Search Results for: Scotland
268 results out of 268 results found for 'Scotland'.
UK HALAL FOOD INDUSTRY BEING DISRUPTED BY BREXIT
BRITAIN’S halal food market maybe growing, but the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU) in January 2020 has been impeding the sale, production and export of such products, and the regulatory headaches may get worse in future.
Speaking to Salaam Gateway, Rizvan Khalid, managing director, of Euro Quality Lambs, a major England-based producer and exporter of halal sheepmeat, said trade red tape imposed since the UK quit the EU has imposed GBP500,000 of annual regulatory costs on his business.…
EL SALVADOR CLOTHING INDUSTRY BOSS PILOTS SALVADORAN TEXTILE AND CLOTHING INDUSTRY OUT OF COVID CRISIS
The executive director of the Chamber of the Textile and Apparel Industry, of El Salvador (CAMTEX – Cámara de la Industria Textil) has told Just Style how her manufacturing hub is seizing market opportunities growing as Covid-19 ebbs.
Patricia Figueroa, who has been in her job since 2015, also highlighted the challenges the Salvadoran clothing and textile industry will tackle in 2021-22, with CAMTEX’s help.…
UK BRINGING IN MANDATORY COMPENSATION FOR APP FRAUD VICTIMS
The UK government is proposing the insist on mandatory compensation for victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud – where individuals or businesses are tricked into sending money to an account controlled by a fraudster. It also wants UK banks both to step up prevention and report fraud performance.…
TECHNICAL ROUND UP – ISSB LAUNCHED AT COP26
THE INTERNATIONAL Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) will start work in early 2022, based in Frankfurt, Germany, and Montréal, Canada, the IFRS Foundation Trustees have announced at the COP26 climate change meeting in Glasgow, Scotland. The trustees added that the new body would by next June (2022) incorporate the work of the Climate Disclosure Standards Board (CDSB) and the Value Reporting Foundation (VRF), which itself includes the Integrated Reporting Framework and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB).…
LIBYAN ACADEMICS WANT MORE RESEARCH CAPACITY TO BOOST ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GROWTH AS PEACE TAKES HOLD
Libyan universities are looking to boost research capacity targeted at economic sectors that will be vital as the country attempts to recover from seven years of civil war running since 2014. A tentative peace has been holding so far this year, with an interim government planning elections for this winter.…
COVERT RECORDING DEVICES PROLIFERATE IN STYLES – BUT INVESTIGATORS MUST TAKE CARE TO USE THEM LEGALLY
Even though life has been increasingly lived online during the Covid-19 pandemic, there is still a significant market for hardware surveillance devices, including those that are covert, with recording devices hidden in everyday objects, such as pens, watches, even water bottles.…
COVID 19 INSPIRES HACKERS TO SWITCH UP THEIR ATTACKS AND VIRUSES
One of the many downsides of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the inspiration for cyber-criminals to develop new ways of attacking computer users at their home, especially when working remotely. European police agency Europol reported in its annual cybercrime report released last October (2020) that business email compromise fraud and phishing had expanded significantly in frequency and variety since Covid-19 took hold last March (2020).…
DAIRY LEADERS EXPRESS SURPRISE AT BETTER-THAN-EXPECTED YEAR
Over the past year, the European Union’s (EU) dairy industry has weathered two storms: the departure of Great Britain from the EU single market and customs union, during the unprecedented lockdown measures adopted to contain Covid-19, all while EU lawmakers haggle over a major shakeup of agricultural regulations.…
EU TIGHTENS RULES ON LOBBYING TRANSPARENCY – BUT WILL IT REDUCE CORRUPTION?
EUROPEAN Union (EU) institutions have agreed to tighten measures that encourage lobbyists to put their information on a public register before they meet politicians and high-ranking officials. But researchers and campaigners say stronger enforcement and better monitoring are necessary to prevent graft.…
LONDON FASHION HOUSE PUSHES SALES OF BABY CAMEL HAIR YARN FROM MONGOLIA
FIBRE from Mongolian Bactrian camels in the Khangai region have become the focus of international marketing, with a key UK-based trader claiming the wool from their “coats are softer” than those of other camels in Mongolia, offering “unique natural properties”. London-based design house and luxury brand Tengri stressed that these fibres are harvested by their herders through hand combing in spring and offers the natural luxurious yarn and fibre sector a sustainable alternative to cashmere.…
FLOATING WIND POWER RAMPS-UP AS DEVELOPER PONDER REDUCING COSTS
Oil companies decarbonising their portfolios are getting out their cheque books for floating offshore wind projects.
Bottom-fixed offshore wind farms familiar in some places worldwide are generally limited to water no more than about 60 metres deep. Beyond that, it becomes economically unfeasible to connect the increasingly large turbine assemblies to the seafloor by either monopile or jacket foundations.…
ARAB MEDIEVAL SCHOLAR’S WISDOM MAY OFFER A WINDOW ON THE MODERN POLITICAL WORLD
The medieval scholar Abd al-Rahman Ibn Khaldun, a famous Tunisian historian of the 14th and 15th centuries, created a model for the history of states, which he said had a natural life of birth, maturity and death.
His Muqaddimah, published in Arabic in 1377, written as a prelude to an ambitious survey of global history, said states went through three stages, always ending – as the adage about politics says – in failure.…
NEW BREXIT DEAL DELIVERS FOOD AND DRINK FREE TRADE, BUT AT COST OF NEW RED TAPE
While the new European Union (EU)-UK trade deal delivering the post-Brexit trading relationship between Britain and the EU has preserved a good measure of free trade for food and drink, the agreement introduces fresh red tape that maybe costly.
The deal allows for quota and duty free trades in food and drink between the EU and the UK.…
GROWING RENEWABLE ENERGY SECTOR FEEDS SPECIALIST LUBRICANTS BUSINESS
Enormous forces act on renewable energy system’s mechanical parts when generating power from wind and water. Between the smooth operation and potential loss of multi-million-dollar investments stand gear lubricants. Lubricants are also needed for the hydraulics that pitch the blades a few degrees every time the wind, or the water current, changes. …
ENERGY COMPANIES TAKE SPECIAL CARE TO REDUCE SPREAD OF COVID-19 WITHIN THEIR FACILITIES
AS governments worldwide loosen lockdowns imposed to impede the spread of Covid-19, energy companies are assessing their health and safety policies to ensure workplaces are not new infection hotspots, protecting workers and hence production.
These changes come as energy industries downscale workloads to reflect a collapse in demand for their output.…
EV CONTACTLESS RECHARGING TECHNOLOGIES BEING DEVELOPED FOR MARKET WORLDWIDE
THE NEED to actively recharge electric vehicles makes them less attractive to consumers, especially when batteries can take eight hours to charge. So, the development of ambient technologies that enable EVs to charge themselves as they operate has been a key focus of automotive R&D.…
FINTECH CHALLENGERS CHARTING A REGTECH COURSE WAY FORWARD, ASSESSING THIRD PARTY AND DIY SOLUTIONS
The world’s fast-growing digital banking and payments sector requires regulatory compliance software that is as scalable as the fast-growing number of users. Some digital banks are developing systems inhouse, which has certain risks, while others have outsourced regulatory solutions.
These financial institutions – which had 2.4 billion users in 2020 according to UK-based Juniper Research – are also known as neo- or challenger banks, and are characterised by being totally digital, operating through a website and smartphone app and having no physical branches, such as the UK-based Monzo and Revolut.…
EXTENDED REALITY TECH OFFERS GREAT BENEFITS TO TEXTILE COMPANIES – BUT THEY MUST ADDRESS THE SECURITY VULNERABILITIES
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.…
FIBRE GLASS USES AND RECYCLING BECOME MORE SOPHISTICATED AS MANUFACTURERS’ APPRECIATION OF THIS MATERIAL VALUE GROWS
Global production of fibreglass is predicted to soar over the coming decade, as appreciation grows of its utility and cost effectiveness in expanding materials manufacturing sectors.
Driven by a push to increase reliance on renewable energy sources to help tackle the climate crisis, manufacturers of wind turbines are increasingly reliant on glass – and carbon – fibres to produce rotor blades, for instance.…
IRISH REGIONS NEED MORE ENTERPRENEURS TO HELP COUNTRY THRIVE SUSTAINABLY SAY EXPERTS
To create a more balanced and sustainable economy, Ireland would benefit from having more entrepreneurs, especially outside the business hotspots in the capital Dublin, development experts say. Government can play a key role, Senator Pádraig Ó Céidigh said in a November seminar at the National University of Ireland, Galway, especially by better connecting the dots between various development schemes for entrepreneurs.…
INTERNATIONAL HE ACCESS DAY CONFERENCE HEARS HOW WELL-MEANING COMMITMENTS NEED PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS AND MONEY
INTERNATIONAL collaboration, financial and strategic support and government policy consistency that endures beyond changes in political administrations are vital to maintain accelerating global gains in access to higher education, delegates at an international conference in Scotland were told this week.…
POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENTS INCREASE GREEN ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND INVESTMENT WORLDWIDE
As national, regional and international legislation nudges the world away from its reliance on fossil fuels, corporations are increasingly sourcing renewable energy through the mechanism of green power purchase agreements (PPAs), whereby companies (and also utilities) act as an off-taker, making commitments for future renewable energy payments.…
GLOBAL DECOMMISSIONING INDUSTRY GROWS AS OI AND GAS OFFSHORE STRUCTURES REACH END OF OPERATIONS
A WAVE of oil and gas structure decommissioning in the North Sea, a steady continuing flow in the USA’s Gulf of Mexico fields, and a similar longer-term challenge in south-east Asia are concentrating minds on the infrastructure needed to dismantle such equipment safely.…
SCOTTISH SCIENTISTS CREATE AUTOMATED TASTE TESTER, WHICH COULD IDENTIFY COUNTERFEIT SCOTCH
Researchers have developed an artificial ‘tongue’ capable of tasting differences between whisky brands, which they hope will help tackle the market for counterfeit alcohol. Engineers and chemists from the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde in Scotland created a set of optical ‘tastebuds’ using sub-microscopic slices of gold and aluminium, arranged in a checkerboard pattern.…
INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY ROUND UP – EU-MERCOSUR TRADE DEAL SHOULD PROMOTE FOOD, DRINK SALES
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%).…
UK FINANCIAL TRANSACTION REGULATORS ORDERS BIG BANKS TO FIGHT AUTHORISED PUSH PAYMENT SCAMS
The UK’s six major banking groups have been set a deadline of next March 31, (2020) to fully implement new ‘Confirmation of Payee’ rules, to reduce the threat of fraudulent activity. The country’s Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has issued a ‘specific direction’ to the banks – Lloyds, Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland (which includes the NatWest bank), Santander and Nationwide – says PSR
The PSR believes the rules will protect customers from authorised push payment (APP) scams where people are tricked into sending money to the wrong account by ensuring such payments cannot be authorised.…
INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND MATERIALS HELP OIL AND GAS SECTOR CLEAN UP - AND SMARTEN UP - PROTECTIVE CLOTHING
As an industry much maligned for its heavy carbon footprint, the oil and gas sector is increasing its use of sustainable materials and manufacturing methods making textiles used for its protective clothing. This segment has also been focusing on improving the comfort and aesthetics of this apparel.…
HIGH DEMAND FOR TRAINED AML PROFESSIONALS IS KEEPING PAY LEVELS HEALTHY
WITH anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls becoming ever more comprehensive, strategic and widespread, the demand for trained AML/CFT professionals is growing. Salaries are increasing, as a result. This good compensation reflects the fact that AML work is becoming increasingly demanding because of regulatory requirements, said Michael Harris, director, financial crime compliance, at LexisNexis Risk Solutions.…
EU ROUND UP – EUROPEAN COMMISSION RELEASES NEW ANTI-FRAUD STRATEGY
FACED with continuing high levels of fraud attacking European Union (EU) institutions, the European Commission has released its first update of its overall anti-fraud strategy since 2011. The need for a refresh is borne out by crime data: in 2017, EUR467.1 was lost to fraud affecting EU spending and revenue generating programmes.…
FACIAL RECOGNITION MAY SOON HELP MONITOR WELFARE OF FARM PIGS
Researchers at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) are developing facial recognition technology that can help farmers assess the emotional and physical well-being of pigs. So far, studies have demonstrated 97% accuracy in identifying individual pigs using only the face, senior researcher in animal behaviour and welfare at SRUC, Dr Emma Baxter, told GlobalMeatNews.…
AIRLESS TECHNOLOGY OFFERS BEAUTY BRANDS WAY TO COMBINE FUNCTIONALITY WITH SUSTAINABILITY
GROWING consumer and regulatory demand for more sustainability in consumer markets is redefining the packaging sector, and beauty segment is no exception. As a result, airless packaging – while sometimes expensive – offers virtues such as the ability to preserve product freshness, minimal oxidisation, low wastage and efficient dispensing, that can dovetail with greening market trends.…
UGANDA CFO EXPANDS BANK’S DIGITAL SERVICES THROUGH ETHICAL AND HOLISTIC LEADERSHIP
Digital disruption has been transforming banking services worldwide, and Africa, with its important m-commerce sector, has been in the frontline of this change – a fact not lost on established bank executives, such as Samuel Fredrick Mwogeza, the chief financial officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda Ltd.…
BRITISH MEAT EXPORTERS EYE JAPANESE MARKET AT MAJOR SHOW, NOW BSE-RELATED IMPORT BAN HAS GONE
British beef and lamb producers this week eyed the Japan market following the lifting of a 23-year import ban in January 2019, with a presence at Japan’s Foodex, Asia’s largest food and drink exhibition.
Producers from across the UK met Japanese importers, distributors, buyers and consumers at the Makuhari Messe conference centre, near Tokyo, on March 5–8.…
BRITAIN’S LAND MARKET STABLE THROUGH CAUTION AS BREXIT DEADLINE APPROACHES
AS Britain approaches its Brexit date of destiny, with the country unsure what the anticipated rupture with the European Union (EU) will deliver, the rural land sector seems to be holding its breath, waiting for hard information to spur purchasing decisions.…
CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE SECTOR MATURES – BUT IT IS FAR FROM STOPPING CLIMATE CHANGE
A TECHNOLOGY entwined with fossil fuels that, by the of 2018, boasted 43 large-scale facilities, (18 in commercial operation, five in construction and 20 in development), and which processed almost 40 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of CO2, is clearly more than a passing fad.…
A TALE OF TWO HYDROGEN PIONEERS – THE CHASE TO REPLACE NATURAL HAS WITH A LOW CARBON ALTERNATIVE
The UK and Australia are poles apart geographically but share the aim of becoming leaders in using or selling hydrogen for energy. The scheduled unveiling in November (2018) of a conceptual design to convert an eighth (8.3 million) of the UK’s population to 100% low-carbon hydrogen gas between 2028 and 2035 matters.…
ENERGY CLUSTERS ARE THE WAY FORWARD IN EU INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, EXPERTS SAY
SUPPORTERS of the European Union (EU) as a political concept stress how it has the vision, and the money, to promote energy projects of common interest (PCIs) between its (for now) 28 member states. Their goal is to promote an effective continent-wide energy market that offers European citizens more security in their supply of gas, electricity and to a lesser extent oil.…
BEAUTY INDUSTRY LOOKS TO LABELLING AND DECORATION TO DELIVER ADDITIONAL SUSTAINABILITY
BEAUTY product labelling and decoration might not be the most obvious way for a brand to boost sustainability, but such is the pressure to green-up, such considerations are being woven into product appearance.
Edinburgh, Scotland-based UWI Technology Ltd is a case in point.…
UK BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP VOTE ALARMS OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose such registers on its OTs by this deadline, if the local administrations have not created their own. The UK currently has the world’s only public beneficial ownership register – but it only covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – see http://ownershiptransparency.com/…
BURBERRY EYES CASHMERE QUALITY IMPROVEMENTS IN AFGHANISTAN TO BOOST SUPPLIES
DESPITE being the world’s third largest cashmere producer next to China and Mongolia, according to research from the University of California, Davis, Afghanistan’s cashmere industry is heavily underutilised, according to industry experts.
Afghanistan in the previous decade (to 2010) produced around 7% of the world’s raw (greasy) cashmere, after China (72%) and Mongolia (18%) say UC Davis researchers (see https://afghanag.ucdavis.edu/other-topics/files/market/chasmere-value-chain.pdf).…
SOUTHEAST ASIA FACES UP TO LOOMING OIL AND GAS DECOMMISSIONING CHALLENGE
THE ASIA-PACIFIC (APAC) region’s oil and gas sector faces an unprecedented level of decommissioning for which it is under-prepared and lacks experience, analysts have warned. Unclear regional government regulations coupled with a lack of local expertise mean that companies and regulators face a steep learning curve, high initial costs and the potential for mistakes, according to the consultancy group Wood Mackenzie’s latest analysis.…
UK BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP VOTE ALARMS OVERSEAS TERRITORIES
A VOTE by the UK parliament to insist that Britain’s overseas territories introduce publicly available beneficial ownership registers by December 31, 2020, has sparked anger and dismay within these autonomous, mainly small island, jurisdictions.
An amendment to a UK Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill requires the British government to impose such registers on its OTs by this deadline, if the local administrations have not created their own.…
IRISH EXPORTERS LOOK TO CIRCUMNAVIGATE BREXIT TRADE TAXES
The prospect of significant hikes in taxes and administrative red tape on Irish exports and imports travelling through the UK to and from the rest of Europe once Britain leaves the European Union (EU), has prompted Irish exporters to seek more options for direct maritime trade.…
UK RURAL LAND MARKET SLOWS DOWN AFTER ALMOST 150% RISE OVER DECADE
THE BULL run in the British rural land market is over, or at least has slowed to a trot. After rising by 149% over the 10 years to 2016, research by the property consultancy Carter Jonas indicates that that the value of British (UK, excluding Northern Ireland) farmland fell by more than 8% last year.…
SCOTTISH ISLANDS OFFER UNIQUE ONSHORE RENEWABLE ENERGY SITES
WITH average annual mean wind speeds exceeding 10 metres-per-second (m/s), the islands off Scotland’s north and north-west coast offer a unique opportunity for developers to reap offshore-type wind yields on onshore sites. Combined, Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles) host nearly a gigawatt of fully consented, but as yet mainly unbuilt, wind farms, to be owned by the local community and generators including SSE and EDF.…
FOSSIL FUEL SECTOR EMPLOYEES OFFERED GREEN ENERGY RETRAINING
MANY thousands of fossil fuel sector employees around the world are being offered free training programmes to work in the renewable energy sector, as this segment grows, and its carbon-heavy counterparts are phased out.
Coal miners and workers from the oil and gas industry, both of which have seen recent downturns and face an uncertain future due to climate change concerns and market pressures, are increasingly open to such re-skilling, some provided by companies in the renewables industry keen to sign up talented workers who understand energy, as green power expands.…
ANTI-FRAUD SPENDING GROWING FROM LOW BASE – BUT LACK OF RISK ASSESSMENTS IMPEDES EFFORT
ANTI-FRAUD measures are expensive, and investment is growing from a low base yet surprisingly few companies keep tabs on the impact of fraud on their profit/loss margins.
Annual fraud losses are estimated to cost the UK more than GBP193 billion (USD240 billion), according to the 2016 Annual Fraud Indicator report prepared by the Centre for Counter Fraud Studies at southern England’s University of Portsmouth in partnership with data services group Experian and accountants PKF Littlejohn.…
ABERDEEN AIRPORT OPENS NEW INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS FACILITIES
SCOTLAND’S Aberdeen International Airport has opened a new international arrivals hall, 50% larger than the previous facility, the first phase of a GBP20 million upgrade. The hall’s baggage reclaim belt is twice as long as its predecessor. The airport has also opened a new executive lounge offering runway views, food, and drink, including whisky.…
LAWYERS UNDER INCREASING PRESSURE TO ENSURE CONVEYANCING IS NOT TAINTED BY DIRTY MONEY
How much dirty money can get into global property markets as a result of crooked or incompetent lawyers? While legal professions representative bodies say the problem is not widespread and lawyers take their conveyancing responsibilities seriously, the court record suggests there are rotten apples.…
DIGITAL APPS HOLD KEY TO FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS, SAY DEVELOPERS
THE GROWING importance of computer apps (applications) in fraud investigation has been highlighted at an expert conference – Forensics Europe Expo, the annual exhibition for the international and digital forensic communities held at the Olympia exhibition centre in London in May.…
BREXIT MAY SPARK INNOVATION IN RURAL ECONOMY SAY EXPERTS
No-one knows for sure just what deal the UK is going to end up with at the end of the two-year Brexit negotiation period – and just how that will affect British landowners and the agricultural sector. The general election result (due as Land & Business went to press) may begin the process of bringing some clarity to what remains for now something of an art in informed crystal ball gazing.…
DOES POPULISM INDICATE ACADEMIA ON THE ‘WRONG SIDE’ OF HISTORY?
In the wake of the rising tide in populism that has seen the United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union (EU) and the United States elect a former reality television star, one respected educator warns that academia is not immune to the sentiments behind these events.…
OIL AND GAS SECTOR NOW WALKING THE TALK ON SUSTAINABILITY
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.…
SFO BUDGET CUTS COULD SCUPPER UK FIGHT AGAINST BRIBERY, OECD SAYS
Ongoing concerns about underfunding and even the future abolition of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) could hamper the UK’s fight against bribery, according to the latest assessment report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) working group on bribery.…
GETTING MORE OIL FROM EXISTING RESERVES WHILE LIMITING GLOBAL WARMING MAY NOT BE CONTRADICTORY, BUT COULD BE COSTLY
Enhancing the percentage of oil recovered from existing assets is a no-brainer for countries that want to maximise economic gains from their oil reserves.
In an era of apparently ‘lower for longer’ oil prices, it is high up the agenda for oil companies and governments.…
DRINKS INDUSTRY GIVES OVERWHELMING THUMBS UP TO CETA DEAL
EUROPEAN drinks industry associations have said they are now preparing to exploit the export market benefits that flow from yesterday’s (Feb 15) approval by the European Parliament of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada (CETA).…
DRINKS INDUSTRY GIVES OVERWHELMING THUMBS UP TO CETA DEAL
EUROPEAN drinks industry associations have said they are now preparing to exploit the export market benefits that flow from yesterday’s (Feb 15) approval by the European Parliament of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Canada (CETA).…
SYRIA SANCTIONS KEEP GROWING IN INTENSITY AND SCALE, BUT ASSAD CLINGS TO POWER NONETHELESS
The Syria conflict is into its sixth year, as are the multilateral sanctions imposed on the government in Damascus. How effective have the sanctions been, given the Syrian regime’s survival? And where may have funds from members of the regime, and those linked to it, gone?…
SINGAPORE FINES BANKS OVER AML FAILURES REGARDING MALAYSIA’S 1MDB
THE REGULATORY net has tightened further on controversial Malaysian government-owned development fund 1MDB, with Singapore’s central bank fining two major banks over breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules associated with its deals.
Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Branch (SCB) has been ordered to pay Singapore dollars SGD5.2 million (USD3.6 million) and Coutts & Co Ltd’s Singapore branch SGD2.4 million (USD1,7 million) for breaches of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) AML requirements.…
SINGAPORE FINES BANKS OVER AML FAILURES REGARDING MALAYSIA’S 1MDB
THE REGULATORY net has tightened further on controversial Malaysian government-owned development fund 1MDB, with Singapore’s central bank fining two major banks over breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) rules associated with its deals.
Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore Branch (SCB) has been ordered to pay Singapore dollars SGD5.2 million (USD3.6 million) and Coutts & Co Ltd’s Singapore branch SGD2.4 million (USD1,7 million) for breaches of Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) AML requirements.…
BREXIT WILL CHALLENGE BRITAIN, BUT WILL GENERATE PLENTY PF WORK FOR ACCOUNTANTS
AS Theresa May became British Prime Minister on July 13, 2016, she has admitted she faces the toughest of briefs. Unravelling 43 years of close legal relations with the UK’s European Union (EU) neighbours will be complex, difficult, and involve some serious economic and financial losses on the way.…
EU OCEAN ENERGY MOVES FORWARD, AHEAD OF NEW ROADMAP TO SPUR GROWTH
Europe in 2016 has been witness to significant milestones passed in deployment of new, full-scale demonstration and commercial tidal stream and wave energy projects.
This is encouraging for the European Union (EU), which wants clean, renewable ‘ocean energy’ to provide a tenth of its power by mid-century.…
INDUSTRY SLAMS BOTTLE DEPOSIT SCHEMES AT HIGH LEVEL PACKAGING FORUM
Deposit schemes will not increase drinks packaging reuse or recycling rates, Coca-Cola Enterprises vice-president public affairs, Europe, Hans van Bochove Coca-Cola Enterprises vice-president public affairs, Europe, Hans van Bochove told a Brussels conference last week. His view was backed by Peter Sundt, secretary general of the European Association of Plastics Recycling and Recovery Organisations (EPRO) and Eamonn Bates, Clean Europe Network secretary general.…
ACCOUNTANTS PEER INTO THE UNKNOWN ON FUTURE TAX POLICY, AS BREXIT VOTE LOOMS
ACCOUNTANTS are starting to tangle with the knotty question of whether to support Britain remaining in or quitting the European Union (EU) after the scheduled in-out referendum on June 23. While many UK captains of industry and business have publicly called for Britain to stay in, citing the advantages of freely accessing the EU’s 503 million person market and its trained labour pool, the question for accountants is not that simple.…
UK GOVERNMENT PONDERS BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP DECLARATION RULES FOR FOREIGN COMPANIES
THE BRITISH government has launched public consultation on plans to force foreign companies who want to buy property in England and Wales or secure English public procurement contracts to declare beneficial ownership information.
The UK department for business, innovation & skills wants comments by April 1 and says it plans to develop formal proposals later this year (2016).…
GULF CORPORATE GENDER DIVERSITY REQUIRES A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT STYLE
Changing management styles is key the success of corporate gender diversity initiatives in the Gulf region and elsewhere, participants of a recent networking breakfast hosted by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) have concurred.
Entitled ‘Lead the Change: increasing gender diversity to boost performance’, the event was held on February 7 at the Shangri-La Dubai hotel and was attended by more than 60 CFOs and senior finance professionals.…
RBS SET TO PAY MASSIVE DAMAGES AFTER US MORTGAGE FRAUD RULING
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and its Japanese partner Nomura may have to pay millions of dollars in damages after a United States judge condemned the two for false statements in selling mortgage-backed securities to mortgage providers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the 2008 financial crisis.…
EUROPOL FOCUSES ON GOODS COUNTERFEITING – CLOSING DOWN FAKE BRANDS WEBSITES
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?…
BRUSSELS EXTRA SPENDS TO PROMOTE EU MEAT SALES IN FACE OF RUSSIAN BAN
THE POLISH, Scottish, Austrian and Belgian meat sectors are significant winners in the latest announcement of European Union (EU) marketing financing designed to help food companies seize more sales within and outside the EU.
They will benefit from multi-million Euro sales and marketing programmes, 50% funded by the EU, announced yesterday (Tues April 21).…
PLASTIC BANKNOTES MAKE LIFE HARDER FOR COUNTERFEITERS
PLASTIC banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and their use is expanding. Counterfeiters beware. Alan Osborn, in London; Kitty So, in Ottawa; and Lee Adendorff, in Byron Bay, Australia, report.
FAKING banknotes is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper, and while printing technology improvements may aid forgers, central banks seem happy to avail themselves of the competitive advantage.
…PLASTIC BANKNOTES HELP REDUCE CASH COUNTERFEITING
Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.
…PLASTIC BANKNOTES HELP REDUCE CASH COUNTERFEITING
Plastic banknotes have been in circulation since their introduction in Australia in 1988 and the consensus so far seems to be that they do an excellent job of a key requirement – reducing counterfeiting. It may be that forgers will gain more expertise in time – faking is considerably more difficult on plastic than on cotton-based paper – but the initial reports from larger countries that have taken this route, such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, have persuaded the UK’s Bank of England to follow them.
…SENSORS SHRINK COST AND TIME FOR OIL AND GAS BY ROBERT STOKES
Remote sensing playing an ever increasing role in upstream oil and gas as operators and contractors seek to contain capital and operational expenditure and get more safe and economic productive life out of existing assets.
Sensors assist in the monitoring of wells, blowout preventers, processing and the structural integrity and functioning of assets such as pipes, risers, pipelines, valves and pumps.…
EUROPEAN CFO’S URGED TO THINK OUT OF THE BOX AS EUROPE FACES GLOOMY ECONOMIC PROSPECTS
Given today’s uncertain global economic environment, it is up to CFOs to manage expectations and push for their companies’ long-term growth through clear planning and a responsible corporate culture. Business leaders from across the globe discussed how to navigate these issues at the seventh ACCA Poland CFO European Summit, staged in Warsaw, on November 19.…
SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT APPEALS TO DRINKS SECTOR TO ALLOW MINIMUM PRICING TRIAL
THE ALCOHOL industry should withdraw its court case against Scotland’s plan to introduce minimum pricing per alcohol unit and allow five years for it to be trialled, said Donald Henderson, head of public health at the Scottish government.
“Let us do it for five years and if we fail, so be it,” he said, speaking at the European Alcohol Policy Conference in Brussels today.…
FAST AND WITHOUT FAULT – HOW SUPPLY CHAINS BASED ON SPEED CAN AVOID ERRORS
TAKING trends from runways and magazines and turning them into off-the-rack garments within weeks is no easy feat – but global fast fashion retailers consistently demonstrate that their supply chains are adequate.
While speed is, of course, an important part of the process, a shorter timeframe between garment design and point of sale does not necessarily mean a larger margin of errors.…
MAKING THE CHOICE TO AIR FREIGHT, OR WAIT: THE ROLE OF AIR FREIGHT IN FAST FASHION
AS its name suggests, the lifeblood of the fast fashion industry is largely, speed to market – meaning that in many cases, traditional, weeks-long methods of shipping garments via sea or truck are no longer making the grade.
Fast fashion brands such as Hennes & Mauritz (H&M), Gap Inc, Uniqlo Co Ltd, Zara, F21 Red, Topshop, and Peacocks Stores Ltd rely on the air cargo industry to ship products quickly to stores around worldwide, according to a spokesperson from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).…
TECHNOLOGY AND CUSTOMER DEALS TO THE FORE IN AIRPORT PARKING
Tougher security regulations are restricting the ability of airport managers to provide adequate car and bus parking, a headache given these services are a frequent target of consumer advocacy groups. Complaints range typically from price through availability to ease and airports of all sizes need to balance customer satisfaction against the need for revenue and the demands made by security regulations.…
UK LOAN GUARANTEES UNDER ASSESSMENT BY SFO
BRITAIN’S Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has refused to confirm reports that it is investigating banks over their use of government loan guarantee schemes set up to help UK small businesses through the credit crisis and into the recovery.
The Times newspaper claimed the SFO is considering allegations that banks abused the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), established in 2009, and its forerunner, the Small Firms Loan Guarantee scheme.…
ASIA REGULATORY ROUND UP – HONG KONG ACCOUNTANTS WELCOME LOCAL AUDIT CONTROL REFORMS
THE HONG Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) has welcomed the launch by the Hong Kong government of proposals to reform the special administrative region’s regulatory regime for auditors of listed companies and other organisations.
There will be three months of consultation (ending September 20) on the proposals whose goal is enhancing the independence of Hong Kong’s audit regulators.…
BIG DATA HELPS PHARMA COMPANIES DESIGN DRUGS, BUT CHALLENGES ABOUND
Big data is creating a growing range of opportunities that can help the global pharmaceutical industry develop and manufacture drugs more effectively. However, the industry faces a number of challenges in the way it manages and analyses the increasingly broad range of data that is available, with collaboration essential for the industry to capitalise on the potential of the big data explosion.…
UK-WIDE CYBERCRIME RAIDS MAKES 17 ARRESTS, PART OF GLOBAL CRACKDOWN
Suspected users of BlackShades malware that can hijack, control and steal information from personal computers were arrested earlier this month in the first ever UK-wide multi-agency operation against cybercrime. A wave of 17 arrests across Britain followed searches and seizures co-ordinated by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) involved almost all regional organised crime units (ROCUs), as well as London’s Metropolitan Police and Police Scotland.…
OCEAN ENERGY INNOVATION MOVES AHEAD, POTENTIALLY OPENING NEW GREEN ENERGY FRONT
LONG-TERM support for the wave and tidal energy industries has been announced by the European Commission, which this spring said it intended to support “the rapid development of key ocean energy technologies at the European level”.
European Union (EU) energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said: “Ocean energy has a significant potential to enhance the security of supply”, adding that “a wide portfolio of renewable energy sources -including ocean energy” was necessary if non fossil fuels were to become “mainstream and integrated into the European energy system.”…
ECC-NET’S 2013 ANNUAL REPORT - NATIONAL UNIT ROUND UP
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.…
SCOTLAND’S AIRPORT MAKE CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR INDEPENDENCE YES VOTE
Scotland’s airports are making discreet enquiries as to how their procedures might change in the event of a yes vote in this September’s referendum on independence. Several issues have been raised by airports with air traffic control organisation NATS and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as well as with the European Commission on the potential impact on agreements on flights between the European Union (EU) and the United States.…
ECJ STEEL RULING PUSHES EU TOWARDS FREE TRADE APPROACH WITH ANTI-DUMPING DUTIES
Since a European Union (EU) court scrapped anti-dumping duties on steel tubes from one of China’s oldest steel companies, Hubei Xinyegang Steel last month, tongues have started wagging in Brussels over whether the EU will change how it handles anti-dumping cases.…
EUROPE TRIES TO NETWORK ITS WAY INTO ENERGY INDEPENDENCE
THE DIPLOMATIC stand-off between the European Union (EU) and Russia over their respective links to Ukraine throws into stark light the EU’s desire to secure energy security of supply and to decrease its reliance on an unpredictable Russian government. These needs were reflected in the announcement in October of a list of 248 energy infrastructure projects that the EU wants built in in the next decade, all in some way connecting EU member countries through electricity, gas and oil links.…
SPORTSWEAR INNOVATORS SEEK HIGH PERFORMANCE ERGONOMIC DESIGNS THAT STAY WITHIN THE RULES
HIGH tech innovators in sportswear and outdoor equipment are developing fabrics and garments that do more and perform better, from health monitoring to slowing the effects of aging. Many inventions spring from unlikely source materials, for instance waste milk. And for sports, manufacturers have to be especially clever – ensuring their innovations avoid creating uncompetitive advantages that break sporting rules.…
PILOT RESULTS CONVINCE DEFRA TO CONTINUE CATCHMENT LEVEL FOCUS
EVEN if the UK department for environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA) has yet to decide whether managing water supplies on a catchment area basis is a positive move overall, it is happy that the past two years’ pilot projects have created some tangible benefits.…
SOMALILAND UNIVERSITY STARTS RECEIVING INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION
British universities have been partnering with the University of Hargeisa (UoH), of breakaway state Somaliland, to boost the institution’s international credibility.
Although international recognition has yet to be conferred on Somaliland since it separated from Somalia in 1991, its largest university with 6,500 students, located in the capital city of Hargeisa, been seeking foreign partners to supply a higher educational system to Somaliland students.…
COMMUNICATION SKILLS INCREASE COMPANY PROFITS AS WELL AS MINIMISING BAD PUBLICITY
WHEN a senior company figure blunders in communicating through the media, the corporate and career costs can be high, but getting it right can drive sales and profits.
Examples in the debit column are rife. Gene Morphis, the CFO of Nasdaq-listed US womenswear chain Francesca’s Holding Corp was fired in May 2102 after his ‘Tweet’ message on social media site Twitter inadvertently disclosed share price-sensitive information from a board meeting in contravention of rules applied by the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).…
EUROPEAN COGENERATION PROSPERS IN SOME COUNTRIES, WHILE FIGHTING WEAK ECONOMIES AND UNHELPFUL POLICY IN OTHERS
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.…
SMART MONEY TARGETS OIL AND GAS TECHNOLOGY
THESE are brighter days for oil and gas technology entrepreneurs as investors ranging from business angels through venture capitalists, private equity firms and the corporate venture wings of exploration and production (E&P) majors show renewed appetite to back bright ideas with global applications.…
HVDC DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION RAMPS UP
RECENT technical advances and headline projects show how companies with market leadership in high voltage direct current (HVDC) and Ultra HVDC (UHVDC) are pushing the envelope of what these technologies can do.
Since Sweden’s ASEA (now part of Swiss multinational ABB) installed the world’s first commercial HVDC link, under the Baltic Sea to the Swedish island of Gotland in 1954, it has become the technology of choice for transmitting current over very long distances on land or subsea.…
EU EXPECTED TO SET EURO 960 BUDGET TO 2020 – UTILITIES CAN BID FOR MONEY
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) long term budget for 2014-2020 (called the multiannual financial framework (MFF) in Brussels’ famously complex jargon) is currently in limbo following a vote by the European Parliament last month (March) to reject the deal. The political deadlock is not likely to last, nor are the actual figures, agreed by EU heads of government in February, likely to be much changed, though.
…EU MOLECULE RESEARCH PROJECT COULD CLEAR SCIENTIFIC OBSTACLES TO NEW MEDICINE MANUFACTURE
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project has developed new means of rearranging molecules helping pharma companies manufacture more effective medicines for less money. The four-year Euro EUR3.6 million EUMET project has, claimed a European Commission report “made the process of synthesising compounds simpler, more efficient and greener.”…
NEW BIOMASS BIOCOAL COULD OFFER CARBON NEUTRAL SOLID FUEL OPTION FOR THE FUTURE
A SLOW revolution in the use of biomass for firing or co-firing power generation is picking up pace this year as a number of competing technologies for the production of ‘biocoal’ move more convincingly towards full commercialisation.
Biocoal produced through torrefaction – in which dry biomass such as wood, paper, food waste and even sewerage waste is slow-heated anoxically (to avoid combustion) at 200C to 300C to reduce moisture and drive off low-energy volatile chemicals – offers slightly degraded fuel with lower emissions and carbon footprints (it is carbon neutral) than traditional biomass and, certainly, than coal.…
CHINA AIMS TO DEVELOP DOMESTIC HIGH-END TECHNICAL TEXTILES, BUT A LONG WAY TO GO
CHINA’S demonstrable skills in clothing and textile manufacture has yet to yield dividends in the technical textiles field, with the country still relying heavily on imports, especially for high-end products such as carbon fibre, high temperature fibre and medical textiles.
In 2011, China spent USD3.4 billion importing technical textiles, including woven and unwoven lines, mainly from the US and Japan – up 22.7% from USD2.77 billion during 2010, according to Beijing-based China Nonwovens and Industrial Textiles Associations (CNITA).…
MAKING SENSE OF SANCTIONS BABEL
TRANSLITERATION and translation have become inescapable challenges for financial institutions and other companies striving to comply with international sanctions.
Precise identification of a sanctions target named in a foreign language is often difficult, but is essential for efficient screening of transactions that should be controlled or blocked in line with blacklists issued by national authorities (and the European Union (EU)), and those based on the comprehensive list issued by the United Nations (UN) Security Council.…
OZONE STERILISATION HERALDS SAFER, LONGER-LIFE CHICKEN
SCIENTISTS at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, have developed a novel way to make packaged food, including any meat product, safer for consumers and to extend shelf-life by exploiting the germicidal power of ozone, a form of oxygen.
Dr Declan Diver and Dr Hugh Potts of the university’s School of Physics and Astronomy have prototyped a revolutionary system to rapidly, safely and temporarily turn some naturally occurring oxygen inside sealed food packaging into ozone, testing it on poultry products.…
OZONE STERILISATION HERALDS SAFER, LONGER-LIFE PRODUCTS
SCIENTISTS in Scotland have developed a novel way to make packaged personal care products safer by exploiting the germicidal power of ozone, a form of oxygen. Researchers at Glasgow University say the electrical ‘plasma’ method safely turns some natural oxygen inside sealed packaging into ozone, which sterilises microbes on contents then reverts spontaneously to oxygen.…
TWO JAILED FOR GBP740 MILLION UK PROPERTY LOANS FRAUD
TWO property fraudsters who rooked Allied Irish Banks (AIB) and Bank of Scotland (BoS) for hundreds of millions of pounds in loans were jailed for a total of 12 years in London on January 17, in a case exposing lax lending oversight during the 2003-2008 boom years.…
ACCA-QUALIFIED VP SHOWS HOW ACCOUNTING SMARTS CAN WORK WITH NEW COMMS TECHNOLOGY TO BOOST PROFITS
IN the economic gloom that pervades most of Europe today, it is good to hear some success stories and Germany’s information technology and telecommunications sector is one: German exports from this sector amounted to Euro EUR22.2 billion for January-September 2012, an increase of 3.5% on the same period in 2011, according to the industry federation Bitkom.…
UK PRIMES THE CCS PUMP BUT FUTURE REMAINS UNCERTAIN
THE BRITISH government is creating a unique regime of energy price incentives to spur commercialisation of carbon capture and storage systems, yet significant barriers remain to unlocking the billions of Pounds Sterling needed to build a CCS industry of sufficient mass in the UK able to create economies of scale for investors.…
EU LEGISLATION FORCES UK TO SHRINK ITS COAL POWER GENERATING SECTOR
BY ROBERT STOKES
THE SEPTEMBER 2012 announcement by utility RWE npower it would close the 2,000 megawatt (MW) coal-fired Didcot A power station in southern England has highlighted the scale and speed of large coal plant closures in Britain. European Union (EU) environmental laws are being identified as a key culprit behind this trend.…
ALL NAMES AND TITLES CHECKED BIG GAP: STUDY SHOWS EU'S PATCHWORK UNI FEES SYSTEM
BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS
UNIVERSITY tuition fees cost more in England than anywhere else in Europe, according to a September 10 report from the European Commission, but the headline figures are not the whole story for students sizing up how to survive.…
EUROPEAN COGENERATION TECHNOLOGY
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.…
LARGE SCALE COGEN
BY ROBERT STOKES
"We’re likely to see a growing trend towards toward biomass-based CHP over the next 10 years," said Daniella Muallem, senior research analyst at US-based IDC Energy Insights, EMEA division. This is already apparent in large cogen.
Case in point: an innovative 49.9MW biomass cogen plant – the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom – is on course to begin its commissioning phase in late 2012 before production starts in mid-2013.…
EU-JAPAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT EXPECTED TO BENEFIT EU KNITWEAR BRANDS - BUT WHAT ABOUT JAPAN?
BY CARMEN PAUN, IN BRUSSELS; AND WANG FANGQING, IN SHANGHAI
A BOOST in export sales for European knitwear brands might be on the horizon, as a result of a projected free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and Japan, with formal negotiations expected to begin by the end of the year.…
MICRO COGENERATION
BY ROBERT STOKES
Micro cogeneration or CHP – defined by the European Commission as up to 50 kWe – is a market niche seeing lift-off as technology and financial drivers, such as financial incentives in Germany, align.
The global market grew 38% to EUR466 million (USD576 million) in 2011 and further growth to EUR1 billion (USD1.24 billion) is expected in 2012, according to Scotland based analysts Delta-ee.…
EXPANDING PRESCRIBING POWERS FOR NURSES IN THE UK AND CANADA
BY KITTY SO, IN OTTAWA
BRITISH nurses are not alone in receiving wider prescribing powers that would include special classes of government regulated drugs, considered prone to greater potential for abuse: Canadian nurses are also gaining similar responsibilities.
The UK government changed legislation in April, to expand the prescribing and drug mixing powers of pharmacists and nurses to cover ‘controlled drugs,’ which the government falling under two legislations: the Medicines Act, managed by the UK Department of Health, and the Misuse of Drugs Act, which is controlled by the Home Office.…
RIO CONFERENCE COORDINATOR HAILS ROLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN CREATING A SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL ECONOMY
BY CARMEN PAUN, IN RIO DE JANEIRO
The executive coordinator of this week’s United Nations Rio de Janeiro conference on global sustainability has told University World News why she has placed higher education at the centre of the international strategy she hopes will flow from agreements made at the event.…
PUBLIC SERVICES FRAUD RISES IN ENGLAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN’S National Fraud Initiative (NFI) has reported a 25% increase in fraudulent applications for government services across England, with the recession apparently increasing dishonesty. The NFI said it had identified fraud, overpayments and errors totalling almost GBPounds GBP229 million for 2010/11, compared with GBP 189 million in 2008/9.…
BUILDING UP EUROPE'S CONSTRUCTION SECTOR THROUGH PLASTICS AND COMPOSITES
BY MJ DESCHAMPS
CONSTRUCTION in Europe is traditionally associated with metal, steel and other heavy materials, but plastics and plastic composites are increasingly used as energy and cost-efficient options for buildings, bridges, houses and other structures.
Construction contributes more than 20% of demand for plastics in Europe – the second largest market segment after packaging, according to Brussels, Belgium-based trade association PlasticsEurope.…
EU U-TURN ON BIOFUELS ILLUSTRATES PERILS OF LEGISLATING IN HASTE
BY KEITH NUTHALL, MJ DESCHAMPS, PACIFICA GODDARD AND KARRYN MILLER
GOVERNMENTS can get things wrong – badly wrong – and alter the planet’s human and natural geography in ways that were never intended. And one of those embarrassing events is now unfolding: over the promotion of biofuels.…
OIL SECTOR OFFERS PROFESSIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR TRAINED NURSES.
BY ROBERT STOKES, IN EDINBURGH; LEAH GERMAIN, IN EDMONTON; AND PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT
AS the price of oil continues to rise and the demand for the valuable commodity increases worldwide, oil and gas companies are making major profits – yet this industry remains one where safety issues and hard physical work can cause injury.…
ANDES OFFER RICH SOURCE OF LUXURY FIBRES
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.…
EU STILL WRESTLES WITH FRAUD AND IRREGULARITIES OVER FARM SUBSIDIES
BY ALAN OSBORN
IT is easy to think of the European Union’s (EU) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as a more or less total rip-off when you read that a majority of the 27 member countries were asked to pay back some Euro EUR578 million of farm subsidies provided by the European Commission in 2010 (the last year for which figures are available) because of irregularities in spending, including lack of adequate control.…
CRITICAL DECISIONS DUE FOR UK GAS STORAGE
BY ROBERT STOKES, IN EDINBURGH
INVESTORS want to make the United Kingdom the hot spot for new gas storage projects in the European Union (EU). The UK tops the EU’s league table of projects either applied for or with official consent: 11.1 billion cubic metres (bcm) of space compared with 4.6bcm of current operational capacity.…
SCOTLAND SEEKS TO BECOME A KEY EUROPEAN PLAYER IN GREEN ENERGY
BY ROBERT STOKES
NATIONALISM and the energy industry have made uneasy bedfellows throughout history, yet Scotland is attracting substantial international investment in renewables despite having, since May and for the first time, a majority government committed to winning independence from the UK.…
NANOMEDICINE OFFERS PHARMA COMPANIES NEW HORIZONS FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT
BY MARK ROWE
FOR the pharmaceutical industry, nanotechnology has until recently been a horizon issue. The public focus has lain elsewhere – on novel foods and super-efficient electronic devices. But nanomedicine was brought to prominence in July with the news that a patient received a new windpipe grown from a nanomaterial-based tissue scaffold, seeded with the patient’s own stem cells.…
CAR SHARING ON RISE IN UK - WHILE GERMAN INNOVATION TARGETS BUSINESS USERS
BY DEIRDRE MASON
A new car-sharing model is being tried out in Germany, which links quality manufacturer BMW with an existing car club to attempt to offer business customers a new concept in fleet hire. Time will tell whether the idea catches on and moves to the UK.…
RICH WORLD SEES RISE IN OFF SALES AS ON SALES DECLINE
BY MARGUERITE-JEANNE DESCHAMPS, MINI PANT ZACHARIAH and WANG FANGQING
While sales of alcohol in pubs and bars in North America, Europe and the UK have seen a steady decline since the global economic downturn, experts are saying the shift from on-trade to off-trade sales of alcohol has not really had a financial impact on the alcoholic beverage industry as a whole.…
EU ROUND UP - BIOETHANOL GROWTH COULD DAMAGE EU FOSSIL FUEL SECURITY OF SUPPLY, SAYS EU REPORT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CONSULTANTS report for the European Commission on the impact of biofuel expansion has warned that a reliance on bioethanol could damage the European Union’s (EU) fossil fuels security of supply.
Written by experts from Wood Mackenzie, Ricardo and Celeres, the paper – just released by Brussels – says that with bioethanol sources focused on Brazil and a few other countries, "there is a risk of a high degree of reliance on few sources of ethanol supply."…
WIND ENERGY AND WILDLIFE - AN INEVITABLE CONFLICT?
BY MJ DESCHAMPS
WIND-GENERATED energy – clean, safe, and increasingly economically viable, is facing an obstacle to its expansion: chagrin amongst conservationists that wind turbines can kill or harm wildlife, especially birds and bats. Recently, as a part of the European Union’s (EU) commitment to increase renewable energy to 20% of Europe’s total energy production by 2020, the European Commission published guidelines to prevent wind energy developments from harming wildlife in conservation zones included within its Natura 2000 network, which covers almost 18% of the EU’s land area.…
EU ROUND UP - NEW PLAYERS EMERGE TO DELIVER CAUCASUS GAS TO EUROPE
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.…
MANUFACTURING - WINNERS AND LOSERS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
WINNERS
PHILIPS-VAN HEUSEN
This was a Champagne year for Philips-Van Heusen, owner of Calvin Klein, Arrow, Bass and, since May, Tommy Hilfiger. Its acquisition of Netherlands-based Tommy Hilfiger helped it more than double sales for the third quarter – to $1.5bn, (although profits slipped year-on-year to $80.7m from $86.6m the previous year).…
UN PUSH ON SOAP USAGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
9
A UNITED Nations campaign could – if successful – significantly increase worldwide demand for soap. Its Global Handwashing Day has highlighted how diarrhoeal and acute respiratory diseases kill 3.5 million children aged under five annually, and that washing their hands after using toilets and before handling food can reduce such deaths by 40% and 23% respectively.…
EUROPEAN SCIENTISTS DEVELOP 3-D CAR SAFETY CAMERAS THAT CAN SEE BETTER IN THE DARK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT’S tough for motorists driving in the dark – especially on gloomy nights where there are no street lights. More accidents result. The development of intelligent transport equipment, including in-vehicle cameras, linked to automatic braking and stability systems, is making a difference.…
CONSUMERS GROUP WARNS OF NANOPRODUCT BOOM AHEAD OF REGULATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Consumers’ Organisation (BEUC) has warned the number of personal care product incorporating nanoparticles is growing even as the European Union (EU) debates forging a nanotechnology regulation.
In a survey this year, the BEUC found nanomaterials in 475 consumer products, compared to 151 in 2009, including a wide range of cosmetics, such as nanogold wrinkle cream, hair treatment products, hair dyes and cellulite gel.…
EU ROUND UP - EU APPROVES GAS WHOLESALE MARKET LAW
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved a new monitoring system for EU wholesale markets for natural gas, with the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) being charged with detecting and deterring market abuse and manipulation.…
EU ETHICS GROUP CALLS FOR TOUGHER RULES ON EX-COMMISSIONER EMPLOYMENT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) ethics group has called for a tightening of rules regarding jobs former EU Commissioners choose after leaving office. ALTER-EU has criticised the employment of ex-Commissioners Günter Verheugen, Joe Borg and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, who left office in February.…
NEW INNOVATIONS KEEPING CODING SECTOR AFLOAT AFTER RECESSION
BY EMMA JACKSON
CONSUMERS barely notice the tiny band of code printed on their soft drink can or prescription bottle, but behind the scenes the coding and marking industry thrives on making those seemingly insignificant lines of print more readable, efficient and better integrated with high technology.…
EUROPE: Digital data preserved through CASPAR software programme
By Emma Jackson
Researchers say they have secured the future of Europe’s huge volumes of digital data, having created an open source software that will protect digital data from becoming unreadable or unusable because it is incompatible with newer technologies. This has been developed by the European Union (EU)-funded CASPAR (Cultural, Artistic and Scientific knowledge for Preservation, Access and Retrieval) programme.…
PALM OIL HAS GREAT POTENTIAL AS BIOFUEL FEEDSTOCK - BUT ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES ARE SIGNIFICANT
BY MARK ROWE
THE OIL palm is a prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man – rich in solid saturated fatty acids and able to withstand refining at high temperatures.…
STRIKES NOT YET DETERRING AUTO INDUSTRY EXPANSION IN CHINA
BY WANG FANGQING
THE RASH of strikes that have hit China’s auto sector are certainly insufficient to persuade manufacturers to scale back their expansion plans, but the long term lessons are clear: China is no longer a bargain basement labor market of placid easily-pleased workers.…
SUSTAINABLE PALM OIL TAKING SEED IN SOUTH AMERICA
BY MARK ROWE
BOTH the oils and fats industry and environmentalists have long been aware of concerns over the oil palm, the prolific shrub that can be converted into palm oil, one of the most versatile fats known to man.
For almost as long, there have been campaigns to improve its cultivation in south-east Asia, which accounts for around 75% of global supply; but concern is now focussing on South America, where cultivation is growing rapidly, placing pressure on the Amazon rainforest and other wildlife-rich habitats in a belt stretching across central Brazil and Ecuador to Colombia’s Caribbean coast.…
SOMALI PIRACY AND THE SPECTRE OF MONEY LAUNDERING
BY PAUL COCHRANE
PIRACY has increased exponentially off the coast of Somalia in recent years, with ships hijacked deep into international waters despite the presence of a multi-national naval task force, and pirates demanding ever higher ransoms from shipping companies. But while the spoils of piracy are evident in coastal Somali towns, tracking down where the remaining millions of dollars disappear to is hard to pin down, with allegations circulating of ransom money entering the real estate markets of Kenya, to money laundering in Yemen and Dubai.…
NEW EU FISHING COMMISSIONER EXPECTED TO BE TOUGH ON CONSERVATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
MARIA Damanaki, the Greek leftist nominated to become the next European Union (EU) fishing Commissioner from February 1, has promised a tough line on conserving fishing stocks. A senior member of Greece’s current socialist PASOK governing party, she has a far left background, having been a Greek communist MP in the past.…
LITHIUM RECYCLING COULD BE IMPORTANT REVENUE SOURCE FOR RECYCLERS
BY DEIRDRE MASON, PACIFICA GODDARD, GAVIN BLAIR and KEITH NUTHALL
NEW technologies devour new resources and the move towards hybrid and electric vehicles could make some currently impoverished countries rich. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the soft metal lithium will become increasingly in demand as a critical component of auto batteries for green cars.…
LITHIUM RECYCLING COULD BE IMPORTANT REVENUE SOURCE FOR RECYCLERS
BY DEIRDRE MASON, PACIFICA GODDARD, GAVIN BLAIR and KEITH NUTHALL
NEW technologies devour new resources and the move towards hybrid and electric vehicles could make some currently impoverished countries rich. As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the soft metal lithium will become increasingly in demand as a critical component of auto batteries for green cars.…
It's a disaster. Who you gonna call? The World Instant Noodle Association
By Julian Ryall, in Tokyo
International aid for emergencies comes in many forms, and necessity really can be the mother of invention amongst donors. Just ask the Japan-based World Instant Noodle Association: when disaster strikes - they send noodles.
And the world’s hungry and sick are happy that they do.
The association – whose acronym is WINA – draws donations from instant noodle producers and a disaster relief fund created by the late inventor of the instant noodle, Momofuku Ando, and former chairman of the International Ramen Manufacturers’ Association.…
BRUSSELS TO ALLOW GERMANS, FRENCH, POLISH AND SPANISH OFF BY-CATCH ADMIN HOOK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed letting fishing crews from Germany, France, Poland and Spain avoid detailed cod catch controls and potentially time-consuming statistical declarations for catches in the North Sea and off western Scotland. Brussels wants European Union (EU) ministers to allow selected groups of vessels to avoid following special fishing effort rules imposed by the EU’s 2008 regulation 1342/2008 on cod stock conservation.…
LUXURY FASHION DEMAND INCREASES IN SOUTH KOREA, DESPITE RECESSION
BY KARRYN MILLER
TAKE a stroll through any of South Korea’s Lotte department stores on the weekend and you could be mistaken that the recession has ended. It is here you’ll see droves of affluent consumers inspecting the latest in luxury fashion before snapping it off the shelves.…
ANDREA PERRONE SAYS BRIONI WILL TAP GROWING EMERGING MARKET SOPHISTICATION
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.…
REPATRIATING OIL POWERS KEY PLANK OF SCOTS INDEPENDENCE PUSH
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS the Scottish government prepares legislate for a referendum in 2010 on whether Scotland remains in Britain, it has released a detailed report arguing gaining powers over oil reserves would be a key benefit. "Most responsibility for…energy market regulation and exploitation of oil and gas, is reserved to the UK government, leading to Scottish interests being disadvantaged," it said.…
EU'S WATER FRAMEWORK DIRECTIVE FACES MAJOR IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES
BY ALAN OSBORN
ALL is not well with the European Union (EU)’s ambitious ‘water framework directive’ (WFD). The 2009 timetable has slipped. The 27 EU member states were required to establish their first river basin management plans (RBMPs) for all 110 river basin districts in the EU by the end of this year and include specific measures to ensure that all EU waters reach "good" status by 2015.…
FRANCE LUXURY CLOTHING MARKET FIGHTS THROUGH TOUGH TIMES
BY ALAN OSBORN and GEORGINA OLIVER
ACCORDING to Jean Castarède, author of a lay-reader’s guide to the luxury industry published in 2008 in the popular ‘Que sais-je?’ (What do I know?) paperback series, France’s couture and high-end ready-to-wear sector then represented one third of the world’s Euro 30 billion luxury fashion market.…
ROBOTS HELP KEEP ENVIRONMENT CLEAN
BY EMMA JACKSON
HUMANS have long dreamed of having robots do their grunt work, and researchers have already created and commercialised robotic vacuum cleaners – such as the iRobot that scoots around carpets and under sofas picking up dirt and hair.…
SPANISH FISHERMEN ESCAPE WEST OF SCOTLAND COD CONTROLS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have approved lifting special cod conservation administrative controls from 88 Spanish boats fishing for hake with bottom trawls off the west of Scotland. The move is permitted under the EU’s (EC) No 1342/2008 regulation for long-term cod controls, which generally insists on fishing boats taking special care to note and control cod bycatches in conservation areas.…
UK FISHERMEN TO RECEIVE REVISED FISHING QUOTAS FROM BRUSSELS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has asked to approve new revised fishing quotas affecting British fleets following talks on the management of north Atlantic stocks. These have involved officials from the EU, Norway, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.…
UK: Wave energy collaboration leads to prestigious award
By Emma Jackson
After years of collaboration between Queen’s University Belfast and renewable energy company Aquamarine Power, the Oyster wave energy converter has been named top innovation at the 2009 British Renewable Energy Awards.
The Oyster, now in its first stage of deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre off the coast of Scotland’s Orkney Isles, uses the movement of passing near-shore waves to activate its oscillator, pumping high-pressure sea water through a pipeline to a seaside converter where it is made into hydroelectric power.…
CANADIAN DISTILLERY DEFEATS SCOTCH MONOLITH IN 'BATTLE OF THE GLENS'
BY KEITH NUTHALL and MONICA DOBIE
CANADIAN single malt whisky producer Glenora Distillers is celebrating victory in its long legal battle with the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) over its trademark ‘Glen Breton’. Canada’s Supreme Court yesterday (June 11) rejected a SWA application to appeal against a lower court ruling allowing Glenora rights to the name.…
SCOTCH ASSOCIATION APPEALS CANADIAN GLEN BRETON RULING
BY KEITH NUTHALL and MONICA DOBIE
THE SCOTCH Whisky Association (SWA) has announced it plans to appeal a Canadian court ruling allowing a Nova Scotia distillery to call its product ‘Glen Breton’. The SWA is petitioning the Supreme Court of Canada to overturn a the Canadian Court of Appeal decision allowing Glenora Distillers, in Cape Breton, on Canada’s Atlantic coast, to use ‘Glen’ in the name of its single malt whisky.…
DRINKS INDUSTRY LOBBYISTS - A GLOBAL REVIEW
BY KEITH NUTHALL, ALAN OSBORN, DAVID HAWORTH, RUSSELL BERMAN, MARK GODFREY and GAVIN BLAIR
INTRODUCTION
WHILE the drinks industry is undoubtedly an important sector in the global economy, the honest truth is that there are bigger players in town: the IT sector, steel making, and food, to name a handful.…
DRINKS COUNTERFEITING POSES HEALTH RISKS TO CONSUMERS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
COUNTERFEITERS often claim their crime is victimless – the only losers are rich corporations who enjoy healthy profits anyway from their brands. But what if you drink the fake, and it kills you? It happens, Keith Nuthall explores the murky world of drinks counterfeiting.…
EUROPE: League of European Research Universities appoints new Secretary-General
By Leah Germain
Following his recent appointment, the new Secretary-General for the League of European Research Universities (LERU), Professor Kurt Deketelaere, has urged European governments and industries to continue investing into the research and development sectors of universities, despite the current global economy.…
TOUGHER LAWS NEEDED TO FIGHT CONSTANTLY ADAPTING DRINKS COUNTERFEITERS
BY KEITH NUTHALL and EMMA JACKSON
COUNTERFEITERS often claim their crime is victimless – the only losers are rich corporations who enjoy healthy profits anyway from their brands. But tell that to the families of the 1,069 duped Moscow consumers who died after becoming intoxicated by counterfeit alcoholic beverages in the city during 2008, according to the Russian capital’s board of health.…
EU STEPS FORWARD TO HELP ELECTRICITY SECTOR THROUGH RECESSION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EVERY recession has a silver lining: inefficient competitors are unmasked and forced out of business; and governments usually spend freely to pump prime an ailing economy. And for major essential industries such as the power sector, economic slumps can be good times.…
OIL AND GAS COMPANIES FACE COMPETITION FOR KEY PERSONNEL FROM GROWING GREEN SECTOR
BY ANDREW CAVE
GREEN is the colour for many future oil and gas industry jobs, according to a recent study predicting that environment-friendly energy will not only tackle the world’s energy crisis but also create millions of new jobs worldwide.
Green Jobs, published by the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington DC-based research organisation, says the renewable sector and its supplier industries already employ at least 2.3 million people worldwide, including about 300,000 workers in the wind power industry, 170,000 in solar photovoltaics and 600,000 in the solar thermal industry alone.…
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION ROUND-UP - EU MOVES TO PROTECT TUNA STOCKS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to swiftly write into EU law a multi-year stock protection plan for eastern bluefin tuna. It is based on an agreement forged last November at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) at its annual meeting in Marrakech, Morocco.…
UK: Wave energy deal to commercialise alternative energy research
By Emma Jackson
A research team at Queen’s University Belfast, in Northern Ireland, has renewed a relationship with Aquamarine Power, a leading marine technology energy company. Together they may create the next generation of wave power converters that could someday be an alternative source of power for European maritime states.…
SCOTCH WHISKY ASSOCIATION CONSIDERS FRESH CANADIAN 'GLEN BRETON' APPEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SCOTCH Whisky Association (SWA) is mulling a fresh appeal against the trademarking of Canadian single malt whisky Glen Breton, after Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal ruled that Nova Scotia-based distillery Glenora could use this brand name. The SWA argues the word ‘Glen’ can mislead consumers into thinking the whisky is from Scotland, rather than Cape Breton, eastern Canada, a region heavily populated by Scots from the Nineteenth Century’s Highland Clearances.…
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION ROUND-UP - GROUNDBREAKING TROPICAL TUNA PLAN ADOPTED
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FIRST major effort to limit the overexploitation of western and central Pacific yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks has been made. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) has approved a 30% reduction over three years of bigeye tuna catches and also a two month ban on floating platforms used to attract both species, which will be extended to three months in 2010.…
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION ROUND-UP - ARCTIC FISHERIES INITIATIVE
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.…
Allowable catch quotas for the European Union (EU) proposed for 2009 by European Commission,
BY KEITH NUTHALL
PROPOSED total allowable catch quotas for the European Union (EU) have been proposed for 2009 by the European Commission, which wants particularly steep cuts to fishing efforts off the west of Scotland. It wants a temporary halt to targeted fishing of cod, haddock and whiting, whose stocks have fallen steeply over the last 10 years.…
DRINKS PRODUCTION AND MARKETING RULES SEEK TO BALANCE PROTECTING EXCELLENCE WITH LIBERATING COMMERCE
BY ALAN OSBORN
INTRODUCTION
About 10 years ago the American distiller JB Wagoner decided to market a fiery liquor made from the cactus-like agave plants growing in the hills on his estate at Temecula in California. He called it "temequila." It soon became known as "the American tequila," proving indistinguishable in taste, texture and effect from the well-known Mexican drink.…
UK: Scottish university researchers work with police fighting organised crime
By Monica Dobie
THE UNIVERSITY of Glasgow has announced is to undertake groundbreaking collaboration with law enforcement authorities in Britain by creating the UK’s first Institute for the Study of Serious Organised Crime (ISSOC).
Researchers from the University will work closely with law enforcement to tackle organised crime issues that threaten businesses on a daily basis.…
LOCH NESS MONSTER VOX POP
BY PHIL DOWNIE, at Loch Ness, Scotland
INTRODUCTION
For many years visitors have been drawn to Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands hoping to see a glimpse of the elusive legendary marine reptile supposedly lurking in its deeps. The local community has benefited from tourists not only visiting the area’s beautiful scenery but also to catch a sighting of ‘Nessie’.…
EUROPEAN NANOTECHNOLOGY BODY TO EXAMINE HEALTH EFFECTS OF NANOPARTICLES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Observatory on Nanotechnologies is to be created, charged with predicting and detecting the potential environmental health problems caused by the increasing use of nanoparticles in consumer products, including dyed clothing. Coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Glasgow, Scotland, the new European body will receive Euro 4 million from the European Union’s (EU) Seventh Framework Programme research budget, and will involve 17 EU organisations with relevant expertise.…
EUROPEAN NANOTECHNOLOGY BODY TO EXAMINE HEALTH EFFECTS OF NANOPARTICLES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Observatory on Nanotechnologies is to be created, charged with predicting and detecting the potential environmental health problems caused by the increasing use of nanoparticles in consumer products and their packaging. Coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Glasgow, Scotland, the new European body will receive Euro 4 million from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme research budget, and will involve 17 EU organisations with relevant expertise.…
BRITAIN'S BATHING WATER STANDARDS WORSENED IN 2007
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has warned that British beaches became dirtier in 2007, with a major increase in the number of bathing water sites failing to meet European Union (EU) hygiene standard. These numbered 20 last year, up from just two in 2006, and 10 in 2005.…
EU: European Parliament wants ban on cloning for business
By Alan Osborn
The European Parliament is pushing for an outright ban on the commercialisation of the cloning of animals, heading off potentially lucrative research revenue for universities.
It has voted overwhelmingly for a legislative amendment within European Union (EU) legislation to ban cloning animals for economic reasons, preventing their use for manufacturing meat, dairy foods, fibres and skins for clothing and textiles, medicine and other industries.…
INTERNATIONAL FISH DISEASE ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BRITISH government has warned the Aquatic Animals Commission (of the Office International des Épizooties – OIE) that future Bonamia ostreae outbreaks are to be expected in UK oysters. This follows cases of the disease in Whitstable, north Kent, southeast England; and West Loch Tarbert, a sea loch off the Mull of Kintyre, western Scotland.…
EUROPEAN NANOTECHNOLOGY HEALTH WATCHDOG TO BE ESTABLISHED
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Observatory on Nanotechnologies – charged with predicting and detecting the potential environmental health problems caused by the increasing use of nanoparticles in consumer products – is to be created. Coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Glasgow, Scotland, it will receive Euro 4 million in funding from the European Union.…
NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL NOT LET UTILITIES OFF THE HOOK IN REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS
BY ANDREW CAVE
SCARCELY a week goes by without volumes of newsprint or prime broadcasting slots being devoted to new and ingenious ways of mitigating climate change.
Global warming is now widely regarded the single most important issue the world faces, so it is no surprise that it is exercising the minds of the world’s most creative scientists.…
GLASGOW UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES ORGANISED CRIME STUDY CENTRE
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE UNIVERSITY of Glasgow has announced it will create the UK’s first Institute for the Study of Serious Organised Crime (ISSOC). Its initial tasks will involve analysing the structure of Scottish organised crime, and assessing its potential threat to law enforcement and judicial agencies within Scotland.…
EUROPEAN NANOTECHNOLOGY HEALTH WATCHDOG TO BE ESTABLISHED
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Observatory on Nanotechnologies – charged with predicting and detecting the potential environmental health problems caused by the increasing use of nanoparticles in consumer products – is to be created. Coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Glasgow, Scotland, the new European body will receive Euro 4 million in funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme research budget and will involve 17 EU organisations with expertise in the field.…
EUROPEAN NANOTECHNOLOGY BODY TO EXAMINE HEALTH EFFECTS OF NANOPARTICLES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Observatory on Nanotechnologies is to be created, charged with predicting and detecting the potential environmental health problems caused by the increasing use of nanoparticles in consumer products such as tanning lotions and face creams. Coordinated by the Institute of Nanotechnology in Glasgow, Scotland, the new European body will receive Euro 4 million from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme research budget, and will involve 17 EU organisations with expertise in the field.…
LUCRATIVE OIL PROSPECTING TO PROCEED IN SOUTH AMERICA NOW GUYANA/SURINAM BOUNDARY DISPUTE SOLVED
BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas
OFF the coast of Guyana and Surinam, north of Brazil, lie what may be some of the world’s largest untapped oil reserves. They have remained unexplored for years, thanks to a maritime border dispute between the two South American countries, the former an ex-British colony, and the latter once run by the Dutch.…
CANADA COURT RULES CANADIAN SINGLE MALT MUST DROP 'GLEN' NAME IN BRANDING
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CANADIAN court has ruled that Canada’s only single malt whisky producer cannot use ‘Glen’ in its brand title ‘Glen Breton’, because it makes the drink appear it was made in Scotland. In reality, its distillery is in eastern Canada’s Cape Breton, a region heavily populated by victims of the Nineteenth Century’s Highland Clearances in northern Scotland.…
SMOKING BANS REDUCE HEART ATTACKS, SAY EXPERTS
BY MONICA DOBIE
SIGNIFICANT falls in heart attacks and strokes in France and Italy have indicated that the introduction of public smoking bans in Europe are having beneficial health effects, the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) has claimed.
In France, the National Sanitary Institute has just released statistics showing that the rate of admissions in emergency wards of patients with myocardial infarction and strokes has fallen 15% since French public smoking ban came into effect in January 2007, preventing smoking in restaurants hotels and casinos.…
OIE WARNS OF OYSTER SICKNESS OUTBREAK IN SCOTLAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AQUATIC Animals Commission (of the Office International des Épizooties) has reported an outbreak of Bonamia ostreae disease in a natural bed of flat oysters, near Kennacraig, in West Loch Tarbert, a sea loch off the Mull of Kintyre, western Scotland.…
INTERNATIONAL FISH DISEASES ROUND UP - NORWAY TROUT IN SEPTICAEMIA OUTBREAK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
NORWEGIAN authorities are seeking to contain two outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic septicaemia virus that has been reported amongst farmed rainbow trout in western coastal Fjordland by the Aquatic Animals Commission – (of the Office International des Épizooties – OIE).…
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT MEMBERS LAUNCH HAGGIS PROTECTION INITIATIVE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ALL-PARTY group of Scottish MEPs has launched a bid to secure European Union (EU) geographical indication protection for haggis. They want it placed on the list of EU food products that must be made in their home region and in a prescribed way.…
UNIVERSITIES EXPLORE NEW TEACHING OPTIONS IN VIRTUAL WORLDS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EVERY decade or so comes a technology that is so new, comprehensive, interesting, and damned useful, that it changes the way that we learn, have fun and do business. Think commercial air travel, the mobile phone and the Internet…..these…
JURY STILL OUT ON HEALTH IMPACT OF PUBLIC PLACE SMOKING BANS
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.…
UNRECOGNISED STATELET REMAINS HOTBED FOR FRAUD
BY DAVID ANDERSON, in Chisinau
AS the European Union (EU) expands its borders ever eastwards, the challenge of dealing with geopolitical and corruption issues grows larger. One such hotspot is Transdniestria, a mixed Russian, Ukrainean and Moldovan-speaking strip of land bordering Moldova, which is recognised by no other country as an independent state.…
DATA ON PUBLIC PLACE SMOKING BAN HEALTH IMPROVEMENTS REMAINS INCONCLUSIVE
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.…
NANOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE REPORT SAYS NANO-INNOVATION SURGING AHEAD IN COSMETICS SECTOR
BY MARK ROWE
THE POTENTIAL and impending influence of nanotechnology on soap and perfumery products has been acknowledged with a detailed report on the dramatic changes that may lie in store for the cosmetics industry.
The report, Nanotechnologies for Household and Personal Care, which runs to 130 pages, has been produced for the Institute of Nanotechnology, a UK government-funded research unit based at the University of Stirling, Scotland.…
EU MINISTERS APPROVE SAFETY GUIDELINES FOR TRANS-EUROPEAN ROAD ROUTES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH highways authorities could be forced to upgrade the safety design and signage on roads used for cross-border journeys by new harmonised standards recently approved in principle by the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers. It has accepted an EU directive on road infrastructure safety management, which, said a council note is "aimed at ensuring that safety is integrated into all phases of planning, design and operation of the road infrastructure" across the EU’s trans-European network (TEN).…
INTERNET GAMBLING WILL BE BOOSTED BY UK SMOKING BAN SAY WEB CASINOS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNET gambling boss has predicted England’s new nationwide smoking ban could pump an additional GBPounds 5 million-a-year into his industry’s coffers, as smoking punters abandon casinos and bingo halls banning cigarettes and cigars. Malcolm Graham, CEO poker website PKR.com,…
CLAY NANOCOMPOSITE CREATES FIRE-RESISTANT FURNITURE FOAM, SAY SCOTTISH RESEARCHERS
BY MARK ROWE
A NANO-COMPOSITE of clay has been used to develop a polyurethane fire retardant that significantly improves the ability of foam-based furniture to resist heat. Researchers at Strathclyde University, Scotland, have claimed that the nano-based version can lead to a 93% reduction in fire damage.…
CLAY NANOCOMPOSITE CREATES FIRE-RESISTANT FURNITURE FOAM, SAY SCOTTISH RESEARCHERS
BY MARK ROWE
A NANO-COMPOSITE of clay has been used to develop a polyurethane fire retardant that significantly improves the ability of foam-based furniture to resist heat. Researchers at Strathclyde University, Scotland, have claimed that the nano-based version can lead to a 93% reduction in fire damage.…
BRITAIN AND IRELAND TERRORISM
BY ANDREW CAVE
THE UNITED Kingdom and Irish Republic governments had anti-terror finance frameworks long before this issue climbed global agendas in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the USA. The fight against terrorism in Northern Ireland over the past 40 years saw to that.…
BRITAIN AND IRELAND TERRORISM
BY ANDREW CAVE
THE UNITED Kingdom and Irish Republic governments had anti-terror finance frameworks long before this issue climbed global agendas in the wake of the September 11 attacks in the USA. The fight against terrorism in Northern Ireland over the past 40 years saw to that.…
BRUSSELS PUSHES FOR CHANGES OVER UK LANDFILL CONTROLS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BRITISH government is being threatened with legal action at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over claims it has failed to ensure the correct implementation of the European Union’s (EU) landfill directive throughout the United Kingdom.
The directive imposes environmental and health standards on the operation and closure of landfills.…
EU NUCLEAR INSPECTORATE KEEPS MICROSCOPE ON SAFETY IN EUROPEAN PLANTS
BY MARK ROWE
THE PARAMOUNT importance of nuclear safeguards is highlighted not just by the media spotlight when any incident occurs, but in the recognition that regular independent inspection is crucial for reinforcing the safeguard procedures of nuclear powers.
In Europe, at the level of the European Union (EU), this work is led by the EU’s Nuclear Safeguards Inspectorate.…
SEAFOOD INDUSTRY GETS EXPERT DISEASE GUIDANCE FROM WORLD ANIMAL HEALTH ORGANISATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
DISEASE is maybe the seafood industry’s worst nightmare. Whole stocks, natural or farmed, can be wiped out overnight. And, with globalisation meaning disease is ever more likely to be transported by international shipping, cargo planes, chilled train wagons and lorries, it is increasingly important seafood businesses monitor disease outbreaks abroad, to protect themselves and their sticks against exposure.…
REPORT HIGHLIGHT NEW NANOTECHNOLOGY RESEARCH FOR COATINGS
BY MARK ROWE
NANOTECHNOLOGY is assisting paint manufacturers to offer new products across an extremely diverse range of industries, a new report from the Scotland-based Institute of Nanotechnology has claimed. Distinctive features include nanostructured antibacterial surfaces, anti-microbial polymers and coatings; self-cleaning and changing colours; and anti-microbial and anti-corrosion coatings.…
NANOTECHNOLOGY INSTITUTE ISSUES NEW RESEARCH PAPER
BY KEITH NUTHALL and MARK ROWE
THE INSTITUTE of Nanotechnology, in Stirling, Scotland, has released a new compendium of groundbreaking research, with many studies focusing on the use of nanotechnology in environmental health. The research covers commercial and academic developments in using nanoparticles, for instance in antibacterial, self-decontamination and anti-fouling coatings; antimicrobial capsules and surfaces; making surfaces easy to clean conventionally; self-cleaning glass; eliminating odours; and other uses.…
SAFETY TESTING OF NANOTECH WILL BE TRICKY WARNS EXPERT CONFERENCE
BY MARK ROWE
SAFETY testing of nanotechnology-based food ingredients is likely to prove difficult for environmental health officers, according to a leading expert in the field. In many cases, officers will be almost entirely reliant on the good faith of food manufacturers when it comes to the verification and approval of products for the consumer market.…
SCOTS VETS BATTLE NEWCASTLE DISEASE IN PARTRIDGES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE STATE Veterinary Service, in Scotland, has culled around 14,000 poultry, mainly grey partridge being reared for meat, to stamp out an outbreak of Newcastle Disease in East Lothian. Restrictions on moving poultry and hatching eggs have been imposed within a 3km ‘protection zone’ and 10km ‘surveillance zone’ centred on Fenton Barns, Drem.…
SAFETY TESTING OF NANOTECH WILL BE TRICKY WARNS EXPERT CONFERENCE
BY MARK ROWE
SAFETY testing of nanotechnology-based food ingredients is likely to prove difficult for food safety regulators, a leading expert in the field as told an Amsterdam conference on nanotechnology. In many cases, officials will be almost entirely reliant on the good faith of food manufacturers when it comes to the verification and approval of products for the consumer market.…
BRITISH FARMER IN CANADA FEATURE
BY MONICA DOBIE, in Balderson, Ontario
STRONG family links and a dislike of European Union bureaucracy was what brought David James, 62, to Canada to start over again. In 1998, the James family, including wife Ann, 61, daughter Debra, 39, and son-in law Rob, 39, packed up their belongings and moved to a small farming community called Balderson, roughly 50 miles from Canada’s capital, Ottawa.…
EFSA DIRECTOR INTERVIEW - EFSA MOVES AHEAD ON COLLABORATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NEW executive director of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has hailed her agency’s initiative to develop a common scientific approach to assess the fish feed additives as "strongly in the interests of environmental protection and the health and safety of consumers."…
EFSA LAUNCHES FISHFEED SAFETY CONSULTATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a major public consultation exercise, which will include fish farms, to forge a common European Union (EU) method for assessing the environmental risks posed by fish feed. EFSA is not happy that in the European Union "no specific environmental risk assessment guidance exists for the aquatic compartment".…
EUROPEAN COMMISSION DOUNREAY ASSESSMENT - SCOTLAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
SCOTLAND’S Dounreay nuclear plant needs to update its airborne radiation monitoring systems, a European Commission inspection report has concluded. Brussels’ nuclear energy directorate has concluded after an inspection of the Caithness site that Dounreay’s existing “existing high volume air samplers” should be replaced with “new generation devices when these have proven their reliability”.…
EU DOUNREAY NUCLEAR CONTROLS ASSESSMENT
STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL
SCOTLAND’S Dounreay nuclear plant needs to update its airborne radiation monitoring systems, a European Commission inspection report has concluded. Brussels’ nuclear energy directorate has concluded after an inspection of the Caithness site that Dounreay’s existing "existing high volume air samplers" should be replaced with "new generation devices when these have proven their reliability".…
EUREKA PLANT DRUG SOFTWARE
STORIES BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN research network Eureka has developed a computerised screening process that will help pharmaceutical companies assess thousands of plants for a potentially lucrative source of therapeutic compounds. At present, researchers trawl through plant samples looking for a useful species, but Eureka’s E!…
EU BRITAIN WASTE WATER CASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally threatened the UK government with legal action at the European Court of Justice over alleged breaches of the European Union (EU) urban waste water treatment directive. Brussels claims that there are legally "insufficient collection and treatment facilities" for London, Torbay and Whitburn, in England, and Kilbarchan, in Scotland.…
FOOD INDUSTRY NANOTECHNOLOGY INVENTIONS FEATURE
BY MARK ROWE
IF proof were needed that nanotechnology is more than an esoteric scientific discipline then it surely comes with the news that nanotech is about to come to a fast-food restaurant near you. Last month (March), OilFresh, a California-based company, commercially launched a nanotechnology-based frying oil in the United States.…
BIRD FLU ROUND UP, BIRD FLU VACCINE, GERMANY FRANCE BRITAIN
BY KEITH NUTHALL
MASS production of a vaccine to fight the H5N1 bird flu strain in humans could begin within a year, after pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline launched clinical trials in Germany and Belgium.
The company is testing two vaccines: the first would be targeted at fighting a pandemic after an outbreak; the second aimed at advance inoculations.…
NANOTECHNOLOGY PACKAGING INNOVATION - SENSITIVE PACKAGING
BY MARK ROWE
NANOTECHNOLOGY is set to dramatically enhance the packaging process across a range of industries in the next few years. Major areas of development include enhancing the performance of packaging materials, prolonging shelf life, antimicrobial packaging and interactive packaging.…
EU BANKRUPTCY CONFERENCE REFORM
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Commission conference designed to ease the damage caused by bankruptcy has heard how most European Union (EU) countries are already reforming their insolvency laws. Speaking at a Commission conference on ‘Insolvency and Fresh Start’ in Brussels, 120 legal experts from 24 countries were told last year 140,000 corporate insolvencies in the old 15-member EU, risked 1.5 million jobs.…
EU FOOD PROMOTION SCHEMES - AGRICULTURE MARKETING
BY ALAN OSBORN
The European Commission is to provide euros 25.5 million – half the total cost – of 25 programmes to promote agricultural products in 14 EU countries. These are meant essentially as information/publicity projects, highlighting quality, food safety, regional specialities, organic produce and animal welfare as well as underwriting participation in fairs and agricultural shows.…
MEAT SCOTLAND EU SALES PROMOTION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
SCOTTISH meat producers are receiving grants from the European Commission to sell within the European Union. Over three years, Brussels will spend Euro 1.4 million on Quality Meat Scotland programmes. It will also spend Euro 145,093 on one year’s Livestock Meat Commission of Northern Ireland marketing schemes.…
EU DEREGULATION - FISHING PROPOSALS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is holding a legislative bonfire, releasing details of proposed fishing measures it will abandon under a drive by its current regime to simplify European Union (EU) laws and lessen their impact on industry. Most of the proposals earmarked for the shredder have encountered political opposition from the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament, making it difficult for the Commission to get them passed into law.…
FIBRE-RICH SEAWEED ADDITIVE
BY MONICA DOBIE
BURGERS and pork pies could become healthier by adding a tasteless but fibre-rich extract from seaweed, scientists from the University of Newcastle have claimed. Their research has examined a brown seaweed Lessonia and Laminaria, found in east Asia, south America, Norway and Scotland.…
SCOTLAND AWARD
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MARINE litter clean-up campaign involving Scottish fishermen has received a global United Nations award. Glasgow PR firm Weber Shandwick picked up the 2005 UN Grand Award for outstanding achievement in public relations for its Save the North Sea campaign.…
EU LANDSLIDE RISK STUDIES
BY ALAN OSBORN
BRITAIN is not normally thought of being subject to landslides and avalanches in the way that Alpine countries are, but the coming of climate change has made these natural disasters a real and potentially very expensive threat to us.…
BRITAIN MUNICIPAL WASTE INCREASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AMOUNT of municipal waste being handled by British local authorities is projected by the European Environment Agency (EEA) to increase by 30% from 2000 to 2020. This is exceeds the predicted average for the old 15 member EU, which is 20-25%.…
EU ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has pushed ahead with securing more overseas fishing access deals for EU fishing crews in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Crucially EU ministers have been formally asked to approve a deal regarding the key Pacific grounds off the Solomon Islands.…
SCOTLAND HEART DISEASE
BY MONICA DOBIE
SCOTS may drink hard, smoke, and eat deep-fried pizzas with battered Mars bars, but obvious environmental factors do not explain why they are so prone to heart disease says a University of Edinburgh study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.…
FILM - DEMENTIA
BY MONICA DOBIE
NEW technology has been developed for nurses of dementia patients, using old films, photos and music to help them bring back lost memories to sufferers. Researchers at the University of Saint Andrews, Scotland, have developed the CIRCA, (Computer Interactive Reminiscence and Conversation Aid): a simple touch-screen with easy-to-follow instructions, which requires no IT experience.…
SCOTS HEART ATTACKS
BY MONICA DOBIE
SCOTS may drink hard, smoke, and eat deep-fried pizzas with battered Mars bars, but obvious environmental factors do not explain why they are so prone to heart disease says a University of Edinburgh study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.…
TONIC WINES - EP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
BUCKFAST, the tonic wine that has been attacked by Scottish ministers for promoting teenage drunkenness is facing another political challenge, this time at the hands of bureaucrats in Brussels. The European Parliament is due to consider a directive on enriching food and drink with vitamins and other substances, that would – if passed unchanged – make Buckfast’s existing recipe illegal, along with those of other British tonic wines.…
TONIC WINES - EP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
BUCKFAST, the tonic wine that has been attacked by Scottish ministers for promoting teenage drunkenness is facing another political challenge, this time at the hands of bureaucrats in Brussels. The European Parliament is due to consider a directive on enriching food and drink with vitamins and other substances, that would – if passed unchanged – make Buckfast’s existing recipe illegal, along with those of other British tonic wines.…
ANDREASEN INTERVIEW
BY ALAN OSBORN
FEW whistle-blowers have hit the headlines as much as accountant Marta Andreasen who was suspended by the European Commission in 2002 after disclosing serious weaknesses in its bookkeeping system and has now just been formally sacked.
Of all those who have taken the brave and often lonely path of public disclosure, Ms Andreasen, as the Commission’s former chief accounting officer, is by far the most senior.…
DICKSON'S DEFENCE
BY ALAN OSBORN
CHRIS Dickson, the Executive counsel of the Accountant’s Joint Disciplinary Scheme, spoke powerfully in defence of the European Commission’s sacked chief accountant Marta Andreasen at her disciplinary hearing in Brussels last month, Accountancy Age can reveal.
He represented her pro bono publico, appealing for her reinstatement in front of the entire outgoing Commission, a call that fell on deaf ears, with her former employers later ordering her dismissal.…
LIFE PROGRAMME
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission is to help fund 109 environmental innovation projects in 18 EU member countries with Euro 76 million of grants from the European Union (EU) 2004 LIFE environment programme. It said the projects applied “ground-breaking technologies” to tackle environmental problems.…
MAIN ARTICLE
BY ALAN OSBORN
PERSONNEL managers may well consider the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a somewhat austere body, constantly engaged in arcane institutional and corporate matters. Think again. It can well be argued that the ECJ has had a more direct impact on the lives and work of the European Union’s 380 million citizens, including of course those in Britain, than any other single organisation.…
NORTHERN IRELAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE HIJACKING of a Gallaher lorry with Pounds 1 million of cigarettes on the Northern Ireland-Ireland border has prompted the company to ferry tobacco from its Ballymena plant to Dublin, via Scotland and Liverpool, Ulster Unionist MP David Burnside has claimed.…
DEPLETED URANIUM - SCOTLAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SCOTTISH MEP has raised concerns at the European Parliament about reports of the Dundrennan firing range, in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, being used by the British military to test depleted uranium weapons. Green MEP Neil MacCormick alleged the firing may have dumped 29 tonnes of depleted uranium off south-west Scotland, a concern to both British and Irish citizens, and, he claimed, a likely breach of the UN Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution.…
MICROENCAPSULATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CONSULTING, training and research institute into microencapsulation has been launched in Europe, funded by Euro 1.8 million of European Union money. The ncapsolutions group will advise on turning capsule technologies into viable business products, with the cosmetics market a key target.…
RURAL BROADBAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Space Agency (ESA) pilot is combining wireless satellite broadband services with terrestrial local area networks (LANs) to bring high speed Internet access to rural areas in Britain. Working with the UK’s Avanti Communications, France’s Eutelsat and Rural Solutions – a British rural development group – the ‘Broadband Access for Rural Regeneration with DVB-RCS’ (BARRD) trial is about to begin.…
FISH FARMING COMPENSATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FISH farms that have to slaughter their whole stock because of disease are not automatically entitled to compensation under European Union law, the European Court of Justice has ruled. In a ruling likely to be controversial in aquaculture, the court has said that a complete cull should not be regarded as an illegal attack on the property rights of fish farmers, even though such a slaughter would be mandatory under EU legislation.…
BRITAIN - ECJ CASES
BY ALAN OSBORN
BRITAIN is one of a number of EU countries being threatened by the European Commission with actions in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for non-compliance with EU waste treatment and water laws. The potential legal action over waste management arises from a ruling by the ECJ in 2002 when the UK was condemned for failing to adopt waste management plans that conformed to the EU’s framework waste, hazardous waste and packaging waste directives.…
REGIONAL AIRPORTS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s Committee of the Regions, (which represents regional governments such as Scotland and Catalonia, as well as local councils), has produced a more sophisticated definition of regional airports than merely measuring passenger numbers. Responding to a European Commission call for an opinion on the capacity of EU regional airports, the committee decided to better define them, focusing on connections to large airports and numbers of transit passengers, which shed light on these terminals’ roles in air transport.…
FISH FARMING COMPENSATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FISH farms that have to slaughter their whole stock because of disease are not automatically entitled to compensation under European Union law, the European Court of Justice has ruled. In a ruling likely to be controversial in aquaculture, the court has said that a complete cull should not be regarded as an illegal attack on the property rights of fish farmers, even though such a slaughter would be mandatory under EU legislation.…
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS FEATURE
BY ALAN OSBORN
SOME four years after they began, negotiations for a deal over a geographical indication register for traditionally made wines and spirits are entering a decisive phase at the World Trade Organisation. The talks have taken so long because there is a fundamental difference in approach between new world producers led by the US who want such a register to amount to no more than a kind of voluntary data-base and the Europeans who see it as a means of ensuring world-wide legal protection for traditional appellations.…
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
BY ALAN OSBORN
WOOL is to be added to the list of products that can be protected by the European Union’s (EU) geographical indication legislation, agriculture ministers have agreed in Brussels. These laws safeguard traditional marketing descriptions for wool and woollen products based on geographical names such as Scotland, the Shetlands, Yorkshire, Wales, Witney, Otterburn etc.…
NORWAY DUTIES
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has decided not to seek a renewal of anti-dumping duties on farmed Atlantic salmon from Norway which are due to expire this month (April) and has decided against imposing similar duties on farmed salmon from the Faroes and Chile.…
BOILER REPLACEMENT
BY ALAN OSBORN
SCOTLAND’S Dundee City Council is to receive Pounds 4.5 million over the next
18 months in a novel European Union-funded project to install energy efficient boilers in 2,500 council homes. The deal is part of a nation-wide scheme financed by the
European Investment Bank and Co-operative Bank.…
FISH QUOTAS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Council of Ministers has approved sharply reduced total allowable catch (TAC) quotas for cod, haddock and whiting (which are caught together) for the North Sea, the Irish Sea, west of Scotland and the Skagerrak waters closer to Norway.…
FISH FEATURE
BY ALAN OSBORN and MARK ROWE, in London, MONICA DOBIE and PHILIP FINE in Montreal, MATTHEW BRACE in Brisbane, and RICHARD HURST in Johannesburg
Introduction
Europe
Cuts to EU catch quotas
New sources of fish
Affect on fish producers
Wild alternatives to cod
Farmed cod
North America
USA – Healthier local stocks
USA – Demand up
USA – Fish imports
Canada – Farmed fish exports
Canada – GM issues
Australasia
Australia – New wild sources
Australia – Aquaculture
Australia – Wild fish innovation
Australia and New Zealand – sustainability
South Africa – Export increase and conservation
Japan – Local and regional supply
Japan – Maintaining quality
Japan – Non-Asian sources
Introduction
ONCE it was said, cod was so abundant that fishermen in some parts of the world boasted they could walk on the backs of the fish to find their catch.…
STRESS AT WORK AWARDS
BY DENMARK FINCH AND FRITZ BRETT
INTRO
REDUCING stress amongst employees at work can make a major improvement to the bottom line of companies; indeed, so expensive is the problem, says the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, it is thought to cost the EU at least Euro 20 billion a year in lost time and health costs and affect more than 40 million of its employees.…
STRESS CASE STUDIES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AWARDS have been made to 20 companies across Europe by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work for groundbreaking schemes that have effectively reduced workplace stress, reducing the risk of psychological problems developing in employees. Hans-Horst Konkolewsky, the agency’s director, said the schemes were examples of good practice that should be followed across the European Union.…
COUNTERFEIT SOFTDRINKS
BY ALAN OSBORN, in London, PHILIP FINE, in Montreal, and MATTHEW BRACE, in Sydney
WITH a new crackdown on counterfeiting being prepared by the
European Commission, some industry watchers will be surprised to hear that soft drinks is one the sectors that Brussels thinks needs close attention.…
ATM AND SUSTAINABILITY
BY MARK ROWE
THE CURRENT ATM system is flawed in many ways – one key problem being the inherent inefficiencies of an airway system relying on ground-based navigational aids and routes set up around 50 years ago. ANSPs have a responsibility to ensure the environment – in the air and on the ground – is protected as much as possible from wasteful engine emissions of noxious substances.…
NORTHERN IRELAND
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved a scheme for the development of the natural gas infrastructure in Northern Ireland that will mean supplies from the Republic of Ireland being pumped into the north for the first time. The Commission said that eventually the infrastructure may be extended to north-westerly regions of Ireland, such as Donegal, which are not currently served by natural gas and it therefore “takes a big step towards the development of an all-island natural gas infrastructure.”…
UK STATE AID
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has authorised the British government to grant Euro 9 million to eight coal production businesses, which can be used to offset operating losses in 2001 and January to July this year. The aid is intended to improve their economic viability by reducing production costs.…
EUROPEAN CONVENTION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
LOCAL government could be consulted on planned European Union legislation, before it is even drafted, under a root-and-branch reform of the way that the EU is governed.
The idea is to be discussed at the Convention on the Future of Europe, the body chaired by former French President Giscard d’Estaing, having been received by a member of its praesidium, Ana Palacio, an MEP.…
THAI CANNERIES
BY MARK ROWE
THAI canneries are looking to invest in re-exporting north American wild salmon as a means of boosting revenue. Companies are planning to promote exports of wild salmon, which have been processed in Thailand in favour of farmed salmon, usually supplied from Norway, Chile and Scotland.…
BIOFUELS DUTY
KEITH NUTHALL
A PROPOSAL that biofuels should be made exempt from excise duty within the European Union has been made in Brussels. The idea has been suggested by the Committee of the Regions, which represents powerful sub-national administrations, such as those for Scotland, Wales, Catalonia and Bavaria.…
RITUAL KILLINGS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
SOCIOLOGISTS and police have gathered together at Europol’s headquarters in the Hague, to share intelligence on a number of killings across Europe that appear to have been ritualistic in nature; these include the “Adam” case, where the savagely dismembered torso of a boy about five years old, was found in the Thames last September.…
EU ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Environment Agency has claimed that energy use is still rising in the European Union, mainly because of increasing transport consumption and has alleged that the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions could return to their 1990 levels by the year 2010 unless Brussels and Member States take firm action; this would include promoting renewable energy, said the EEA.…
INTELLIGENT ENERGY
KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed an expensive twin-track programme to secure the European Union’s energy supplies, diversifying production by promoting renewables and limiting demand by boosting energy saving initiatives.
It has asked EU ministers to spend Euro 215 million on its planned Intelligent Energy for Europe programme, which would span 2003 to 2006.…
CONTRACT LAW
BY KEITH NUTHALL
ENGLISH lawyers would firmly oppose the establishment of EU legislation harmonising European contract law practice, claims the European Commission.
Releasing the results of wide-ranging consultation on four options for potential reform, Brussels said that the keenest opposition to EU legislation came from English lawyers, who “fear that the global significance of English common law would suffer.”…
NITRATES CASE
BY ALAN OSBORN
BRITAIN is being threatened with fresh legal action over its failure to comply with a European Court of Justice ruling concerning ground waters and surface freshwaters affected by nitrate pollution. These proceedings could result in London being given massive recurring fines of up to Euro 100,000 a day, until it obeys the ECJ.…
FOOT AND MOUTH
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has lifted the foot and mouth disease inspired ban on exports of pigmeat from parts of the UK, namely most of Scotland, bar Dumfries and Galloway, eastern England, and parts of north Wales. The ban for Northern Ireland was lifted in June.…
STATE AID DECISIONS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the go ahead for the British government to grant Euro 10 million, (Pounds 6.4 million), in state aid to two coal mines, operating losses for 2000 and 2001. The money will go to Longannet Mine of Mining (Scotland) Ltd, (Pounds 5.4 million), and Aberpergwm Colliery of Anthracite Mining Ltd, Wales, (Pounds 1 million).…
INFO SECURITY CONFERENCE
BY ALAN OSBORN, in Westminster
THE THIRD annual Information Security Solutions Europe conference has opened at the QE2 centre in London against a background of heightened tensions in the Internet community arising from the terror attacks on the US and a recent world-wide decline in investment in B2B activities.…
MINK CULL
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission’s LIFE-Nature programme is meet half the costs of a pounds 1.65 million scheme to eradicate the American mink from the Western isles of Scotland where it is beginning to decimate important bird populations. Remaining cash will come from Scottish National Heritage and others.…
PC Bodyguard
Alan Osborne
Contact:
Calluna Technology
One Blackwood Road, Eastfield, Glenrothes, Fife, KY7 4NP, Scotland
Tel: +44 (0)1592 630810 Fax: +44 (0)1592 630168
Website: webmaster@calluna.com
Price: £120
Ever pressed the wrong computer key and destroyed the work of a day, a week or even months ?…
SAFEGLASS REVIEW
BY DEIDRE MASON
SAFEGLASS SAFETY SMASH-BOX GLAZING
PLUSES: Prevents people injuring themselves if they have to break the glass
MINUSES: Could attract vandals no longer afraid of cutting themselves
VERDICT: An innovative product with real benefits for public and emergency services alike
COSTS: Depends on quantity and application but can work out cheaper in cases where toughened glass is used, for instance on buses for window-breaking hammers
Contact: Avril McNeill, Marketing Manager
Safeglass (Europe) Ltd,
Whitworth Building,
Scottish Enterprise technology park,
East Kilbride,
G75 0QD,
Scotland
Tel: +440 (0)1355 272438
e-mail: avril@safeclass.co.uk…
NETA
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE NEW Electricity Trading Arrangements (NETA) introduced in the UK on 27
March have begun smoothly, in spite of warnings earlier in the year from
electricity companies that insufficient testing of the system had taken
place and that market conditions were not favourable.…
BAMFIELD PIECE
Keith Nuthall
THE MAN who launched ‘Sue-a-Shoplifter Ltd’ in Britain, perched on a settee in the meeting room of the Institute of Directors in London and told me that he was working for fun.
Not for Professor Joshua Bamfield the lure of lucre generated by the 45 per cent commission on damages or the mantle of the country’s greatest crime-buster, but instead academic curiosity, a project in his chosen subject, retail crime.…