Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL, MJ DESCHAMPS, AND JULIAN RYALL

The management challenge of introducing increasingly sophisticated labels is compounded by the continuing diversity of labelling laws worldwide. These can be a major headache for textile and clothing companies, especially those with global supply chains.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT; AND MOHAMMED YUSUF, IN NAIROBI

IN late January, oil production and exports came to a halt in South Sudan over a transit pricing dispute with its former overlord north Sudan. With no compromise in sight, the newly independent Africa country is mulling other transport options, but, even if production were to resume, it will be months – at best – before its oil sector gets back on its feet.…

BY PACIFICA GODDARD

COLUMBIA’S largest airport has long needed a new long-term development strategy, and it would appear one is coming, with the US government helping with funding. The El Dorado International Airport, servicing Colombia’s capital Bogotá, has in recent years been oversaturated by the growing number of both passengers and cargo, and no longer has the capacity to effectively meet demands.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is coming under pressure to act against child labour in the global cocoa sector, with proposals being debated at the European Parliament to track cocoa produced with the help of children. That could mean an EU law creating a monitoring system making it clear to consumers where cocoa products risked being tainted by child labour, maybe through the "possible introduction of ‘child-labour free’ product labelling," said a draft report from the EP’s international trade committee.…

BY MINI PANT ZACHARIAH, IN MUMBAI; AND SUZIE WHITE, IN HANOI

KEY Asian poultry producers Vietnam and India continue to be hit by bird flu outbreaks. Vietnam has been hit especially hard, with outbreaks of bird flu reported in 36 communes in 12 provinces across Vietnam this January and February.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ITALIAN government is to fund a Euro EUR9 million United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)-coordinated project promoting HIV/AIDS medicine production in South Africa. UNIDO said that the scheme would help develop a good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compliant line of production to manufacture vaccines in South Africa and conduct a therapeutic clinical trial with an anti-HIV vaccine candidate developed at the Italian Institute of Health (ISS).…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN BEIRUT

THE SYRIAN energy sector is currently reeling from the sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) and the United States in the last quarter of 2011 in response to Damascus’ severe crackdown on protests that began in March of last year.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, IN LONDON; JULIAN RYALL, IN TOKYO; AND LEAH GERMAIN, IN EDMONTON

AS textile recycling continues to gain importance worldwide, and the number of companies dedicated to processing used apparel or scraps increases as well, governments and industry are working to establish textile waste legislation.…

BY WANG FANGQING IN SHANGHAI

A RECENT Chinese-African cotton agreement could usher in a new era for the African cotton industry but not in the short-term, say industry experts.

Under the agreement, signed in December with four key cotton-producing African countries – Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso (known as the C4) – China stated it would provide machinery, expertise and materials in a bid to increase and improve the quality of local production.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, IN ABU DHABI

IT sounds completely bizarre, given their dominant role as global energy players, but the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are facing a chronic energy shortage, with domestic demand growing by an estimated 8.5% and investment in power systems failing to keep pace.…