Search Results for: World Trade Organisation

The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has predicted that the chocolate industry will continue to face cocoa supply deficits, with its latest quarterly assessment predicting that for 2022/3, there will be 99,000 tonnes more grindings than cocoa production. As a result, global stocks will fall to 1.744 million tonnes, amidst declines in output from key production hubs Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire.…

With consumers becoming increasingly health conscious worldwide, demand for vegan chocolate, replacing dairy ingredients with plant-based materials, is growing fast.

According to US-based Grand View Research, the global vegan confectionery market – dominated by chocolate – is anticipated to generate USD2.62 billion in annual revenues by 2030, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% from 2023’s USD1.23 billion.…

The Indonesian garment sector, already reeling from a decline in international orders, is facing a double whammy: a surge in illegal textile imports that is undercutting local producers and increasing pressure for sustainable production.

According to the Indonesian Fibre and Filament Yarn Producers Association (APSyFi – Asosiasi Produsen Serat dan Benang Filament Indonesia), the value of illegal textile and textile products, notably clothing imports into Indonesia last year (2022) reached USD2.94 billion.

More than 400 organisations from 64 jurisdictions have signed a declaration, committing themselves to advancing the adoption or use of the ISSB’s S2 climate impact reporting standard as the climate global baseline. This came on December 4, during the UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP28) meeting in Dubai.…

There is no formal blueprint telling universities and colleges how they can encourage skills and practices promoting sustainability, as the world grapples with an ever more demanding impacts from climate change. However, a team of experts in the UK has developed a thoughtful set of guidance, designed to aid higher education institutions in weaving sustainability into their coursework, research and operations.…

Auto parts manufacturers worldwide are assessing the impact on their businesses of the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) from internal combustion engines (ICE), given EVs need fewer components, reducing demand. Most assessments say that there are about 20 moving parts in an electric engine, compared to 2,000 in an ICE (1).…

The global market for tallow, traditionally a common ingredient in the production of soaps, detergents, and lubricants, is undergoing considerable movement, driven by rising consumption of meat products coupled with the rising usage of tallow in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biofuels and feeds industries.…

Implementing international sanctions is never easy, but the sanctions regime on Iran is highly complex, buffeted by shifting diplomatic stances. With its Security Council ally Russia relying on Iranian military and technology supplies for it to pursue its invasion of Ukraine, time-limited UN restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme officially lapsed on October 18.…

FATF has released detailed guidance on how crowd-funding networks can be abused by terrorist groups, as US FIU FinCEN has warned these have been abused by Gaza-based terror group Hamas, following its massacre and abduction of Israeli and foreign nationals on October 7 (1).…

FATF has reformed its recommendation 8 on the terrorist financing abuse of non-profit organisations (NPOs) to ensure that many charities, associations, trade unions, research units and advocacy groups are not targeted by CFT action. It has defined the kind of non-profits that governments should assess for potential TF abuse to better focus such law enforcement, limiting it to non-profits that raise or disburse funds, including spending it on good works.…