Search Results for: International business

BY ALAN OSBORN
Two new schemes aimed at resolving the differences between the European Union and the US over the posting of collateral by non-American re-insurers in the US market are to be considered by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) of the US at its summer meeting in Boston June 11-14th.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GOVERNMENT’S introduction of identity cards has long been a hot political issue, but whatever the result of this week’s election lawyers will get their own cards, courtesy of the European Parliament. Its internal market committee has suggested creating a European Union (EU) professionals’ identity card, helping British lawyers gain international recognition for their skills.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
CHINA’S presence at the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in Paris in February was a powerful reminder of how the world’s great economic, trade and regulatory institutions are changing, with consequences that few people probably fully grasp today.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation (WHO) is to expand its global system of disease alerts from just cholera, plague and yellow fever to cover all major public health threats with the capacity to spread. Its ruling World Health Assembly has also agreed that the WHO should help its 192 member governments respond to such threats and also has approved new guidelines that insist on better international cooperation on fighting infectious diseases.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas has called on other cigarette manufacturers to make smuggling crackdown agreements with the EU and its member states, mirroring that already struck with Philip Morris International. Speaking at the opening of a European Parliament exhibition on cigarette smuggling, Kallas said he hoped the agreement would “serve as a model for other manufacturers who are willing to commit the necessary resources to combat illegal trade of their products and to work with us to combat that trade”.…

BY MARK ROWE
IN the days of the Soviet Union, Russians would make jokes about the shades of “concrete” grey available for any internal redecorating you planned to do. No longer. Disposable incomes are higher, so Russians are discovering DIY, while a vast face-lift has been given to many of the country’s cities and towns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINANCING has been secured for a new international programme creating 10 alternative dispute resolution tribunals in Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia & Montenegro over the next four years. The International Finance Corporation (IFC)-coordinated project will immediately make permanent a pilot tribunal in Bosnia, having been given US$600,000 by the Canadian government; the World Bank agency also intends to firmly establish a Serb arbitration tribunal in the next 12 months.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BIGGEST obstacle faced by Europe promoting its economic growth is its failure to draw more women, young people and workers aged above 50 into its workforce, an official at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said. Its deputy research director David Robinson, speaking at the Brussels Economic Forum, said national governments rather than EU institutions should encourage the employment of these groups.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has approved the final shape of an EU directive banning retailers from carrying out various unfair practices, a law that had been heavily criticised by international business groups.

Ministers accepted all the final amendments proposed by the European Parliament.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has released a guide helping companies check the truth of potential suppliers’ claims of ISO’s 9001:2000 quality management system certification. The free bulletin says companies should check for a supplier’s ISO ‘declaration of conformity’; second party assessments of its management systems; and demand a formal certification assessment.…