Search Results for: Belgium

BY KEITH NUTHALL

SUGAR has been at the centre of continuing concern about fraud draining European Union (EU) budgets of duty revenue. The latest operational report from EU anti-fraud unit OLAF (which reviewed 2009) recalled how fraudsters made millions of Euros from exporting 3,400 tonnes of sugar from the EU to neighbouring non-member state Croatia via the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE SPECIAL properties of nanomaterials are a step closer to becoming controlled through a comprehensive European Union (EU) regulation, having been defined by the EU’s scientific committee on emerging and newly identified health risks. It has released an extensive report that specifies how nanomaterials can be identified, not just through their tiny scale, but by how they appear and behave within consumer products.…

BY MARK ROWE

INNOVATIVE packaging is transforming the drinks industry. Heavy tins and bottles are being replaced by lighter composite and biodegradeable materials; hi-tech cartons are being manufactured that tell consumers if the milk’s gone off; and RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are being embedded with temperature sensors.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

SUSTAINABILITY is becoming increasingly important in the beverage industry, and worldwide companies have been embracing environmentally conscious initiatives.

In the province of Ontario, in Canada, The Beer Store (TBS), a protected retailer under Canada’s highly regulated drinks sales system, collects empty packaging, and has boasted of a return rate of 94% between 2008 and 2009.…

BY MARK ROWE

ENERGY production that uses renewable sources or drastically reduces the use of fossil fuels are of course increasingly entering the market place, and with such transformation, innovation is at a premium. Demand for novel thinking and processes is being inflated in Europe by the European Union’s EU2020 objectives for a 20% reduction in CO2, and for 20% of energy to be generated from renewable energy sources by 2020.…

BY EMMA JACKSON

THE POPULARITY of drinks made from organically grown ingredients is on the rise, fostered in part by increasingly comprehensive regulations designed to ensure organically labelled products are indeed organic. Yet obstacles and limitations to the growth of this niche drinks sector remain, and combined with the economic downturn the organic industry still needs a push to reach its full potential.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

EUROPEAN Union (EU) anti-fraud agency OLAF is claiming focusing on larger frauds and referring smaller scams to national law enforcement agencies is paying off. More than 75% of cases closed in 2009 led to judicial or financial recovery proceedings, according the agency’s latest annual report.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

IMAGINATION and guile continue to help fraudsters milk hundreds of millions of Euros from the European Union’s (EU) well-stocked budgets, explains the latest report from EU anti-fraud agency OLAF, writes Keith Nuthall.

OLAF spends a lot of money sniffing out fraud in the institutions and programmes of the EU and the payment of duties earmarked to fund this spending.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE CREATION of a European [Union – EU] Investigation Order (EIO) for criminal matters has been proposed by seven EU member states. It would allow national courts to order judicial or police investigations in another EU country, collecting evidence for a possible trial.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission has fined 12 producers of animal feed phosphates Euro EUR175million for operating a cartel across Europe, inflating feed prices for livestock producers. Phosphates are widely used in feed, including for cattle, pigs and poultry. The Commission said the cartel covered "most of the EU" in sharing markets and fixing prices.…