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.
COTTON PRODUCERS PUSHED TOWARDS MORE SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING
The global cotton supply chain is expected to be impacted by extreme weather events, trade disputes, geopolitical tensions, increasing regulation and more complex shipments in 2025, but traceability and innovation might help to reinvent the sector, experts have said.
According to the US department of agriculture, “2024/25 global cotton consumption is forecast at 115.2 million bales (…) more than 9 million bales below the record level witnessed four years ago”, thanks to more production and consumption of man-made fibres (1).…
BRITISH THINK TANK WANTS AMERICAN WHISTLEBLOWING PROTECTIONS CREATED IN THE UK
Whistleblower incentives developed in the USA should be introduced in the UK to help deter and detect corporate fraud, a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has argued (1).
While the number of successful whistleblower claims is low compared to the number of tipoffs made, the value of successful sanctions resulting from whistleblower incentivisation is so high that it” dramatically exceeds the cost of processing the tip-offs”, said the think tank’s Fixing Fraud report, authored by lawyer Dr Alison Cronin, of Bournemouth University.…
EU ROUND UP – OLAF AND EPPO COLLBORATION IS KEY TARGET OF NEW EU ANTI-FRAUD COMMISSIONER
Promoting collaboration between the European Union’s (EU) anti-fraud office OLAF and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) will be a key priority of the new EU budget, anti-fraud and public administration Commissioner once he takes office, probably on December 1.
Poland’s Piotr Serafin, a former cabinet head for past European Council president and now Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, performed effectively at his European Parliament confirmation hearing on November 7, and should be confirmed as Commissioner.…
CHINA INVESTS HEAVILY IN ECOPLASTIC PRODUCTION TO BOOST GREEN PACKAGING
The Chinese government appears determined to keep pushing its nation’s economy towards a more sustainable path, issuing five key green economy-related policy documents this year (2024), with eco-plastics supply and eco-plastics packaging part of the focus.
For example, an ‘Opinion on speeding up China’s green economy’ issued in July by the State Council – China’s cabinet – listed directing more companies to use green packaging as one of its main goals by 2030 http://epaper.cenews.com.cn/html/2024-08/12/content_99269.htm…
INDIA ENERGY MAJOR EXPANDS BIOGAS SERVICES AND GOVERNMENT DEVELOPS RENEWABLE ENERGY
India’s struggling biofuel industry may finally be picking up as the country’s oil refining major, Reliance Industries Ltd, announcing an Indian Rupees INR650 billion (USD7.72 billion) investment plan to set up 500 compressed biogas (CBG) plants over the next three years in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh.…
CHEESE-LOVING CZECHS EXPAND ADDED-VALUE DAIRY MARKET AND INDUSTRY
A strengthening domestic cheese market is expanding capacity for Czechia dairy manufacturers, who may use this additional production to boost export sales. Czechia may be a small European country but it is a significant cheese exporter, with more than half its cheese production sold abroad, according to Jiří Kopáček, of the Czech-Moravian Dairy Association (ČMSM).…
ASIAN PAINT REGULATORY ROUND UP – INDONESIAN EXTERIOR PAINT STILL USES LEAD, WARNS WORLD BANK
EU HITS CHINA-BUILT BEVS WITH TARIFFS UP TO 35.3% OVER STATE SUBSIDIES
The European auto sector is uneasy about the 35.3% countervailing duties that the European Union (EU) has imposed on China-built BEVs on top of the standard 10% import tariff. While they were imposed in response to what the EU executive, the European Commission, claims are unfair state subsidies throughout Chinese supply chains that undercut the bloc’s own European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has declined to comment.…
CRUEL MYANMAR FRAUDSTERS TORTURE AND KILL TRAFFICKED SCAMMER SLAVES, HUMAN RIGHTS OFFIIALS CLAIM
USA government human rights investigators and human trafficking victims in Myanmar have told Fraud Intelligence of how a lawless town on the border with Thailand has become a forced labour hub, where kidnap victims must take part in phone or cyber scams, or face violence, torture or even death.…
EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY GUILD WANTS PROACTIVE INVESTMENT TO BOOST EUROPE’S STANDING IN AI RESEARCH
Increasing concerns that Europe is being left behind in artificial intelligence (AI) studies and applications have promoted a call for urgent and practical action by the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. https://www.the-guild.eu/about/ This group of 22 universities from 16 European countries has released a detailed position paper as the new European Commission, which takes office on December 1, considers how to strengthen Europe’s AI position.…