Search Results for: World Trade Organisation

Knitwear microfactories have been expanding in number this year (2023) due to industrial, regulatory and societal changes accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Manufacturers have been eyeing the potential of small-scale, high-tech facilities, which can streamline production and be better suited to operate on an on-demand basis than larger plants.…

Experts at the recent global Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) conference in Seattle have been stressing the potential that crypto blockchains offer in tracking commercial crime – but more comprehensive regulation would aid probes. Keith Nuthall and Andreia Nogueira report.…

Fashion brands have been warned to step up online security as the industry becomes increasingly digitalised and Russian hackers pose an increased risk as the country’s military struggles to maintain its invasion of Ukraine. 

While digitalisation brings enhanced sustainability, reduced waste, stricter inventory management, personalised designs, smart wearable tech garments, AI-enabled virtual fittings and integrated supply chains, increasing online data offers bad actors additional attack vectors, said Maryland, US-based cyber exposure management company Tenable. …

The world’s 600 largest companies are failing to provide full disclosure of anti-bribery and corruption information within their sustainability reporting, according to a joint report (1) backed by the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC). Working with from Transparency International UK and the World Economic Forum’s Partnering against Corruption Initiative.…

International AML/CFT rules and guidance have been designed to help governments crack down on criminals and terrorists, but there are few guiderails to prevent states from abusing these tools to target political opponents. Given the membership of FATF and FATF-style regional bodies, and the Egmont Group of FIUs is practically universal, that means AML/CFT systems are available to authoritarian states.…

The China-Central Asian Summit that took place in China’s Xi’an in May could help cement links between China’s major garment and textile industry and central Asian textile suppliers, forging backward linkages and new markets, a manufacturer and two industry observers have told Just Style.…

Law professors, human rights lawyers and civil society groups have published a petition demanding the release of political prisoners in Tunisia, warning that such democratic regressions harm both the practice and teaching of law to the new generation of students.…

The secretiveness with which China guards its tobacco news and figures – even of tobacco leaf production – says much about the state’s priorities under President Xi Jinping. This strongman leader who has of late prioritised security/repression over economic growth, has blocked the site of the China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC), the national tobacco monopoly, to users outside China.…

The use of money mules moving dirty money worldwide continues to grow, with law enforcement, financial institutions and researchers continuing to highlight the problem. In the UK, 31,979 money mule cases were recorded in 2017; rising to 40,129 in 2018; 42,900 in 2019; and 40,353 in 2020; according to 2022 research published in the International Journal of Business and Economy (1).…

Human trafficking and modern slavery have grown exponentially in recent years: in 2021, 50 million people worldwide were estimated to be living in modern slavery, 10 million more than in 2016, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO). (1) These crimes – sometimes referred to with the acronym HT-MS – are extremely profitable, ahead of narcotics and arms trafficking, according to Tarana Baghirova, programme officer at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation (OSCE) in Europe.…