Search Results for: International business

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH holding company Candover has welcomed the European Commission clearing its sale of French and Italian frozen food chain Picard to another investment vehicle BC Partners for more than Euro 1.3 billion. The sale brings Candover a 2.7-times return on its 2001 acquisition of Picard in 2001, when it bought the chain from French retailer Carrefour in 2001 for Euro 920 million.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
OUTGOING European Union (EU) transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio has left her Brussels job on a high note, being named ‘Woman of the Year 2004’ by the International Road Federation. The Spaniard ascribed her award from the advocacy group to EU investment to European road infrastructure, safety improvements and liberalisation policies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, has launched an ‘HIV/AIDS Guide for the Mining Sector’, which it says can be used by other industries, especially in developing countries, on minimising the exposure of their workforce to the disease.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
IS there a role for the insurance companies of rich countries to play in developing “micro finance” in the world’s very poorest regions? The question has become relevant following the launch earlier this month (November) of the International year of Microcredit 2005 by the UN’s Agricultural Fund for Development (IFAD).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank has staged its first workshop explaining its Voluntary Standard for the Reduction of Global Venting and Flaring of Associated Gas. The meeting was held in Nigeria, which flares more gas than other countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE LIKELIHOOD of Italy’s nominee as the new European Union (EU) Commissioner for justice, freedom and security taking up his post has become extremely unlikely, with the European Parliament forcing a withdrawal of the entire new Commission due to start work on November 1.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has warned against rich countries erecting “a plethora of protectionist non-tariff barriers” to defend their textile industries after January’s quota abolition. Although this UN agency accepts the need for smaller developing countries facing the full onslaught of Chinese competition to have “special adjustment measures” such as rules of origin and “improved preferential access”, it wants this assistance limited.…

Keith Nuthall
THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has issued a series of online guidelines advising on preventing the air industry from spreading future outbreaks of SARS around the world. They include standards on screening passengers, employing health professionals and posting information and publicity.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States International Trade Commission (ITC) has been sharply criticised by a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) panel ruling on a sunset review of countervailing and anti-dumping duties on Canadian corrosion resistant steel exports. Washington’s conclusion that this American steel sub-sector required continued protection because it was in a “weakened state” considering its profits, “is unsupported by substantial evidence and not in accordance with law”, said the panel.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE OFFICE International des Épizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation, has reported more than 1,000 cases of bluetongue disease amongst sheep in Morocco, with 13,000 animals being susceptible within 142 outbreaks across the country. This mirrors the recent cases in southern Spain that have led to European Union (EU) export controls.…