Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
EU AND WTO REGULATORY ROUND UP - EU SPENDS TO HELP FOOD AND DRINK MANUFACTURERS WEATHER COVID-19 CRISIS
THE EUROPEAN Commission has unveiled measures to help food and drink manufacturers and their suppliers cope with the Covid-19 crisis. It has, for instance announced that dairy (skimmed milk powder, butter and cheese), and meat (beef, sheep and goat meat) producers will be paid ‘private storage aid’ to warehouse such products for between two and six months to reduce current excessive supplies.…
AML ACTION PLAN FALLS SHORT ON EUROPEAN FINANCIAL CRIME POLICING SAYS MEP
The European Commission should go further in tackling financial crime than in the anti-money laundering action plan unveiled May 7, according to German Green member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sven Giegold. The politician, who has specialised on transparency and fraud issues, argues that when the European Union executive releases follow up legislative proposals at the beginning of next year, the package should include establishing a specialist European Union police force focusing on financial crime.…
EU ROUND UP – COVID 19 SCAMS SPARK ACTION FROM EU ANTI-FRAUD AGENCIES AND POLITICIANS
EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agencies and the politicians controlling have continued to fight the surge in fraud and cyber-crime prompted by the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. An inquiry launched by the European anti-fraud office OLAF has identified more than 340 companies involved in selling counterfeit or sub-standard products sold as protecting against the disease – face masks, medical devices, disinfectants, sanitisers, medicine and test kits.…
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL WARNING ON COVID-19 GRAFT
Transparency International (TI) is warning governments to take care that any softening in public procurement rules and other red tape to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic should not be allowed to generate corruption. Pointing to the European Commission’s April 1 guidelines on public procurement during the Covid-19 crisis, TI agrees in its weekly newsletter that European Union countries need to find “swift and smart solutions” for buying equipment needed to fight the disease, with fewer controls and red tape, but: “Fast and effective should not mean opaque and dirty.”…
WHISTLEBLOWING RULES IN MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA EMERGE, BUT ARE INCONSISTENT
Only a handful of countries in the Middle East and Africa have dedicated whistleblowing laws – South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Algeria, Morocco, and the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories, according to Blueprint for Free Speech, a charity promoting freedom of expression (https://www.blueprintforfreespeech.net/).…
GERMAN GOVERNMENT LAUNCHES CRACKDOWN ON MEAT PLANT CONTRACT STAFFING AND HEALTH RULES AMIDST COVID-19 OUTBREAKS
The cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel today (May 20) announced a “work protection programme for the meat industry”, raising labour standards in a sector which has been criticised for poor health and safety amidst a rash of outbreaks of Covid-19 amongst temporary migrant workers.…
AUSTRALIA’S WOOL INDUSTRY BATTLES THE COVID-19-STORM
AUSTRALIAN wool producers are stockpiling wool and avoiding auction sales with Covid-19 hitting their key market, China. The Australian wool industry is important. It delivered exports worth Australian dollars AUD4.15 billion (USD2.6 billion) in 2018-19, according to Australian government figures – https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/agricultural-commodities/agricultural-commodities-trade-data#2019.…
BANGLADESH SEEKS EU LEGISLATORS’ HELP TO BUCK EUROPEAN BRANDS’ RMG ORDER CANCELATION
THE BANGLADESH government has taken the unusual step of asking the European Parliament to use its influence to persuade European clothing brands to be more sensitive about the impact of cancelling orders with Bangladesh-based suppliers during the Covid-19 crisis.
In a formal letter to Bernd Lange, chair of the European Parliament’s international trade committee, Bangladesh’s commerce secretary Dr Jafar Uddin complained of the cancellation of billions of dollars of textiles and clothing orders by European high-street retailers and asked lawmaker to help restore readymade garment orders, suspended or cancelled by various European brands and retailers after the coronavirus pandemic. …
COVID-19 WILL DELIVER LONG-TERM TRANSFORMATIONS TO BRITISH AND IRISH BEAUTY BUSINESSES
While it is too early to assess the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the UK personal care product sector, industry experts expect strategic changes to its supply chain, a growth towards innovative digital strategies and changes in consumer behaviour that will shape the industry in the long run.…
HOME-GROWN CARIBBEAN BEAUTY PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS GROW INTO DOMESTIC MARKETS AND EYE EXPORT TRADES
Entrepreneurship abounds across the diverse island nations of the Caribbean where small, independently-owned beauty product businesses thrive and have been successfully vying for space alongside major international brands in pharmacies, boutiques and family-owned stores alike.
What many manufacturers lack in start-up capital, they make up for in innovation and close proximity to a wealth of organic, raw materials that are finding new favour with modern, discerning consumers at home, with an eye to developing export sales.…