Search Results for: Belgium

ACCORDING to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the largest single health threat to the population of the world today is antimicrobial resistance (AMR). How can it be countered and what options are open to government regulators, the medical profession and, especially, the pharmaceutical companies for the development of new antibiotics?…

THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed appeals brought by three European Union (EU) plastic bag companies against Euro EUR290 million’s fines imposed because of their participation in a cartel. But in an unusual twist, the ECJ ruled that because the proceedings leading to the 2011 imposition of fines was so long (five years and nine months), they can sue the EU for damages for harm caused by this wait for justice.…

EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Canadian confectioners can look forward to increasing their trans-Atlantic trade once a new free trade agreement between the EU and Canada comes into force, probably in 2015.

The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), announced on October 18, will remove most tariffs for confectionery and sweet bakery products imposed by both sides on each other’s exports.…

ENSURING that costs of providing positive assurance are outweighed by benefits hinges on a good reporting framework that addresses relevant issues, a high powered debate on positive assurance on narrative reporting heard in Brussels, Belgium on September 26.

This was the view of Anthony Carey, of Mazars LLP and ICAS, speaking at an ICAS-FEE debate around issues concerning positive opinions provided by auditors on company managers’ narratives in annual reports.…

Any market and industry benefits from supply diversification, so major textile and clothing companies can take heart from continued innovation amongst fibre and fabric producers over sourcing. This extends, for instance, to sourcing material from unusual places such as milk and fishing nets, while creating more opportunities for traditional sources such as flax.…

THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced funding for three major research projects designed to promote innovation in the meat and livestock sector. They will be launched on Wednesday (Nov 6) and funded by the EU’s outgoing Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), which ends next month (December 31).…

EUROPEAN AND Canadian meat traders are looking to boost overseas sales after today’s formal announcement of the widely anticipated Canada-European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA).

Speaking in Brussels, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso said: “We were able to strike a very good balance between our offensive and defensive interests [in agriculture],” while noting that this area was particularly sensitive during the negotiations.…

TECHNICAL and security experts have gathered at the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) to consider how to roll-out developing automated border control (ABC) systems, which offer hard-pressed airports the ability to better process surging passenger numbers.

Staged at ICAO’s headquarters, in Montréal, Canada, from October 22 to 24, the agency’s ninth symposium and exhibition on MRTDs [machine readable travel documents] biometrics and border security debated ABC developments such as newly-emerging technologies; trust issues; reliability; non-intrusiveness; biometrics; effective inspections tools; trusted traveller programmes; challenges to border integrity and ways to address them.…

THE EXTENT of waste in Europe’s austerity-hit public health services was one of the ‘elephants in the room’ – a big issue seldom discussed – identified by a professionals’ conference in Brussels, Belgium, on September 4 and 5.

150 delegates at the European Public Health Alliance (EPHA) annual conference heard that, on average, between 3% and 10% of budgets for European Union (EU) national health systems was lost through waste, but in some cases could even reach 30%.…

A EUROPEAN Commission-ordered report has highlighted significant

shortcomings in gas interconnectors crossing national European Union (EU)

borders that are restricting the development of an EU gas market.

This ‘Study on Entry-Exit Regimes in Gas’ by the Netherlands’ DNV KEMA and

COWI Belgium said the absence of virtual trading points or short-term capacity

products are “highly critical barriers for the development of a well-functioning

entry-exit system”.…