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THE PHILIPPINES garment industry is preparing to petition the European Commission, asking it not to consider calls for the country to lose its Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) access to European Union (EU) markets.

The call follows a resolution adopted by the European Parliament in late-September calling on the European Commission to temporarily withdraw Philippines access from the scheme because of human rights abuses.…

JUST when Sri Lanka was about to kickstart post-Covid-19 recovery of its critically important clothing sector, having managed the pandemic’s first wave with only 13 deaths, these plans have been sidelined by a deadly second wave of infections. And worse, cases have broken out among garment factory workers nationwide. …

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

THE INTERNATIONAL trade in knitwear products and inputs contains significant variations in prices that can be leveraged buy smart traders within the industry who analyse import-export data and orientate their purchasing and sales practises accordingly.

That said, knitwear traders and manufacturers need to be aware that some bargains really are too good to be true and could be an indication that certain trade flows are being exploited by money launderers seeking to move criminal proceeds from one country to another through artificial pricing – deliberate over- and under- invoicing.…

IN Australia, the process of bringing the nation’s AML/CFT laws and regulations up to international standards has stalled, senior AML/CFT specialists have told MLB. And a widening banking scandal currently highlights the need for reform, they say, with Australian financial institutions struggling to detect and report money laundering and other criminal transactions.…

THE INTERNATIONAL trade in paint and coatings products and ingredients contains significant variations in prices that some experts warn maybe too good to be true and could indicate that certain trade flows are being exploited by money launderers.

Such criminals seeking to move illicit proceeds from one country to another through artificial pricing – deliberate over- and under- invoicing.…

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has ramped up pressure on Turkey to stop exploratory oil and gas drilling in Mediterranean waters that EU member state Cyprus claims is within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Turkey’s state-owned oil company TPAO (Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı) has sent its drillship Yavuz south of Cyprus, notably testing areas close to Israel’s EEZ that have anticipated major gas deposits.…

THE NORWEGIAN government has announced plans to ban ships from using or carrying heavy fuel oil (HFO) around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, over concerns a spill could devastate the region’s fragile environment. Norway’s minister for the climate and environment Sveinung Rotevatn added that a disaster could damage the remote island group’s growing tourism industry.…

The Amílcar Cabral University, the only public university in Guinea-Bissau, one of the world’s poorest and politically fragile countries, is looking to expand its educational services and attract more funds, trying to overturn past student dissatisfaction with its work.

After nine years leaning on a public–private partnership with the Lisbon, Portugal-based Lusófona University, the UAC (Universidade Amílcar Cabral in its Portuguese acronym), ended in 2013 after the government jeopardised the agreement.…

Much expertise of anti-money laundering is developed from the experience of victims and law enforcement, fed into techniques and systems fighting this crime. But ex-criminals, including those who launder illicit money, have a different perspective and can offer fresh insight and intelligence maybe not considered by AML officers.…