Search Results for: South Africa

BY MONICA DOBIE
ETHICALLY conscious consumers are spending more money on buying certified fair trade wine, although the marketing of other drinks certified to promote social development in poorer countries has been slower to grow.

Fair trade wines volumes are now respectable, with the London-based Fair Trade Foundation saying consumption is highest in the UK, with worldwide sales volumes totaling 618,000 litres in 2004 (bought entirely in Britain), and 1.39 million in 2005, with Britons buying 1.12 million of the share.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Dubai
THE UNITED Arab Emirates’ (UAE) US$310 million tobacco market is set to grow by 8% this year on the back of population growth, tourism and a strong economy, but the sector faces sizeable problems with illicit trade that accounts for as much as 33% of the market.…

BY BILL CORCORAN, in Johannesburg
AS Zimbabwe descends further into economic and political meltdown the country’s ruling elite are continuing to enrich themselves through fraud, theft and bribery. Bill Corcoran reports from Johannesburg.

UNLIKE politically stable countries where large scale commercial crime is just as likely to occur in the private sector as it is in the public, troubled Zimbabwe’s major fraudsters and thieves are today predominantly found in state run companies or government departments.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
WITH Sainsbury removing all plastic carrier bags from its checkouts for last Friday (April 27), handing out reusable paper bags made from 100% recyclable material, another nail is being hammered into the global reputation of this ubiquitous packaging.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has revealed the seizure of many thousands of items of counterfeit clothing and accessories in a coordinated February customs swoop on illicit cargoes in European Union (EU) international ports. Brussels said EU anti-fraud office OLAF coordinated the raids which involved 300 customs officials and police from national customs units of the EU’s 27 member states, EU police agency Europol, Interpol and the World Customs Organisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States Trade Representative (USTR) has released a series of detailed reports outlining the threats posed by counterfeiters worldwide and the inability of many governments to fight the problem.

Its sheaf of intelligence includes comprehensive warnings from cigarette giant Philip Morris, a company that has adopted a high profile in fighting counterfeiters and smugglers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A BID by a South Korea fibre exporter to have low melt polyester staple fibres (LMP) excluded from existing European Union (EU) antidumping duties on synthetic polyester staple fibres (PSF) has been refused by the European Commission. These particular duties are levied on exports from China, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and South Korea, but South Korea exporter and producer Saehan Industries Inc claimed LMP should be excluded, claiming they “have different basic physical and chemical characteristics and end-uses” to other PSF types, having “inherent binding properties.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FLEET managers suffering from car thefts might think their vehicles are sold in a nearby city, or neighbouring region. No so, says global police agency Interpol – they could well end up on another continent. It recently coordinated controls of more than 8,000 vehicles in Africa’s Cameroon, Central African Republic, and Chad, and found 14 had been stolen “mostly from Europe and Japan.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, has signed a deal with the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies to help raise the social and environmental standards of the country’s clothing manufacture sector towards globally-recognised models. With Bangladesh fighting to maintain the competitiveness of its key 2.2 million employee clothing sector against Chinese competition, the IFC has concluded in a statement: “Compliance with global environmental and social standards is a critical issue.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MAJOR American golf clothing chain has failed to secure European Union (EU)-wide trademark rights to its name, because European Court of Justice (ECJ) judges found it insufficiently distinctive. Golf USA Inc franchises more than 100 golf clothing and equipment stores in 32 US states and 11 other countries: Belgium, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Ireland, South Korea, Mexico, Spain and Sweden.…