Search Results for: Climate change

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) may force a change in British VAT regulations over goods purchased by a husband and wife that are later used for business purposes. Under existing British VAT regulations, capital goods used for business must be bought in the name of a sole trader or company for sales tax to be reclaimed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) controversial REACH chemical control package will not be substantially rewritten by the European Commission, despite calls for change from the industry and environmentalists. EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the European Parliament: “I am convinced that the Commission’s proposal already strikes the right balance between environmental and health protection, on the one hand, and the needs of a competitive industry on the other.”…

Keith Nuthall
THE INDIAN government is considering allowing foreign accounting firms to conduct audits in India, a privilege that has so far been reserved for accountants or partnerships registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. It is consulting Indian business on the idea, which could be written into a formal offer to liberalise the country’s services sectors through the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
In another step expected to smooth the distribution of the country’s electricity, the World Bank’s Programmatic Adjustment Loan (PAL) programme for Romania will privatise all six distribution companies. In recent months, four European investors have taken over the companies that form the heart of the Romanian energy sector, in transactions totalling around €2.25 billion.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s (EU) controversial REACH chemical control package will not be substantially rewritten by the European Commission, despite calls for change from the industry and environmentalists. EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told the European Parliament: “I am convinced that the Commission’s proposal already strikes the right balance between environmental and health protection, on the one hand, and the needs of a competitive industry on the other.”…

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
THAT poor environmental standards harm people’s health is the raison d’etre of environmental health officers committed to improving living conditions across the board. And that the world’s environment is becoming ever dirtier and polluted is a universal assumption: but by how much?…

BY MARK ROWE
THE RUSSIAN oil and gas industry is one sector where comparison with the matryoshka doll – the dolls beloved by tourists that open up to reveal a series of ever smaller dolls within – seems particularly apt. Inside the outer doll, which represents the industry as a whole, you find a smaller doll representing Gazprom, the natural gas monolith.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
LARGE insurance companies will note with interest the UK government’s announcement at an international conference attended by Insurance Day, of plans to promote corporate social responsibility (CSR) around the world. Trade minister Nigel Griffiths told the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) conference said his government would create a “framework setting out the Government’s approach to CSR at the global level” which will be an attempt “to push the CSR agenda internationally.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
*Copper

Copper dropped in production between 2003-04 and the previous year. However, the Mt Lyell Copper Mine in Queenstown has deemed copper priced sufficiently to continue its development of a decline to the next production level. Copper prices made significant gains throughout 2003-4, notably in the second half of the financial year and reached the A$4,000 (UK Pounds 1,600) mark by June, a price not achieved since 1995.…