning of the 19th century, providing lush textiles for use in high-end garments. Almost 200 years later, the Quarona, northwest Italy-based Loro Piana brand is still family-owned and dedicated to providing the finest of luxury knitwear to customers, and has, despite market pressures, managed to succeed in the luxury sector without having to move production abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Commission-funded online technology platform has highlighted an Italian-made high-tech container for dyes, inks, and other chemicals designed to reduce hazardous waste by as much as 90%. Poli-Box Italiana has developed this ‘Eco-Rivest’ product. Its innovation is an inner removable coating made from aluminium and polyethylene which separates the containers from chemicals, disposing of the need for washing and hence water pollution.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

ITALIANS have voted overwhelmingly against a return to nuclear power, repealing regulation that allowed for the construction of new reactors in a national referendum held on Sunday and Monday. On the nuclear question 54.79% of citizens responded, and 94.05% of these voted against the reconstruction of nuclear reactors in Italy.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

EARLIER this year the search of the house of a notorious octogenarian loan shark in Naples made headlines in Italy. The news was given particular attention not because of the elderly gentleman’s reputation as one of the city’s most prominent usurers, but because of the amount of money investigators found hidden in his home: over Euro EUR5 million (US dollars USD7.15 million) in cash stashed behind tiles and false walls together with hundreds of thousands of Euros in debtor cheques.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Commission review of the 2004 paints directive has led to Brussels concluding it will not propose expanding the products covered by its volatile organic compounds (VOC) emission limits or tightening them for vehicle refinishing products. Both topics were subjects of a mandatory assessment by Brussels.…

BY MARK GODFREY

THE NEW high speed train line linking Beijing with Shanghai has caught the public imagination this year, while the Chinese capital is still proceeding with plans for a second airport. Beijing Capital International Airport (BCIA) ranked second worldwide in passenger through-put in 2010, with 73 million users moving through the airport.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS

ITALIAN hosiery specialist Golden Lady has started building its third factory in western Serbia, its second in the city of Loznica. With this latest Euro EUR6 million investment, the company’s total investment in Serbia since 2005 will exceed Euro EUR100 million.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS

BENETTON is to invest Euro EUR43 million in clothing factory it is purchasing in the southern Serbian city of Nis, in a bid to strengthen its position in the Balkans.

The Italian knitwear giant is expected to become an official owner of the currently government-owned Nis-based ‘Nitex’ textile factory after a sale set for May 13.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH

THE MANAGING director of Perfetti Van Melle India Pvt. Ltd (PVMI) has told just-food his company’s move into salty snacks is based on the appetites of upwardly mobile Indians. After enjoying success with brands such as Alpenliebe, Center Fresh, Mentos and Happydent, PVMI – a fully-owned subsidiary of Italian confectionary conglomerate Perfetti Van Melle – has entered the lucrative branded Indian snack market.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF and ALAN OSBORN

THE HIGH profile arrest in 2009 of a Sicilian businessman involved in the renewable energy sector and the subsequent seizure of his assets worth over Euro EUR1.5 billion in 2010, threw the international spotlight onto a problem Italian authorities have been grappling with for some time: the use of ‘clean energy’ industries such as wind and solar farms to launder mafia funds.…

BY ALAN OSBORN and LEE ADENDORFF

AS a rapidly growing sector with heavy funding and lax controls, Italy’s green energy industry has increasingly attracted infiltration from Mafia groups seeking to intercept investment and escape notice. With shady international dealings only recently coming under scrutiny, authorities are stepping up countermeasures with hopes of curbing a spreading trend.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

THE ITALIAN government has put the country’s rebooted nuclear programme into a holding pattern, introducing an amendment yesterday that will extend indefinitely a moratorium on the construction of new reactors. The Cabinet has been charged meanwhile with the formulation of a new energy strategy that takes into account "the position of the European Union (EU) and of competent international authorities", which as regards nuclear energy, is of course currently in flux.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MAJOR investments in renewable energy are being plotted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as the European Union (EU) tries to make good on its renewable energy directive targets.

The latest project memoranda at the EIB show plans to lend up to Euro EUR300 million to leading Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo (and subsidiaries Mediocredito Italiano and Leasint) for on-lending to renewable and energy efficiency projects.…

BY KARRYN MILLER

ON first impressions Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s two largest metropolises, seem a far cry from the fashion capitals of the world. Their wide boulevards overflow with heavy traffic and are mostly lined with small family-owned stores and restaurants, rather than well-known brands.…

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

THE EUROPEAN Commission has laid down the gauntlet to the fossil fuel sector, releasing a comprehensive long-term strategy that would halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030, phasing them out in cities by 2050.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE IDEA that money laundering is perhaps the most pervasive crime within the modern world, where technology helps the dishonest conceal their ill-gotten gains, was recognised at the highest spiritual level this past December 30. A legal order named a ‘motu proprio’ (which means ‘of his own accord’) in Latin, was issued through an apostolic letter by Pope Benedict XVI, creating an ‘Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (AIF)’ to examine the financial affairs of the Vatican City State and the Holy See, which effectively runs the Roman Catholic Church.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE GENERAL Court of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that Italy’s Oyster Cosmetics cannot secure European Union (EU)-wide trademark rights to its ‘Oyster Cosmetics’ brand. The court backed German rival Kadabell’s opposition because of potential confusion with its established ‘oystra’ cosmetics brand.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE FUEL pipeline network around the Caspian and Black Seas increasingly resembles a London Underground map, a comparison enhanced by the latest potential addition to the lattice, known as the AGRI scheme.

AGRI, the acronym for the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Interconnector, is a proposal for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) transportation across the Black Sea.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

HUNGARY, which currently holds the European Union’s (EU’s) rotating presidency, made a little noticed promise in January to put organised crime well and truly on the EU agenda. Commercial Crime International attended a Brussels conference where senior figures admitted the EU’s response has been far too weak.…

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 KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is to assess whether a European Union (EU)-wide ban on plastic bags is feasible and a good idea in principle, an official has told Plastics & Rubber Weekly. A spokesperson for the Commission’s environment directorate general Monica Westeren said: "There’s a willingness to look into the issue.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

THE ITALIAN Cabinet has approved a moratorium on Italy’s planned nuclear energy expansion programme for at least a year following an outpouring of public concern over the recent nuclear accident in Japan. In a statement released Wednesday the government confirmed that the expansion, which had been expected involve the construction of four new plants, would be put on hold "to be able to take considered and serene decisions not conditioned by the emotions of the moment".…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

AS companies are constantly trying to appeal to consumers by offering attractive and practical new packaging innovations, bag and sack converters are also continually looking for new ways to make the converting process as seamless and state-of-the-art as possible.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

BEING beautiful is a full-time occupation for many Brazilians, and clothing retail necessarily benefits from their dedication – as their country grows wealthier, its luxury clothing market can only grow.

In 2010, AT Kearney rated Brazil as the number one developing apparel market in the world, due to rising incomes and a youthful population (60% under the age of 30), unusually fascinated with fashion.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

AS production costs rise and environmental regulations tighten worldwide, manufacturers in the clothing and textile industry are looking for ways of dealing with their production waste as economically as possible. That, however, can never mean simply choosing the cheapest option, rather the smartest.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered the recovery of electricity bill subsidies paid in Sardinia to three non-ferrous metal producers. Brussels had already decided that the handouts were illegal, but the decision to order their repayment follows long inquiries and arguments with the Italian government.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, KEITH NUTHALL and MJ DESCHAMPS

EUROPEAN Union (EU) governments are facing a political crossroads on a key question whose answer will have an important impact on the EU knitwear sector – both manufacturers and retail. That is the issue of rules of origin and whether there should be an EU-wide law that says clothing and accessories (plus a wide range of other manufactured goods) should be sold with labels saying which country they are made in, if they are imported from outside the EU.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN Space Agency (ASI) has discovered the location an Italian oil tanker Savina Caylyn, hijacked last month (February) by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. According to radar images from the agency’s Cosmo-SkyMed satellites, the seized ship was about 330 km off the Somalia coast, information being relayed to the Italian Maritime Rescue Coordinate Centre Headquarters, Rome

ENDS…

BY LEE ADENDOORF, ALYSSA MCMURTRY, MAKKI MARSEILLES, and KEITH NUTHALL

GLOBAL olive oil manufacturing is on a roll, with the International Olive Council (IOC) saying 2009-10 world production was 3.02 million tonnes, a season-on-season increase of 354,500 tonnes (+13%). This would be the second best olive oil production year ever, next only to the record of 3.17 million tonnes produced in 2003/04.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE NORTH Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is training trainers for Iraq’s specialist Oil Police force, which is tasked with protecting critical oil and gas infrastructure in the country. The first qualified trainers have now graduated, after instruction from NATO-assigned Italian Carabinieri (military police).…

BY WANG FANGQING

IN maybe one of the most telling signs that China is opening up to the west, as much as it is exporting products there, that Chinese consumers are purchasing more olive oil and moreover, they are using it in a shift to a more cosmopolitan diet, including healthy Mediterranean-based recipes.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

ITALY: National accreditation becomes pre-requisite for tenure candidates

Lee Adendorff

The roll-out of a national accreditation scheme for academics was ordered by the Italian cabinet last week. Under the new scheme, applicants for associate or full professorships must first be accredited on the basis of the quality and quantity of their academic output by commissions of five senior academics appointed in each university.…

BY FLORENCE LABEDAYS

Michele Norsa is a discreet amicable man who does not seek personal publicity in his role as Chief Executive Officer of Italian luxury clothing company Salvatore Ferragamo. Impeccably-dressed at all times – pin-striped suit, pale blue shirt and red tie, when we met – as one would expect an Italian fashion executive to be, he has ease and approachability.…

BY JOSEPHINE MCKENNA, in Rome

ON the face of it the record is impressive. In the past 12 months Italian customs officials and other agents have carried out raids on counterfeiters from Milan in the north to Taranto in the south, seizing millions of euros’ worth fake fashion merchandise.…

BY MARIYA PETKOVA, BY ALAN OSBORN, BY PAUL COCHRANE, BY LEE ADENDOORF, BY MAKKI MARSEILLES AND VÉRONIQUE NARAME

THE EGYPTIAN political crisis could hardly have happened at a worse time for the European food industry, struggling to contain the significant increases in commodity prices of 2010.…

BY ZLATKO CONKAS, KEITH NUTHALL

SERBIA is the latest European country to start formal accession negotiations with the European Union (EU) and as it prepares to joins the EU, its auto sector will have increasingly unfettered access to the EU’s 500 million consumer market.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

OVER the past five years Egypt has cemented its position as a fashion hub for European and American high street brands, with average annual garment exports earning the country US dollars USD2 billion, yet domestic labels are generally not exported and high-end clothing manufacturing is still very niche.…

By Lee Adendorff

A controversial university reform bill was passed in the Italian parliament on Tuesday despite high profile protests around the country. Tens of thousands of students occupied train stations, airports, highways and even monuments such as the leaning tower of Pisa and the Coliseum, paralysing city and inter-city traffic and at times clashing with police.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE REFORM of the European Union’s (EU) sector was supposed to be good news for its confectionery industry – lowering prices, while guaranteeing supplies. But it did not work out that way, said a report from the EU’s financial watchdog, the European Court of Auditors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE REFORM of the European Union’s (EU) sector was supposed to be good news for its confectionery industry – lowering prices, while guaranteeing supplies. But it did not work out that way, said a report from the EU’s financial watchdog, the European Court of Auditors.…

BY Lee Adendorff

A controversial university reform bill was passed in the Italian parliament on Tuesday despite high profile protests around the country. Tens of thousands of students occupied train stations, airports, highways and even monuments such as the leaning tower of Pisa and the Coliseum, paralysing city and inter-city traffic and at times clashing with police.…

By Lee Adendoorf

Thousands of students and temporary teachers gathered in the squares of major cities across Italy this week (on November 17) to protest against education cuts and a university reform package under scrutiny in the Italian Parliament.

Their demonstrations came despite the passing of an amendment to a budget ‘stability’ bill the previous day that will see one billion euros injected back into Italy’s higher education sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE MULTILATERAL Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) of the World Bank is planning to guarantee a US dollar USD2.1 million investment in Uganda by Italian chocolate producer Icam. This would fund the building of three cocoa processing plants, operated by subsidiary Icam Chocolate Uganda Limited in three cocoa-producing regions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has unveiled its gas infrastructure investment priorities for the next 20 years. They are pipeline and other transit projects delivering gas directly from the Caspian Sea to Europe; integrating the Baltic gas market, connecting it to central and southeast Europe; and boosting north-south infrastructure in western Europe to remove internal bottlenecks.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS, KEITH NUTHALL

THE KNITWEAR sector, especially at the higher end of the market spectrum, is a prey for organised counterfeiters. Sophisticated illicit manufacturers, especially in emerging markets, create copies of established brands, that can be high enough quality to fool, but poor enough to disappoint the consumer after a few wears.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

EUROPE’S food manufacturing industry has been generally positive about the European Commission’s new priorities to reform the European Union’s (EU) common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2013, released in a policy paper yesterday – but its representatives want more concrete action.…

BY ANDREW MCEWEN

CHINA’S domestic cashmere market appears to be booming, figures released at the fourth annual Cashmere World trade show in Beijing demonstrate. Chinese imports of cashmere products increased 153% to US dollars USD13.2 million from January to July this year (compared with the same period last year), said Tian Hong, director of the CFNA (China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Foodstuffs, Native Produce & Animal By-Products) at the National Convention Centre event from October 24-26.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A FINAL text of a new international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been agreed – protecting food manufacturers against illicit copies through tough criminal penalties for counterfeiters. This follows an agreement at ACTA talks in Tokyo this past weekend between the European Union (EU) and United States over the vexed question of brand rights versus geographical indication protection.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

THE INDIAN luxury apparel market is starting to take off and major international brands are preparing to exploit the opportunities, a New Delhi conference was told this week. Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The Economic Times-organised ‘Dialogue on Luxury, Making India a Source and Destination of Luxury’ event, Angela Ahrendts CEO of Burberry said her company was well placed to capitalise on this growing market segment.…

BY ALEX PESHKOV

A SPECIAL tanker built to haul radioactive waste from Andreyeva Bay, Russia’s Northern Fleet largest storage facility, will be launched at an Italian shipyard this month (November), Russian officials have told World Nuclear News. Russia hopes to completely clean up Andreyeva Bay, on the Kola Peninsular, near the Norwegian border, Europe’s largest radioactive waste burial ground, by 2020.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

SALES of new cars are still holding up surprisingly well despite the global downturn, but within a few years of their purchase, how many of them will be running on retread tyres?

The signs are that the market for retread and recycled tyres will grow, as world demand for rubber grows, particularly in China.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

NEW competitors for shipping gas to the European Union (EU) from the Caucasus are emerging, while Turkmenistan has announced a major new gas find. The Turkmen government is claiming guaranteed gas supplies to Europe, by quadrupling exports over the next 20 years, after unveiling a major new gas field.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

ITALY: One billion Euro funding injection for Italy’s southern universities

Lee Adendorff

Finally, some good news for Italy’s tertiary education: the minister for regional relationships and territorial cohesion Raffaele Fitto and education minister Mariastella Gelmini announced last Friday that more than Euro EUR1 billion of funding is to be injected into southern Italy’s universities.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS

DESPITE split opinions within the European Union (EU), long-debated legislative proposals to introduce compulsory origin labelling in all EU member states are at last starting to look like becoming law.

All clothing, shoes and textile products imported into the European Union (EU) would have to carry origin labels under a harmonised EU-system under the proposal.…

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 MJ DESCHAMPS

CLOTHING and textile products imported into the European Union (EU) will carry origin labels under a harmonised EU-system in future, if a regulation approved by the European Parliament’s international trade committee becomes law; the full parliament will now debate the proposal.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

ITALY: Poor funding and weak competition stunt Italian universities

Lee Adendorff

Full report on the University World News site

ITALY: Poor funding and weak competition stunt Italian universities

Lee Adendorff

Despite being home to Europe’s oldest higher education university, Italy has fared less than brilliantly in the latest Times Higher Education (THE) rankings.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

ASSET recovery is increasingly being regarded as an important law enforcement tool in Europe, with techniques becoming more sophisticated and integrated with prosecutions and investigations. The fundamental approach here is not new. ‘Go after the money’ has been a commonplace of law enforcement in the financial sector since at least the time of Al Capone.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF

With the rapidly escalating use of RFID on all levels of the supply chain, there are literally hundreds of shapes and sizes of tags and readers – not to mention software and associated electronic systems – available on the market.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF

NETWORKED clothing that can show you where it is at all times, talking to mirrors and shelves on the shop floor, is no longer the stuff of science fiction, but a reality developing rapidly in stores around the globe.…

BY Lee Adendorff

The beginning of the academic year in Italy has been delayed in dozens of universities as Italy’s ricercatori or assistant professors stage a series of protests throughout the country.

An estimated ten thousand or around half of the country’s assistant professors are refusing to teach non-obligatory classes to protest budget cuts and reforms currently under scrutiny in the Italian parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission and allied European Union (EU) member states are pressing ahead with drafting reforms to the EU dairy market, which would strengthen producers negotiating with wholesalers and retailers. The Belgian government (holding the EU presidency) and the Commission have promised to proceed, after 22 out of 27 member states backed changing EU dairy market rules at an EU Council of Ministers meeting.…

Lee Adendorff

The pension age for Italy’s aging professorial body could be lowered to 65 years under reforms currently being discussed in the Italian parliament, in an attempt to address what the education minister Mariastella Gelmini has described as an urgent need for ‘generational turnover’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, MJ DESCHAMPS

EUROPEAN car makers will push for additional changes to the controversial European Union (EU)-South Korea free trade agreement when it is placed before the European Parliament for ratification. The spokesperson for the European automobile manufacturers association ACEA Sigrid de Vries told wardsauto it wanted the deal’s text revised to help Europe’s auto sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALY imposes illegal controls on imports of bottled water from other European Union (EU) member states, claims the European Commission, which is threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The dispute focuses on standard bottled water, neither mineral nor spring water.…

BY WANG FANGQING

AS a country famous for mass production of textiles and garments, China has been, maybe surprisingly, importing more and more expensive fabrics from overseas. For example, China purchased 155,000 tonnes of wool from January to May 2010, up 15.2% year-on-year, with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa being the top three suppliers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

22

THE ITALIAN government is pushing the European Commission to create a regulation forcing European Union (EU) food manufacturers using tomato paste to declare the ingredient’s origin. It reported to the EU Council of Ministers that the import of "concentrate imported from China, which is of mediocre quality but very competitive in price" is damaging EU producers.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE GLOBAL recession and tentative recovery have certainly tested the ingenuity of luxury cosmetics brands, with producers keen to keep costs low – but without compromising on quality – with packaging being a critical issue.

After some uncertainty, the luxury arm of the sector appears to be recovering, and fine packaging is helping them recoup revenue.…

BY LEE ADENDOORF

ON the border between Italy and the Most Serene Republic of San Marino, Italian Finance Police are a common sight.

Their vigil took a technological twist last year with the appearance of mobile ‘plurisensor’ cameras possessing infrared and thermal sensors with the capacity to cross-reference motor registry databases, and detect vehicles carrying large sums of cash or valuables across the border.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agency OLAF is claiming focusing on larger frauds and referring smaller scams to national law enforcement agencies is paying off. More than 75% of cases closed in 2009 led to judicial or financial recovery proceedings, according the agency’s latest annual report.…

BY KELLY WETHERILLE

FOR years Japan has been the world’s largest market for luxury goods, but change seems to be imminently on the horizon. Although brands like Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton all still maintain several outlets throughout the country, many luxury brands are suffering due to a sluggish economy, which has helped trigger a newfound fascination with fast fashion.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IMAGINATION and guile continue to help fraudsters milk hundreds of millions of Euros from the European Union’s (EU) well-stocked budgets, explains the latest report from EU anti-fraud agency OLAF, writes Keith Nuthall.

OLAF spends a lot of money sniffing out fraud in the institutions and programmes of the EU and the payment of duties earmarked to fund this spending.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is helping the USA deal with the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Coordinated by the EU emergency response group, the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC), the EU will send oil skimmers and oil spill experts.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH,PAUL RIGG,LEE ADENDOORF,MAKKI MARSEILLES,E BLAKE BERRY,FLORENCE LABEDAYS,SYMON ROSS and KEITH NUTHALL

WATER utilities are maybe used to getting bad press. After all, we all need water, and we need and want it to be clean. When a water supplier fails, it is easy to make complaints and see them amplified in newspapers, television, radio and the Internet.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

FIAT Powertrain Technologies is moving ahead with a groundbreaking development of new dual-clutch transmissions, with the Italian government stepping forward with Euro EUR16 million in regional aid. The money will go to the Fiat subsidiary’s plant in Verrone, Piedmont, northern Italy, having been approved by the European Union (EU) executive, the European Commission, which regulates such government handouts.…

BY MARK GODFREY

EVEN as the Burmese government embarks on construction of an airport in its middle-of-nowhere capital Naypyidaw, traffic remains underwhelming at the county’s main international hub in Rangoon, officially known as Yangon.

Officially opened in May 2007, Yangon International Airport has so far struggled to justify its ambitious capacity of 2.7 million passengers per year set by Burma’s (official name Myanmar) Department of Transportation, which oversees the country’s airports.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH,PAUL RIGG,LEE ADENDOORF,MAKKI MARSEILLES,E BLAKE BERRY,FLORENCE LABEDAYS,SYMON ROSS and KEITH NUTHALL

WATER utilities are maybe used to getting bad press. After all, we all need water, and we need and want it to be clean. When a water supplier fails, it is easy to make complaints and see them amplified in newspapers, television, radio and the Internet.…

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 ERIC LYMAN

THE TRIAL of 11 international bankers and two officials from the City of Milan got underway on May 19 in connection with a series of 2005 bond issues in which the parties are accused of generating as much as Euro EUR100 million in illegal fees and interest.…

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 RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

ITALIAN-owned confectioner Perfetti Van Melle India has developed an innovative way of distributing 200,000 samples of its Mangofillz confectionery in Mumbai: hiring traditional lunch deliverers – the famous ‘Dabbawalas’ to hand them out.

Nikhil Sharma, Perfetti India senior controller marketing, said: "Dabbawalas pretty much play the role of the shopkeepers.…

BY LEAH GERMAIN

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) alert system for potentially dangerous consumer products, RAPEX has – unusually – warned of recalls for cosmetic products produced in the EU, rather than outside member states. German authorities have issued a sales ban on fingernail-modelling gel from Nail Scout, a German-based company.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CALLS have been made for major additional spending on European Union (EU) energy infrastructure, now a new European Commission team is in office.

The European Parliament’s industry committee has strengthened EU proposals to ensure member states have sufficient interconnected energy links to deal with any unexpected winter shortages.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project is developing a polymeric nano-composite designed to frame non-load bearing curtain exterior walls for buildings, replacing the aluminium and steel used in the past.

The FACOMP project, funded with Euro 954,000 from the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), involves British composites manufacturer Exel Composites, which is based in Runcorn, Cheshire, and is part of a Finnish-owned global group.…

BY MIRIAM ELDER

THE LUXURIOUS boutiques that line Stoleshnikov Pereulok (NOTE – SPELLING IS CORRECT), one of Moscow’s premiere shopping streets, stand eerily quiet these days. Stern-faced guards appear to spend more time chatting on their mobiles than swinging open doors for the Russian capital’s once teeming clientele.…

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 KEITH NUTHALL

CANADA – the world’s second largest country by geography – was created because of luxury clothing: the fur trade drove French and British explorers to its remote interior, creating ports and processing hubs, now major cities, such as Montréal and Toronto.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN government has been taken to task by the International Energy Agency (IEA) over "delays in the construction of new LNG [liquefied natural gas] facilities and renewable energy installations." However, in its latest detailed assessment of Italian energy policy, it acknowledges "the country has succeeded in diversifying gas supply routes, at least in terms of pipeline gas…"

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS a new European Union (EU) energy Commissioner takes office for the next five years, EU member states are stalling over a plan to inject Euro 50 billion into European energy research budgets over the next decade. The Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan released by the previous European Commission last October would involve a massive expansion of such spending from 2013 to 2019, but national governments have signalled nervousness.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

FOR manufacturers of cores, chucks, shafts and their accessories, these necessary pieces of converting machinery are not just basic equipment, resistant to change or innovation. As Emma Jackson reports, manufacturers across Europe and in the US have been innovating on all fronts – making greener, more efficient systems, increasing customer convenience, and embracing stronger and more resilient materials to make sure the equipment can withstand increasingly fast-paced converting processes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL, ANCA GURZU and DAVID HAWORTH

THE CONFECTIONERY manufacturing sector in the European Union (EU) has a new political boss in the shape of Romania’s Dacian Ciolo?, who became the EU’s latest agriculture Commissioner on February 10. Appointed amidst pledges he would be willing to use EU money to guarantee food production, he has promised to undertake a swift review of the EU’s reformed sugar regime.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

DECLARED "an energetic and seductive city" by Giorgio Armani, Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is a hotspot for fashion and design. Often called the ‘Paris of Latin America’, Buenos Aires consumers are well known for favouring trendy attire, and Argentine designers are developing a reputation globally for their creativity and excellent fashion sense.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

THE NEW team of European Union (EU) Commissioners due to assume office for the next five years on February 1 are expected to revamp the EU’s nanotechnology legislation, an issue of critical importance to the personal care product industry.…

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 EMMA JACKSON

MUCH like the rest of the world, the cosmetics industry has been swept up in the push to provide green packaging, and the global recession does not appear to have stopped this market segment from performing healthily. In 2009 alone, environmentally responsible packaging sales were worth more than US$88 billion dollars globally, 20% of the total packaging market, according to US-based clean technology analyst Pike Research.…

BY EMMA JACKSON, KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, PAUL COCHRANE and BILL CORCORAN

WEST Africa is becoming a key region in the booming trade of illicit cigarettes, counterfeit copies of premium brands and smuggled properly branded and manufactured sticks. So much money is being made by criminals using this often-chaotic region as a hub to receive illicit sticks and then distribute them throughout Africa that this trade is becoming a matter of serious concern to the United Nations and even NATO.…

BY EMMA JACKSON and KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN politician appointed to become the European Union’s (EU) next industry Commissioner has promised a review of EU non-road mobile machinery regulations by this July. Speaking to a European Parliament confirmation hearing in Strasbourg, Antonio Tajani said: "When it comes to the regulation for tractors (and other equipment), that would be within the first six months of this year."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN politician nominated to become the European Union’s (EU) new industry commissioner Antonio Tajani has said he is ready to fight cheap Chinese auto exports by promoting quality and investment, especially on pollution and safety.

Speaking at a European Parliament confirmation hearing last night (Jan 18) in Strasbourg, France, he said: "We cannot compete if the Chinese are able to, really, take the bottom out of the market.…

BY MARK ROWE

MOLDOVA would appear to fit the description of a far away country about which the world knows nothing. But its location, adjacent to Romania, (one of the two most recent European Union (EU) member states, Ukraine, the Black Sea and the disputed, politically uncertain region of Transnistria (which remains formally part of Moldovan territory, while its government has little authority there), is extremely familiar, and favoured, by counterfeit cigarette producers and traffickers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

RUSSIA and Ukraine appear to have headed off an oil transit dispute that could have created a repeat of last year’s major disruption of European natural gas supplies. Moscow and Kiev have signed an agreement increasing by 30% the fees Ukraine charges on transporting Russian oil to the European Union (EU) – this alters a 2004 contract and the change had sparked a diplomatic tussle.…

BY EMMA JACKSON AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN politician nominated to become the European Union’s (EU) new industry commissioner has said he would push for tougher restrictions on lead and cadmium in the EU, if a current review concludes they are necessary.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA

INTRODUCTION

"INDIA can emerge as a leader in the global food processing industry," said Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in December 2009 while addressing a conference of food processing ministers of different Indian states in New Delhi, noting the country’s US$100 billion food processing sector grew by 14.7% in 2009.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN politician nominated the European Union’s (EU) new industry commissioner Antonio Tajani has said he would push hard to release credit for hard-pressed clothing and textile small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Tajani said he would use the European Commission’s political muscle to push banks into lending more to small businesses.…

BY EMMA JACKSON AND KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN politician nominated to become the European Union’s (EU) new industry commissioner Antonio Tajani has said he would push hard to release credit for hard-pressed clothing and textile small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Agreeing that SMEs were the beating heart of Europe’s clothing sector, Tajani said he would use the European Commission’s political muscle to push banks into lending more to small businesses.…

BY ALAN OSBORN,ANCA GURZU and KEITH NUTHALL

THE GLOBAL trade in illicit tobacco is huge and growing and a significant source of dirty money worldwide. Tobacco multinational British American Tobacco (BAT) estimates that 6.3% of cigarettes worldwide are illicit products (either counterfeit, smuggled or sold domestically on the black market), which makes 332 billion sticks, and that is a lot of cigarettes.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES

WITH so much competition in design and price within the apparel and textile sector, manufacturers are always looking for an edge. One way in which they can steal a march on competitors is with fibre innovation. And with new technology allowing the incorporation of increasingly complex arrays of chemicals and particles, even on the nano-scale, the opportunities to develop a revolutionary new fibre or mix of fibres are maybe greater today than ever before.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, ERIC LYMAN and KEITH NUTHALL

INTRODUCTION

THE ITALIAN wine industry hit rock bottom a generation ago, when thousands of bottles of Italian wine were found laced with deadly levels of methanol, a key ingredient in antifreeze that had been used to raise the alcohol content of the wine.…

BY GEORGE STONE

GHANA, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are Africa’s latest upstream hotspots as major energy firms seek new provinces outside of regional heavyweight oil producers Nigeria and Angola. But jockeying for position has already led to friction between governments and the industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A YEAR of struggle would be the best way to sum up 2009 as far as the global clothing and textile industry is concerned. The depth and severity of the worldwide recession left many clothing and textile companies reeling, even impacting upon China, which had previously been dominating global markets.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A CLEAR signal that the end is nigh for the European Union’s (EU) free stimulus spending on Europe’s auto sector has been made with the announcement of nominations for a new European Commission to take office, probably, in February.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A SIGNIFICANT increase in production at Pirelli’s new tyre plant at Slatina, Romania, is anticipated after the company announced it had secured a Euro 50 million loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB). The European Union’s (EU) largest public financing institution lends at llomg-term competitive rates, and in a statement the Italian company said the loan would finance more output of car and light commercial vehicle tyres at the plant, which opened in 2005.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, WANG FANGQING, and ANCA GURZU

FOR consumers, sizing is easy – you know your size and you can tell if it has changed. But for knitwear manufacturers exporting internationally, sizing correctly for various regions can be a frustrating task.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

INNOVATION in recycling could get a boost with the planned appointment of Slovenia’s Janez Poto?nik as the next European Union (EU) environment Commissioner. Assuming he is confirmed in the position by the European Parliament, he should start work late January.…

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 KEITH NUTHALL

The European Commission will spend around Euro 3 million on promoting sales outside the European Union (EU) of French spirits, Italian and Portuguese wines over the next three years. It is spending Euro 1.2 million on marketing and information campaigns in Japan and north America coordinated by Italian wine federation Federdoc; Euro 1 million promoting Portuguese ‘vinho verde’ wines within China, Norway, Latin and north America, campaigns organised by the Comissão de Viticultura da Região dos Vinhos Verdes; and Euro 912 million on promoting Cognac, with campaigns in China, Russia and north America coordinated by France’s Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac (BNIC).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE KEY industry Commissioner position within the European Commission for the next five years should be occupied by an Italian right-winger Antonio Tajani – Commission president José Manuel Barroso proposed today. A member of Italy prime minister Silvio Berlusconi’s The People of Freedom party, he is currently European Union (EU) transport Commissioner.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE ITALIAN government has agreed to a soft loan of Euro 20 million

(US$29.3 million) to upgrade Syria’s textile sector as part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation’s (UNIDO) ‘integrated programme’ to bolster the international competitiveness of ‘Made in Syria’ products.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

THE INDIAN government is launching a campaign to attract foreign investment from Europe for its textile and clothing industry. On October 26, its textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran along with a business delegation will make a nine-day visit to Switzerland, Italy and Turkey, followed by another trip to Germany and France in November.…

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 BRENDAN DE BEER and CARRIE-MARIE BRATLEY

"THIS is one of the most serious situations we have ever been faced with," admitted António Mousinho, chairman of Portugal’s National Haulage Association (ANTRAM) at the beginning of October.

As with other industries in these economically turbulent times, the haulage industry in Portugal and its trade unions and professional associations are becoming increasingly obsessed with simple economic survival.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN luxury fashion house Brioni is launching a fragrance in London today (Oct 14), as its new CEO Andrea Perrone pushes ahead with expansion plans, especially in Asia. Perrone, nephew of company founder Gaetano Savini, assumed control of the company this July from a governing committee (which served upon).…

BY ALAN OSBORN

ANDREA Perrone talks of when he was a child, and his father – a lawyer and the CEO of Brioni Retail – used to bring home customers from South America for lunch or dinner at the family’s residence in Abruzzi, Italy.…

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

A POLITICAL alliance has been forged by the French, German and Italian governments to push the European Commission into delaying planned reductions of CO2 emissions from light vans – weighing less than 2610 kg. While the trio accepts Commission proposals to cut emissions from new vans by 14% to 175 g/km, they want a planned deadline delayed from July 2013 to 2017.…

BY ERIC J LYMAN

AS the final phase of the European Union’s (EU) tobacco sector reform gets set to go into effect, indications are that Europe’s largest tobacco producing country, Italy, is better prepared than it was for the earlier phases.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

RECYCLING in Italy, as in most of Europe, has ceased to be simply a form of waste disposal and has evolved into a fundamental part of the industrial grid. The sector has provided over 76,000 jobs over the last 10 years in Italy, growing by an average of 5% year-on-year to be worth around 3% of the country’s GDP today.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT really is tough luck for HIV sufferers. Even though they maybe able to suppress the disease through an often heavy cocktail of antiretroviral drugs, it leaves behind genetic footprints, even when in remission. White blood cells with the misfortune of meeting HIV just cannot shake the memory, it would seem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has granted geographical indication protection to an Italian hazelnut ‘Nocciola Romana’. Henceforth, only hazelnuts made in certain municipalities in Viterbo and Rome provinces can be sold under this name across the European Union. Such nuts must have certain qualities, such as being "solid in consistency and crunchy", with "fine and lingering" flavour and aroma.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN confectionery producer Perfetti Van Melle has lost a trademark case against a Swedish competitor Cloetta Fazer who successfully contested Perfetti’s rights to its European Union (EU) trademark CENTER SHOCK for cocoa, confectionery, honey, treacle, chewing gum and other products.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SPECIAL marketing protection has been announced by the European Commission for three more traditional products: an Italian salami – ‘Ciauscolo’; a Spanish bread ‘Pan de Cruz de Ciudad Real’ and a Portuguese sweet potato – ‘Batata doce de Aljezur’.…

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 DEIRDRE MASON

UNDER- and over-invoicing is an effective means of money laundering that is proving to be a complex nut to crack for the agencies charged with tracking down fraud and its proceeds. Money launderers can move large sums between countries by undervaluing exports to a foreign destination or by overvaluing imports.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, in Paris; LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy; KARRYN MILLER, in Tokyo; and LUCY JONES, in Dallas

IT almost seems commonsense to say that an industry providing such a human product as clothing has to take account of cultural sensibilities in target markets.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

STANDFIRST

The Indian clothing sector is emerging from its traditional image as an outsourcing-hub image and establishing its own brands that sell modern design and high quality garments in the international market. A resurgent economy still growing during the current global economic downturn and the official encouragement of entrepreneurial freedom have brought forward talented designers to challenge established names in the business.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE IMMINENT threat of heavy USA tariffs on many European Union (EU) confectionery exports has been lifted, after Washington and Brussels struck a preliminary deal over the long-running beef hormone dispute. Retaliatory duties such as 100% duties on filled chocolate, chewing gum, raspberry and lingonberry jams were to have been levied this month (May), but have now been suspended, along with other EU food products earmarked for new tariffs, such as fruit juices from Austria, Cyprus, France and Poland.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A NEW German-Italian joint venture making carbon-ceramic brake discs and systems has been launched, following the granting of competition approval by the European Commission. The deal will involve a 50-50 merger of SGL Carbon SE, of Germany, and Brembo SpA, of Italy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has censured European Union (EU) anti-fraud authority OLAF for flouting employee rights when assisting Italian prosecutions of alleged EU frauds. The court ordered OLAF to pay 42 Italy-based officials at the EU’s Joint Research Centre Euro 3,000 each after failing to reveal it had passed potentially incriminating information about allegedly fraudulent accident claims to an Italian public prosecutor.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has lost patience with the Italian government over its failure to introduce allergy labelling for food products, as mandated by European Union law. It has now announced that it will launch a case at the European Court of Justice, which has the authority to order Italy to reform its labelling rules.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN car giant Fiat is to launch a new Lancia model after being granted Euro 46 million in state aid by the Italian government. The European Commission has now authorised this handout which will be spent on retooling the company’s Termini Imerese plant in Sicily.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DOCUMENTS released by European Union (EU) heads of government detailing their approval of a Euro 3.9 billion in EU spending on energy investment projects includes a commitment to spend Euro 200 million on the Nabucco gas pipeline within Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Germany and Romania.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved a public financing package in Italy to fund improvements to five Tuscany regional airports: Pisa, Florence, Elba, Siena and Grosseto. Euro 8 million from the Italian government will be shared amongst the airports between 2009 and 2010 in a plan to better integrate their services.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has drawn back from a robust collective response to the swine flu crisis, despite the disease spreading around Europe. Meeting on Thursday, the EU Council of Ministers for health rejected a French proposal for an EU-wide travel ban to Mexico, the source of the outbreak.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN car giant Fiat has been granted Euro 46 million in state aid by the Italian government, one month after its boss attacked handouts for other European auto makers. The European Commission authorised this state aid today (April 29) which will be spent on retooling the company’s Termini Imerese plant in Sicily so it can make a new Lancia model.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has extended European Union (EU) geographical indication protection to traditional Portuguese biscuits ‘Ovos Molos de Aveiro’ and to Italian chestnuts ‘Castagna di Vallerano’. This means these marketing terms can only be used by biscuits and chestnuts made according to set traditional methods in their usual historic home production regions.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH

ONE day before a Sunday European Union (EU) emergency summit on the global recession, the French government made a U-turn on its proposed Euro 6.5 billion aid plan for Renault and Peugeot-Citroen, dropping its previous conditions relating to the factories’ locations and obliging manufacturers to favour French suppliers when making purchases.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

ITALIAN agricultural associations and olive oil producers have greeted new compulsory European Union (EU) olive oil origin labelling regulations with mixed reactions. This is maybe no surprise. Olive oil forms the basis of the Italian diet and so is a touchy subject.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, LUCY JONES and KEITH NUTHALL

INTRODUCTION

CLOTHING and textile production and trade subsidies are under pressure today, as they have not been for many years. There has been a steady trend towards liberalisation in the sector worldwide, stemming from the abolition of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) in January 2005 and with it, then end of restrictive quotas for imports for the WTO’s 152 member countries.…

BY MARK GODFREY

BARRY Lee is probably typical of Chinese wine drinkers. The auto-sales accountant started off drinking a local Great Wall red at an office lunch, then got curious and went to a Beijing branch of the French Carrefour supermarket chain where he spent RMB78 (US$11.40) on a bottle of Chilean red.…

By Alan Osborn

Each of the 27 member states of the European Union has the right to set the minimum level of qualification necessary to guarantee the quality of professional services within their territory, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

COLLAPSING demand in the European Union’s (EU) auto industry is piling so much pressure on its national governments to save their own manufacturers one casualty could be the EU’s laws restricting public subsidies.
These ‘state aid’ rules have long been a lynchpin of EU membership.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Commission officials have raided a group of companies manufacturing high voltage undersea cables, seeking evidence of illegal anti-competitive behaviour. A Brussels communiqué said it had "reason to believe that the companies may have violated EU treaty rules on restrictive business practices, which prohibit practices such as price fixing."…

BY PAUL COCHRANE

THE MIDDLE East and North Africa region (that economists like to award the acronym ‘MENA’) consumes 6% of the global vegetable oil market and sucks in 15% of global imports, with strong growth across the board on the back of rising per capita GDP and a burgeoning population.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A PROGRAMME to safely store nuclear waste and materials at the Ispra site of the European Union’s (EU) Joint Research Centre (JRC), in northern Italy, will have to be extended eight years, with an increased cost of Euro 37 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has accused the Italian government of dragging its feet over the implementation of important European Union rules telling food manufacturers to label products with potentially allergenic ingredients. Brussels has now sent Italy a final warning, giving its government two months to explain how it will resolve the problem, or face a probable case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE GREEK cheese industry will receive Euro 2.6 million in marketing subsidies from the European Commission over three years, while the Irish meat sector – under pressure from the dioxin crisis – receives just Euro 234,000. In Brussels’ latest announcement this morning of marketing assistance to sell food outside the EU, it is releasing Euro 17.8 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE GREEK cheese industry will receive Euro 2.6 million in marketing subsidies from the European Commission over three years, while the Irish meat sector – under pressure from the dioxin poisoning crisis – receives just Euro 234,000. Other winners included Italian meat producers, with Euro 1.9 million; and Bulgarian dairy producers who scored around Euro 1 million

ENDS…

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 KEITH NUTHALL

IT appears the long debate over strictness of a planned carbon emission cap for cars in the European Union (EU) may at last be ending, with a compromise being framed for agreement ahead of Christmas.

An informal deal has been struck between representatives of the EU’s representative assembly the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, which is made up of the union’s 27 member states.…

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 LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy; PHILIPPA JONES, in Paris; DOMINIQUE PATTON, in Beijing; KARRYN CARTELLE, in Tokyo; and LUCY JONES, in Dallas

Where is the best cutting edge research for the textile and clothing industry? Which are the best design schools, the best fabric developers and the best industrial innovators in the sector?…

BY LEE ADENDORFF

IT has been a devastating year for Italian hauliers. In the last 10 months, 8,000 mostly single-vehicle hauliers have left the industry according to Gianni Montalli, president of the National Transport Union (CAN FITA Unione Nazionale Imprese di Trasporto).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the accession of Cardinal Josef Ratzinger to the papal throne in 2005, some Vatican watchers have predicted a tightening of administrative procedures in the world’s smallest sovereign state. The Vatican clearly has a global punch through the Roman Catholic Church, and this has raised concerns about the state’s control of its banks amongst its detractors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs will use his last year in office to push for the creation of an EU-wide energy regulator with real power. Speaking while the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers debate a hybrid regulatory system for EU energy producers, Piebalgs has said he wants a strong EU regulator to control Europe’s energy giants.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IRISH consumer protection authorities have reported the withdrawal of American skin toning cream with vitamin E and sunscreen Clear-n-Smooth, saying its 2% hydroquinone concentration breaks the European Union’s (EU) cosmetics directive. EU product alert service RAPEX also noted the withdrawal from Irish cosmetics shops of Ivory Coast-made lightening body oil Peau Claire over illegal hydroquinone concentrations.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA

IN India confectionery is considered a product that provides "an inexpensive taste experience" according to a report released earlier this year Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). This populist branding of a sector was used to argue in favour of tax-cuts for an industry that is currently facing many hardships.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

PAIN is all in the mind. That’s what a hard taskmaster on a sports field might say. But of course pain is in the mind – it is our brain telling us something hurts. So, maybe recent Italian research claiming patients looking at beautiful art really suffer less than those looking at a bare wall or water jug maybe right.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INNOVATIVE combined transport road-rail service helping keep key Alpine passes free of congestion will receive an additional Euro 44 million in subsidies from the Italian and French governments to keep operating. The European Commission approved the handout for the Autoroute Ferroviaire Alpine roll-on-roll-off motorway service taking lorries and trailers by rail between Aiton, France and Orbassano, Italy.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) product safety network RAPEX has reported a series of EU market withdrawals of personal care products because they contain substances banned under the EU cosmetics directive:

*Estonia banned two lines of Turkish nail polish Mirra lux for including dibutyl phthalate (6.17% by weight);

*Ivory Coast-made whitening cream Lightening Beauty Crème has been withdrawn from the Irish market for containing hydroquinone (3.8%); and

*Portugal has blocked the sale of Italian hair colouring cream Color Contrast for containing the banned substance m-phenylenediamine.…

By Monica Dobie

Pain is all in the mind. That’s what a hard taskmaster on a sports-field might say. But of course it is true – pain is in the mind – it is our brain that tells us something hurts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission wants to draw Euro 35 million from the European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) to help almost 6,000 Italian former textile industry workers return to employment. Brussels has asked the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers and the European Parliament to release the funds to assist staff laid off from mainly small enterprises in Sardinia, Piedmont, Lombardy and Tuscany.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) product safety network RAPEX has reported a series of EU market withdrawals of personal care products because they contain substances banned under the EU cosmetics directive:

*Estonia banned two lines of Turkish nail polish Mirra lux for including dibutyl phthalate (6.17% by weight);

*Ivory Coast-made whitening cream Lightening Beauty Crème has been withdrawn from the Irish market for containing hydroquinone (3.8%); and

*Portugal has blocked the sale of Italian hair colouring cream Color Contrast for containing the banned substance m-phenylenediamine.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission announced this afternoon (Oct 2) decided to launch a review of the European Union’s (EU) anti-dumping duties on leather shoes from China and Vietnam, extending their operation while this study is undertaken.

This will upset many exporters and importers, as well as 15 of the 27 EU member states who opposed the review.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Commission officials are considering an unprecedented refund of anti-dumping duties to importers of Chinese and Vietnamese shoes, should an anticipated review of the tariffs conclude they were wrongfully imposed.

The Commission’s ruling college is expected to authorise the review on Wednesday (Oct 1), which would extend the operation of the tariffs, currently due to expire next week.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has backed a comprehensive anti child-obesity plan whose proposals would impact significantly on the food industry if they were taken forward. Overwhelmingly supporting a report by right-wing Italian MEP Alessandro Foglietta, the parliament backed introducing a European Union (EU) law that insisted upon easily understood front of packaging nutrition labelling, helping children make sensible dietary choices.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has backed a comprehensive anti child-obesity plan whose proposals would impact significantly on the confectionery industry if taken forward. Overwhelmingly supporting a report by right-wing Italian MEP Alessandro Foglietta, the parliament backed introducing a European Union (EU) law that insisted upon easily understood front-of-packaging nutrition labelling for foods such as confectionery popular with young people.…

BY MARK ROWE

LAST month Modern Power Systems examined the workings of the pan-European ‘Energy Community’, which extends EU energy law eastwards to the membership hopefuls and encourages the region’s electricity transmission system operators and regulators to establish the cooperation and energy trading agreements and mechanisms by end of 2009.…

BY MONICA DOBIE, KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN and MARIANA SANTIBANEZ

California became the first state to ban the use of the fats in restaurants in August, with the new law signed by state governor Arnold Schwarzenegger saying trans fats must be removed from California restaurant meals beginning in 2010 and from all retail baked goods by 2011.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL.

PUBLIC authorities within European Union (EU) member states can extend or decrease the duration of transitional cooling off periods ahead of the operation of concessions for distributing natural gas, without breaking EU laws, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ITALIAN government amnesty allowing VAT cheats to escape criminal charges and administrative penalties for under or not-declared returns from 1998 to 2001 by paying a lump sum to national tax authorities has been declared illegal. This sum equals 2% of the VAT payable on their supplies and services in these years plus 2% of VAT deducted during the same period.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has today announced the release of Euro 5.4 million in grants to European Union (EU) wine producers to help them market their products across the EU. The money will be funnelled through national producer and marketing organisations and will pay for "public relations, promotional or publicity… highlighting EU products’…quality, hygiene, food safety, nutrition, labelling, animal welfare or environment-friendliness…" said a Commission note.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A LEGAL case maybe setting an important precedent over European Union chocolate labelling will be heard in the European Court of Justice. An Italian law allowing manufacturers to claim they are selling "pure chocolate" for products containing only cocoa butter for fats breaks the EU’s chocolate directive, says the European Commission.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

CHINA’S entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2002 and the recent end of quotas in the US and European markets have created gigantic changes in the textile industry worldwide, with developing markets like those in Latin America expected to suffer the most from these shifts.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

PETER Mandelson, the European Union’s (EU) trade commissioner may have to push aggressively for agreement on creating a mandatory World Trade Organisation (WTO) geographical indication register to avoid future political problems in Geneva.

Although the WTO Doha Development Round negotiations collapsed on Tuesday over developing country import tariffs, the talks have not been abandoned and are expected to resume at a technical level in the autumn.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has moved to protect four traditionally made European food products from being copied by food manufacturers based outside the regions where they have historically been made. Brussels has added these products to its protected geographical indication lists preventing such copies being sold in the European Union (EU):

*Slovenská parenica, a steamed, lightly smoked Slovak sheep milk cheese wound into two rolls 6-8 cm in diameter and 5-8 cm high, connected in an ‘S’-shape;

*Vlaams-Brabantse tafeldruif (Belgium’s Flemish-Brabant table grape) – both white and black varieties;

*An Italian onion Cipollotto Nocerino, grown near Naples; and

*A Czech camomile Chamomilla Bohemica.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that it will be spending Euro 2.85 million promoting the sales of Italian and Portuguese wines within the European Union (EU). The money will finance marketing and information campaigns across Europe already planned by relevant wine sector organisations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has released Euro 5.4 million in grants to European Union (EU) wine producers helping them market products across the EU. The money will be funnelled through national producer and marketing organisations, funding "public relations, promotional or publicity… highlighting EU products’…quality, hygiene, food safety, nutrition, labelling, animal welfare or environment-friendliness…" The payments include Euro 750,000 to the Bureau Interprofessionnel des Vins de Bourgogne (Burgundy), France; Euro 750,000 to port promoter Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto, of Portugal; Euro 1.63 million to the Italian Wine Union (UIV); Euro 1.15 million to Italy’s ATI – Wine experiences organisation; and Euro 1.15 million to CVR Alentejana, southern Portugal.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

HOW quickly events are moving in the energy sector at present, and how difficult this makes long-term planning by the power generation industry. One of the key documents for forecasters in Europe is the paper prepared by the National Technical University of Athens for the European Commission’s directorate-general for energy and transport on "Trends to 2030."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) poultry product exporters to Italy may be freed of a requirement that they identify the EU country in which the meat was sourced in future. The European Commission has decided that this Italian labelling requirement breaks EU freedom of trade rules and so is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which could order the rules are relaxed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) advisory ruling appears to have ruled out any chance of a legal reprieve for Italian wine producers in Venice and neighbouring Friulia to continue using the contested name ‘Tocai’ to sell their wines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has started legal proceedings against the German government, which could lead it to paying massive daily recurring fines of many Euro 1,000s over its failure to reform Volkswagen’s shareholding rules.

The Commission has already secured a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling that the special position granted to public authorities within the privatised auto giant’s board and shareholdings break European Union (EU) law.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A LEGAL case maybe setting an important precedent over chocolate labelling within the European Union (EU) is to be heard in the European Court of Justice. An Italian law allowing manufacturers to claim on labels they are selling "pure chocolate" for products containing only cocoa butter for fats breaks the EU’s chocolate directive.…

BY LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy

OF the 3,000 students who will graduate from fashion school this year in the UK, only 500 will find jobs in the clothing and textile sector. They may be highly creative and excellent designers, but this is not always what the industry wants: many fashion producers say British graduates are ill-prepared to compete and adapt to a workplace characterised by overseas manufacturing bases, highly computerised environments and complex logistical production scenarios.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) advisory ruling appears to have ruled out a legal reprieve for Italian wine producers in Venice and neighbouring Friulia to continue using the contested name ‘Tocai’ to sell their wines. The Italians have already lost cases at the ECJ over the issue, after they challenged a European Commission decision that the name was illegal under European Union (EU) regulations, because it could be confused with longer established Hungarian Tokaj wines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BACK in 2006, the buzz in Internet marketing was about virtual worlds, and how clothing and other companies could use them to raise profile and generate additional sales. The dominant version of this technological platform was – and is – Second Life (SL), an interactive online world, which computer users explore online through the eyes of a digital representation of themselves (or indeed someone completely different) using simple cursor-based controls.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN ITALIAN cosmetics company can trademark its own name, judges ruled. Germany Otto GmbH & Co wanted to stop Italy’s L’Altra Moda securing EU-wide trademark rights to its name for soaps, perfumes, cosmetics and hair lotions. Otto unsuccessfully argued at the European Court of Justice this registration should be blocked over existing rights to mark ‘Alba Moda’.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A EUROPEAN Union (EU) -wide ban on artificial trans-fatty acids in foods has been called for by the European Parliament’s environment committee. In a wide-ranging set of policy proposals to fight obesity in European children and teenagers, a committee report stressed "excessive consumption of trans-fatty acids (when over 2% of total energy intake) is linked to significantly higher cardiovascular risks."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN Carabinieri police force and European Union (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF have smashed a fraud ring involving the claiming of agricultural subsidies for more then 900,000 kilograms of non-existent tobacco. OLAF claims that at least Euro 3 million had been illegally siphoned from EU common agricultural policy budgets in this scam, which has led to 80 individuals being placed under formal judicial investigation by the Italian public prosecutor’s office (Procura della Repubblica) in Perugia, north of Rome.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

BRITISH hauliers are still at risk when driving though long road tunnels on the continent, with European governments failing to introduce officially recommended safety designs and equipment.

So concludes the latest European Union (EU)-supported European Tunnel Assessment Programme (EuroTAP) safety probe.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is pushing ahead with the approval of a new compulsory regulation that will insist cars and vans sold in Europe have new ‘brake assist’ systems and also meet detailed and tough requirements on frontal protection systems.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is pushing for umbrella organisations controlled by an alliance of local municipalities to be subject to public procurement procedures when awarding contracts for joint water services. It is threatening European Court of Justice legal action against a consortium of Italian local governments called Autorità d’Ambito Territoriale Ottimale n.2 – Marche Centro Ancona (ATO 2), which has awarded a water services contract to a company Multiservizi, itself owned by the municipalities.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

NEARLY a year after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected president, the widely expected Thatcherite revolution in France he was supposed to bring about has still to arrive. He talked boldly during his election campaign of radical labour market reforms including an end to France’s rigid employment practices, overhaul of the 35-hour working week and at least a start at dismantling the hugely expensive pensions and other perks enjoyed by transport and utility workers.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Damascus and Beirut, and HELENA FLUSFELDER, in Jerusalem

INTRODUCTION AND THE GULF

THE DENIM sector in the Middle East is as diverse as it is fragmented, with strong demand in the Gulf and Israel for major brand names and the latest trends, while in the less economically developed parts of the Levant international brands are of less importance than style.…

By Monica Dobie

European university scientists have designed a virtual reality system that allows users to visit and walk around a digitised environment, helping the tourist, town planning, architectural and medical sectors. As a test, their ‘CyberCarpet’ system has allowed users to visit the Roman Empire Italian town of Pompeii and experience it before it was decimated by Vesuvius in 79AD.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IN the latest European Commission reshuffle, it is expected a rightwing Italian MEP with little transport experience – Antonio Tajani – will become the new transport Commissioner. He would replace France’s Jacques Barrot who would move to the demanding justice portfolio, after the existing commissioner Franco Frattini joined Silvio Berlusconi’s new Italian government.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is pushing ahead with the approval of a new compulsory regulation that will insist auto manufacturers selling cars and vans into Europe install new ‘brake assist’ systems. The law also imposes detailed requirements on frontal protection systems.…

By Alan Osborn

Italy is in trouble with the European Commission for imposing regulations on the sale of motor fuel that effectively prevent foreign-owned service stations from opening up in the country. Brussels says this is against the freedom of establishment laws and is taking Italy to the European Court of Justice over the matter.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SLOVENIAN government has tabled compromise proposals to break the current political logjam at the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers over gas supply unbundling. As current EU president, Slovenia has suggested for instance that some joint ownership of energy producing and transmission utilities could occur if there were "additional safeguards" preventing conflicts of interest, and guaranteeing the "structural independence of decision making" by distribution operators.…

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 LEE ADENDORFF, in Lucca, Italy

MILAN may be the Italian capital of fashion but the Ecopass, introduced in January to limit traffic emissions in the city centre, has enabled the city to set trends in urban transport systems.

The results of its first two months of operation in Milan have been inspiring: a 19% reduction in vehicle traffic and nearly Euro 4 million generated in pass sales.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) protected designation of origin (PDO) system that defends hundreds of EU traditional food products from being copied outside their home region has been weakened by a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling. It stated that official consumer watchdogs have no legal duty to police these rules for imported products – only those made domestically.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

NO doubt most of us would like to depend exclusively on energy that’s clean, cheap and – most important of all – endlessly renewable, but is that actually going to happen any time in the forseeable future? A growing consensus of energy experts within Europe is not only answering ‘no’, they are adding that although renewable energies could form a significant part of total energy use internationally within a decade, even stretching that to 20 or 30 years ahead doesn’t suggest they’ll top 50%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission is monitoring concerns that Italian mozzarella cheese has been contaminated with dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs, amidst claims that the refuse crisis in Naples’ Campania region generated the responsible pollutants. Brussels was poised to ban the sale of the white melting cheese, but was mollified by a safety recall by Italian health authorities.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) finance ministers have indicated they may push for more trading of certified green energy when amending the European Commission’s recently proposed green energy and emissions trading legislative package.

In its first formal pronouncement, the EU Council of (finance) Ministers stressed that "well functioning energy markets" could "improve price signals and reduce the costs of policies used to reach energy and climate changes objectives…" As a result, "more efforts are needed to achieve a truly competitive, interconnected and single Europe-wide internal market for electricity and gas."…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

AS one of South America’s largest economies and the world’s leading

exporter of soy and sunflower oil, Argentina experienced a GDP growth rate

of 8.4 percent in 2006 and 7.9 percent a year earlier, according to the US

Energy and Information Administration.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Mauritania have agreed to renegotiate and downsize their fishing agreement granting EU fishing boats the right to exploit the north African country’s fishing stocks. These talks follow the embarrassing news that EU fishing fleets have failed to avail themselves of the rights made available to them in the existing agreement, which had been hailed as a groundbreaking deal.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LEASING companies providing fleets with cars and vans may not manipulate linked financial and insurance packages to avoid charging their customers VAT, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. In a complex Italian case involving a company now in liquidation – Part Service, formerly Italservice – the court ruled that leasers cannot artificially split such supplementary services from their core leasing business, simply to avoid charging VAT on them, restricting sales taxes to leasing alone.…

BY FIDELMA COOK, PAUL COCHRANE and KEITH NUTHALL

SONATRACH, Algeria’s national oil and gas company, has made no secret to its determination to strengthen its position in Europe, which already accounts for around 60% of Algeria’s export earnings….the bulk of which is in gas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A COMPREHENSIVE raft of new legislation designed to force the European Union (EU) into further reducing its greenhouse gas emissions has been tabled by the European Commission. As expected, it has proposed targets that biofuels command 10% of the EU’s liquid fuel consumption by 2020.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

LEASING companies providing hauliers with lorries and vans may not manipulate linked financial and insurance packages to avoid charging their customers VAT, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled. In a complex Italian case involving a company now in liquidation – Part Service, formerly Italservice – the court ruled that leasers cannot artificially split such supplementary services from their core leasing business, simply to avoid charging VAT on them, restricting sales taxes to leasing alone.…

BY MARK ROWE

ITALIAN scientists have warned that the 4,000 to 6,000 tonnes of sunscreen washed off swimmers worldwide annually is threatening coral, as it contains ingredients stimulating viruses in the algae zooxanthellae that helps coral photosynthesise sunlight by providing it with colour.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE 21st century is seeing a rapid development in the packaging of oils, scents and fats, instigated in part by the increasing global demand for olive oil, along with the burgeoning industry in essential oils.

One of the key trends has been towards the use of packaging to offer fresh products, a development augmented by the increasing perception worldwide of olive oil as a health food product.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) protected designation of origin (PDO) system that defends hundreds of EU traditional food products from being copied outside their home region has been weakened by a European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruling. It stated that official consumer watchdogs have no legal duty to police these rules for imported products – only those made domestically.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers are being urged to stop delaying approval of a draft EU directive insisting on tough criminal penalties for organised criminals involved in copyright crimes and other intellectual property violations. Italian socialist MEP Nicola Zingaretti has been charged with piloting the measure through the European Parliament and pressed the EU Council of Ministers to approve the law, proposed in 2006.…

BY ERIC LYMAN, in Rome

THE ITALIAN tobacco industry is currently in a holding pattern, mid-way between two milestones: the 2005 ban on indoor smoking that had a dramatic impact sales that the industry has yet to recover from, and a change in European Union (EU) subsidy rules scheduled for 2010 that could have a far greater effect on total production from Europe’s largest tobacco producer.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has added to its protected traditional designations list Portuguese ‘Transmontano’ pork products; Hungarian salami from Szeged; Italian Pecorino di Filiano cheese, Spain’s Cereza del Jerte cherries, Lenteja Pardina de Tierra de Campos lentils and Garbanzo de Fuentesaúco chickpeas; Cyprus’ Loukoumi Geroskipou confectionary; and Slovakia’s Skalický trdelník patisserie products.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

The proposed acquisition of EMS, a Romanian utility engaged in the distribution and retail supply of electricity in the south of the country, by the Italian electricity giant Enel, has been cleared by the European Commission. Brussels said the two companies’ activities overlapped in the retail supply of electricity but there were no grounds for concern as "there are several other strong competitors present."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has welcomed an order made by French magistrates against two dairy executives to repay more than Euro 23 million in EU subsidies claimed for pure butter, which was actually adulterated. Jean-Pierre Boisgontier and Guy Fléchard, of dairy company Fléchard de la Chapelle d’Andaine, were also respectively sentenced to suspended prison sentences of eight and five months and fined Euro 20,000 and Euro 37,500.…

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

EUROPEAN vehicle rental companies are increasingly promoting themselves as the answer to the problem of tackling CO2 emissions, offering advice on eco-driving techniques to their customers and offering a wide range of ‘green’ vehicles with low emissions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN manufacturers of Prosciutto and Parma ham, and Parmigiano cheese will get a large share of Euro 1.78 million European Union (EU) subsidies for marketing outside the EU. Italian organic food association l’Associazione dei Produttori Biologici e Biodinamici (Pro.BER)…

BY ERIC LYMAN, in Rome

50

EL40

THE CHRISTMAS and New Year season has long been a bright spot for the struggling Italian publishing industry, but in 2007 seasonal sales failed to hold the line. Sales were 10% lower than the previous year.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

THE NEXT twelve months – say to Easter 2009 – could prove of fundamental significance for the development of European Union (EU) energy policy on several fronts. In January this year, the European Commission published its long-awaited proposals on renewable energies and CO2 saving, and history may well judge this to be the moment when the EU turned decisively green.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

THE PRODUCTION of fake car parts is experiencing a "period of significant growth" in China, according to an umbrella group of foreign auto makers in China. In a report, 88% of members of the Automotive Working Group of the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC), a coalition of multinational companies battling intellectual property infringement in China, have estimated losses to counterfeiting or piracy of auto parts, amounting to 15% of their overall sales.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN wine producers are the biggest beneficiaries of the latest funding from the European Commission to promote sales of European Union (EU) wine outside the EU. The Italian Wine Union (UIV) will receive Euro 1.9 million over three years for marketing campaigns.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

FOLLOWING the introduction on July 1 of public place smoking bans in England 240 million people worldwide were covered by public smoking restrictions, according to the International Union Against Cancer (UICC). (NOTE – THIS IS A FRENCH ACRONYM)

The movement towards such restrictions is becoming ubiquitous in the European Union (EU), with Estonia, Finland, Scotland and Ireland already have full public-place bans, while Italy, Sweden and Malta have partial bans, allowing smoking only in closed-off, separately-ventilated areas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN ham producers are amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the latest funding from the European Commission to promote sales of European Union (EU) food and drink products outside the EU. Manufacturers of prosciutto and parma ham, will get a large share of Euro 1.78 million in subsidies over three years.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has moved to protect eight traditionally made European food products from being copied by food manufacturers based outside the regions where they have historically been made. Brussels has added Portuguese ‘Transmontano’ pork products; Hungarian salami from Szeged; Italian Pecorino di Filiano cheese, and others to its list of protected designations list.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

PUBLIC place smoking bans are spreading like wildlife these days, with one country after another drawing up rules preventing tobacco use where it could expose non-smokers to second-hand smoke.

In the European Union (EU), this year, public place smoking bans have been introduced in England, Estonia and Finland, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ITALIAN ham and cheese producers are amongst the biggest beneficiaries of the latest funding from the European Commission to promote sales of European Union (EU) food and drink products outside the EU. Manufacturers of prosciutto and parma ham, and parmigiano cheese will get a large share of Euro 1.78 million in subsidies over three years.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

THE PRODUCTION of fake car parts is experiencing a "period of significant growth" in China, according to an umbrella group of foreign auto makers in China. In a report, 88% of members of the Automotive Working Group of the Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC), a coalition of multinational companies battling intellectual property infringement in China, have estimated losses to counterfeiting or piracy of auto parts, amounting to 15% of their overall sales.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS the European Commission continues drafting a carbon dioxide cap law for European Union (EU) cars, a rift is growing between Germany and France – usually dominant partners in EU politics – over the treatment of luxury cars.…

BY CHRIS JONES, in Paris

AUTO manufacturers in Europe are calling for greater support from national governments and European Union (EU) institutions in promoting eco-driving – where good motoring styles are adopted which reduce the greenhouse gas and other polluting emissions from vehicles.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

Credit for all pictures – Copyright 2007, Linden Research, Inc. All Rights Reserved

*BELINDA ITALIAN MAFIA CITY

*BELINDA ITALIAN MAFIA CITY2

Caption – Virtual reporter Belinda Blessed – undercover in the ‘Underworld Italian mafia city’, OM Second Life

*Police helicopter

Caption – Second Life police helicopter

*Second Life police captain

Caption – Second Life police headquarters avatar Police Captain Commando Kidd

*BelindaBlessed closeup

Caption – Virtual reporter Belinda Blessed

*SL FINANCIAL BANK2

*SL FINANCIALBANK

Caption – Second Life capital exchange – JT Financial Bank

ENDS…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the takeover of Italian fuel retail chain – Italiana Energia e Servizi (IES) – by Hungary’s MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas. Brussels has imposed no conditions on the deal. IES also runs roadside catering services, as well as oil refineries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TACOGRAPH spotchecks by British highways officials and police have revealed that continental lorry drivers are far more likely to break European Union (EU) working time rules on UK roads than Britons. Looking at newest available EU-wide comparative data 27,418 of offenders detected in 2003-4 on British highways were UK citizens, while 11,565 were from the much smaller pool of drivers from other EU member states.…

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 ITALIAN government has been told to secure a levy of Euro 176 million from its dairy producers after allowing them to flood the European Union (EU) market with 617,000 tonnes of excess milk in 2006/7. The penalty was ordered by the European Commission under a system of national milk production quotas, to be scrapped by 2015.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TACOGRAPH spotchecks by British highways officials and police have revealed continental van and lorry drivers are far more likely to break European Union (EU) working time rules on UK roads than Britons. Looking at newest available EU-wide comparative data 27,418 of offenders detected in 2004-4 on British highways were UK citizens, while 11,565 were from the much smaller pool of drivers from other EU member states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Parliament has asked the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers to push the Afghanistan government to create pilot projects for turning illicit poppy production into a source of legal opium-based analgesics. An approved report by Italian liberal MEP Marco Cappato noted: "Insurgents, warlords, the Taliban and terrorist groups are obtaining their major source of funding through trade in illicit narcotics".…

BY MONICA DOBIE

A NEW support stocking combating varicose veins has been invented by European researchers, that defies all conventions regarding support hosiery by being both "loose and tight" and – by some miracle – easy for patients (or even suffering healthcare workers) to wear.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

THE EUROPEAN Commission has opened a formal investigation into Euro 40.7 million of state aid the Italian government plans to supply denim maker Legler. Brussels argues this is an illegal subsidy creating unfair competition. Legler has financial problems and is restructuring, but EU competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the aid must "effectively restore a company to commercial viability", adding "in the case of the aid for Legler, we have our doubts".…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IT is common currency amongst extreme British Eurosceptics that business and government on the continent of Europe is a cesspit of dishonesty and corruption, against which Britain shines like a beacon of virtue and decency.

Allowing "Europeans" who lack Britain’s traditional sense of fair play and transparency control over the laws and regulations mandated by the "Mother of Parliaments" is heresy to such folk.…

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

MORE than 160 members of the European Parliament have signed a declaration demanding "country-of-origin" labelling on all clothing, footwear and other goods imported into the European Union (EU). The move was promoted by Italian MEPs, who stressed in the text that origin declarations for clothing and textiles "communicate to the consumer much more than geographical information."…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Yunnan province, China

"MEDIOCRITY and non-merit are wrong!" The resolute call to excellence in Chinese characters greets visitors the lobby of the twenty floor hemispherical office tower to which visitors to Yuxi Hongta cigarette plant.

Run by the state-owned Hongta group, the Yuxi plant hires a staff of 2,500 to produce an annual 2.5 million cases of cigarettes, including iconic local brands like Yuxi, Hongmei and Hongtashan, as well as Imperial Tobacco’s West brand.…

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.…