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.
INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY ROUND UP – ISO LAUNCHES NEW COCOA SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS
THE INTERNATIONAL Organization for Standardization (ISO) has launched a series of standards designed to help the cocoa industry ensure its products are both sustainably harvested and processed, but also traceable across their supply chains. Its ISO 34101 series is designed to promote good environmental and labour practices in a sector that involves sophisticated confectionery companies, global commodity traders and small farmers, often in poor countries, notably in west Africa.…
BANKS HAVE TO WORK HARDER TO AVOID SANCTIONS BREACH PUNISHMENTS
BANKS worldwide are having to take increasing care lest they be fined for violating sanctions and not having adequate regulatory compliance regimes in place. With the USA expanding sanctions against Venezuela and Iran, financial institutions need to not only have adequate screening software but anticipate potential new regulations and that regulators will be pouring over past activities.…
AUSTRALIA’S PAINT AND COATING SECTOR IS CONTRACTING WHILE COUNTRY’S OVERALL ECONOMY STRIDES AHEAD
THE AUSTRALIAN coating and paint market has experienced volatility over the past five years, with mergers and acquisitions consolidating the industry, whilst consumer demand and legislation have boosted the sale of more environment-friendly products. Across the Tasman Sea, meanwhile, New Zealand has seen growth due to innovation in high-performance and green coatings.…
ICCO MOVES TO AFRICA – BUT STILL BUILDING LINKS WITH MANUFACTURERS
IT is now two years since the International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) headquarters moved from London to Abidjan, in Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) in July 2017, a move ICCO called a “turning point that will bear fruit in the years to come.”…
BEAUTY SECTOR RECEIVES DETAILED GUIDANCE FROM INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL AND NATIONAL BODIES
THE PERSONAL care product sector has an increasingly complex and global supply chain and as a result, international technical standards are growing in utility and importance. Where suppliers and retailers follow and require the use of international standards to guide their operations and products, there will be fewer nasty surprises, in orders and purchases.…
PLANNED EU RULING MAY REGULATE TATTOO INKS FOR THE FIRST TIME TO AVOID HEALTH RISKS
While today 12 out of every 100 Europeans are tattooed or have some sort of permanent cosmetic treatment, experts are increasingly concerned that these skin colouring agents may contain hazardous substances, known or suspected to have adverse health effects causing cancer, allergies or mutations.…
RUSSIA’S PAINT SECTOR GROWING SLOWLY – BUT UPCOMING ECO-RULES MAY HIT PRODUCTION
RUSSIA’S paint industry is slowly growing but upcoming chemical regulations could limit the output of some potentially hazardous products. There are two such laws in the pipeline. One is a technical regulation ‘On the safety of chemical products’. This was adopted and ratified by the Russian government in 2016, and will come into force in 2021 (on July 1), and bans the use of a range of hazardous chemicals, some used by Russian coatings manufacturers. …
BALTIC STATES AML/CFT OVERHAULS UNDER WAY AFTER BANKING SCANDALS DAMAGE FINANCIAL SECTORS’ REPUTATION
THE BALTIC States, being European Union (EU) member states adjacent to Russia and Belarus have been exploited by Russian criminals as a gateway for their illicit funds into the EU and beyond.
This is despite that as EU member states, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania must implement EU anti-money laundering and anti-terror finance legislation.…
EU NOT DOING ENOUGH TO STOP E-COMMERCE VAT FRAUD, SAY AUDITORS
EUROPEAN Union (EU) controls on value added tax (VAT) and customs duties are insufficient to prevent fraud and detect abuse for goods and services traded over the internet, according to the EU’s financial watchdog, the European Court of Auditors. It has assessed how member states implemented the EU’s ‘e-commerce package’ (see https://www.ey.com/gl/en/services/tax/international-tax/alert–new-eu-vat-rules-simplify-vat-for-e-commerce)…
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO BANKING BODY NOW WANTS 2017 BILL PASSED TO REPAIR COUNTRY’S TAX REPUTATION
Trinidad & Tobago has a problem regarding tax transparency, one that its financial sector and government want to go away. The Caribbean twin-island state remains the only country that is a member of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes Global Forum that is listed as totally non-compliant with its rules – see https://www.oecd.org/tax/transparency/exchange-of-information-on-request/ratings/.…