Examples of Stories for Sale

The international cocoa and chocolate shipping sector is posing risks by fraudulent trading in cocoa and associated products, notably in Ghana, where we have a correspondent. This includes fraud in terms of grading, smuggling, stainability reporting fraud, illicit use of child labour and more. Cocoa exports are especially focused in West Africa and the international food and shipping sectors are exposed to commercial crime in this region. We would dig into the problems and deliver an article that also offers some solutions.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a former executive of a foreign-based subsidiary of a U.S. bank holding company with paying bribes to gain power plant contracts in Ghana in breach of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).  The SEC alleges Asante Berko arranged for his firm’s client, a Turkish energy company, to funnel at least USD2.5 million to a Ghana-based intermediary to pay illicit bribes to Ghanaian government officials in order to gain their approval of an electrical power plant project. 

Russia has updated its anti-bribery and anti-money laundering laws to cover cryptocurrency ahead of a planned launch of a Russian cyber-money later this year.  The legislative revamp also follows allegations that Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) attempted to extract a USD1 million bribe in bitcoin from a media mogul last year.

The cannabis industry is increasingly being used to cover for Ponzi schemes, with fraudsters seeking to exploit potential investors in the market. Most cases brought by the US Securities and Exchange Commission involve operations that purport to be cannabis businesses but instead are schemes -- typically of the Ponzi and pump-and-dump variety -- said a former DEA chief, who has advised the financial community to conduct the same due diligence as appropriate for any other kind of investment, regardless of the product.

Researchers at MIT have devised a cryptographic tag small enough to be attached to any product to verify its authenticity. While RFID tags are too large for some automotive components, for example, this new tag has been shrunk in size to one millimetre, does not need batteries but stores sensitive data and can be used to tackle supply chain counterfeiting.

The first major phishing attack of 2020 was based on phoney information on the Coronavirus, with criminals putting fake WHO logos on email messages with bogus links in the message encouraging users to click through and - at the same time - hand over their personal details. We'd gather warnings and best practice plus find out how national authorities are fighting these attempts.

ECHA has added 2-methoxyethyl acetate, a textile solvent, to its list of substances of high concern that are likely to see their use tightly restricted in the EU and made subject to special authorisation - the concern here is that the chemical is toxic to reproduction. We have the details.

The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) has released a new guideline for industrial users of 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP), which is a coating used to coat textile fibres. The Europena Union (EU)  is restricting its use because of concerns over its toxicity - with the chemical being subject to the first restriction of its kind that is based on Derived no Effect Levels (DNEL). Industrial users will have to comply with the restriction by May 9, 2020. We can explain the details of this policy change and what implications it will have on textile coating companies.

President Donald Trump announced on August 1st that the USA would impose an additional 10% duties on USD300 billion’s worth of exported goods from China starting September 1, 2019. This includes hard copy books, brochures, dictionaries, encyclopaedias and more. More recently, the US Trade Representantive's Office has said that as of December 15,2019 tariffs will be slapped on a series of electronics from China, including mobile phones, laptops, video game consoles, some toys, computer monitors, and certain footwear and clothing.

President Trump has increased a wide range of 10% duties on Chinese exports to the USA to 25%. The tariff hike covers uranium ores, compounds (and metal). The US imported USD60.3 million’s worth of uranium from China in 2018  (3.5% of all imports). China responded with retaliatory tariffs on a range of US imports, including metal ores such as iron, nickel, zinc, titanium and zirconium. These latest tariff hikes in the US-China Trade War will have a major impact on the global minerals sector.

The EU Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) has decided that the following active substance should not be approved for use in the EU, including in the textile sextor - carbendazim for product-type 9 (fibre, leather, rubber and polymerised materials preservatives). The committee’s opinion is that carbendazim, which meets the exclusion criteria, cannot be approved for product-type 9 because of unacceptable risks posed to the environment that cannot be mitigated.

Over 87,000 properties in England and Wales valued at an excess of USD132.4 billion (GBP100 billion) are owned by anonymous companies registered in tax havens, according to a new report. Forty percent of the identified properties are in London. Cadogan Square in Knightsbridge, an affluent neighbourhood of Victorian homes bordering Hyde Park, hosts at least 134 secretly owned properties. About 10,000 properties are in Westminster, home to the British Parliament.

Ten European companies trading in timber have sourced USD2.26 million of wood from a company engaged in illegal logging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to a report released by Global Witness. The findings are especially worrying because most of the world’s second largest tropical rainforest is in the DRC, said the report. Tropical forests are estimated to absorb 30% of the world’s carbon emissions.

A scandal implicating Sweden’s oldest bank has widened dramatically with new revelations that the suspicious flows that the institution handled — transactions with potential connections to alleged Danske Bank money laundering — which amount to USD10.2 billion,  not USD5.8 billion as earlier reported.

Hong Kong's former home secretary was sentenced to three years in prison and a USD400,000 fine on March 25 for bribing African officials on behalf of a Chinese energy company.  Sentencing followed a one-week trial in the Southern District of New York last December, when Patrick Ho was convicted by a jury on seven counts - one of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, four of violating the FCPA, one of conspiring to commit international money laundering, and one of committing international money laundering.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced on March 22 that Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated will pay over USD8 million to settle charges of improper handling of “pre-released” American Depositary Receipts (ADRs).  The SEC’s says Merrill Lynch improperly borrowed pre-released ADRs from other brokers did not own the foreign shares needed to support them.  This inflated the total number of a foreign issuer’s tradeable securities, which resulted in abusive practices like inappropriate short selling and dividend arbitrage.

The US and Canada have struck an agreement on revising NAFTA (now to be called the USMCA) which will involve giving US dairy exporters access to the Canadian dairy market. We want to offer a piece where we look at the detail of what is on offer here and how it will not only affect the Canadian and US dairy sectors, but also third party dairy industries, like that in Europe, which will have to export products to North American markets affected by the new system.

“The Confederation of Organic Food: figures, data, facts about the organic sector 2017” report in Germany looks at why Germans spend approximately 9-10% more on organic products every year.  We would like to look at the details regarding the organic meat industry is in Germany and have a look at key statistics that could give us a better idea of latest trends. What organic cuts and meats are most popular in Germany, why, and who supplies them?  We will speak to industry experts and the Confederation of Organic Food in Germany which conducted the research.

The European Commission has released a paper outlining proposals to beef up EU powers regarding the controlling of EU money-laundering policies and actions. This has been sent to member states. It includes increasing the AML powers of the European Central Bank, among other options. Have paper and can write string news piece today, if you wish.

The US government has released details of the extra help US ag producers will get to cope with Trump’s trade wars - and cotton producers will be a key beneficiary. We have the details and offer a news analysis piece plus comments from the US cotton industry that would explore the impact of the Trump trade wars on the cotton sector.

The Swedish government has announced plans to make it mandatory for municipalities to impose high standards of animal welfare and low dosages of antibiotics in the meat industry.

The US government has released details of the extra help US food producers will get to cope with Trump’s trade wars - and pork producers will be the second largest beneficiary. The government will buy up excess commodities—$558 million out of an estimated $1.2 billion.  We have the details and offer a news Piece plus comments from the US pork industry - New York correspondent.

We are offering a news piece on how the WTO appellate body has ruled against Indonesia saying its duties on iron and steel imports break WTO rules, ordering Jakarta to liberalise its rules.

Kevlar is being used to produce the world's first armoured phone charging cable to stop them breaking.  Jet Co Labs, based in London, has integrated Aramid, or Kevlar, to reinforce the braided nylon wire in a cable, making it durable.  The company has now launched a crowdfunding campaign to start the production of the JET cable with the technology it calls "KevlaBraid".

We wanted to offer you a piece that looks at the problems that have faced livestock farmers who have invested in anaerobic digesters to turn slurry and other production waste into biogas, that can then be fed into national gas grids.  Apparently in the UK and Ireland there have been a slew of insolvencies involving companies installing and operating these systems.  We wanted to offer a news piece that looked into this - where we focus on advice to livestock producer struggling to operate such systems.

This is a news idea about how a group of European Parliament members have called on the Commission to turn down an industry proposal on alcohol labelling, claiming that alcoholic beverages should no longer enjoy a preferential regime compared to other foodstuffs. “The current situation created disparities in the internal market, where a milk producer has higher administrative burden than a vodka producer did” the letter reads.  We would like to look at the concrete requests of the MEPs and look in details at their requests.

This is an insider news piece about how a trade pact between the EU and the South American bloc Mercosur could be agreed in early September. We’d tap Brussels and Buenos Aires sources. This would mean closing key gaps remain on how far to open each other’s markets to industrial goods and farm products, such as Latin American beef. What is more, the window for a quick agreement is narrowing, with elections in Brazil in early 2019 and the mandate of the Commission ending after the European Parliament in May.

We are offering a newsy article to cover one of Russia’s largest meat processors, Miratorg, which is reorienting up to 30% of their capacities to the production of sausages. Our Russian correspondent can speak to a company representative to discuss the changes at Miratorg and how exactly they will focus their operative capacities on the production of sausages.  Does this require employing more workers and construction? We would also discuss the company’s future expansion objectives.

The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), of Hong Kong, is consulting on proposed amendments to the territory’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) guidelines. These would expand the definition of ‘politically exposed persons’ subject to special AML/CFT checks to customers given a prominent function by an international organisation. The reforms would also streamline identification and verification rules for onboarding customers to allow more flexible approaches that reflect the AML/CFT risk in handling their business.

New European Commission special regulation to minimise consumer exposure, banning the placing on the market of carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic to reproduction substances in clothing and related accessories (including sportswear and bags), or footwear, bed linen, blankets, upholstery or reusable nappies for use by consumers where the CMR substances are present in concentrations above a certain level.

New guidelines for testing adhesives meant for plastic food packaging have been released by the Association of the European Adhesive & Sealant Industry (FEICA). We have access to the document, which outlines the specific guidelines for conformity testing of adhesives as components of food contact materials, and would like to offer you a news story on these updates.

We propose covering the plenary meeting of the European Food Safety Authority’s ‘scientific panel on additives and products or substances used in animal feed’ (FEEDAP), in Brussels, Belgium July 12-14. Experts will discuss, among other things, a draft scientific opinion on the potential reduction of the currently authorised maximum copper content in feed. We can offer coverage of the key issues and opinions emerging from this meeting. What are the challenges facing meat producers in this area and what are the potential solutions?

Members of the European Parliament have said that the European Commission should set up a taskforce to monitor virtual currencies to prevent their being used to launder money or finance terrorism. MEPs passed this non-binding resolution noting the taskforce should build expertise in the underlying technology of virtual currencies and recommend any necessary legislation.

In Denmark chicken meat is catching up on pork which however still leads the market, according to the Danish Food and Agriculture council. We could do a follow up story to see if chicken meat producers are benefiting from the drop in pork and what has led to it with comments from industry experts. Between 2013 and 2015, the pork market share has gone down from 39.1% to 35.9%. During the same period chicken meat market has gained slowly but steadily from 22.4% to 23.5%.

There will be an event tomorrow hosted by MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz, as well as the EU’s packaging and environmental association, Europen. We wanted to offer coverage as the event's focus will be on the EU's long-running plans to create a circular economy. As you know, the European Commission has been reviewing how it achieves this, and the recycling of waste plastic is a key part of the policy.

Speakers at the event include Mr Martin Reynolds: EUROPEN Chairman, CROWN Europe; and Mr Hans van Bochove: EUROPEN Vice-Chair, Coca Cola Enterprises.

Japan has lifted its 15-year ban on imports of Italian beef. Japan had banned beef from the EU in 2001 based on concerns over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). Japan has already opened its market to beef from other member states such as France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Denmark and Sweden.

The European Parliament’s agriculture committee has backed a report of new rules on medicated feed. These aim to harmonise standards across Europe and encourage more responsible use of medicines such as antibiotics. The parliament will now negotiate a final text with the Council of Ministers.

The Norwegian Fisheries Minister announced last week that he would give NOK 2 million (around EUR210 000) to the seal hunt against the vote of the parliament on the government budget for 2016. This is despite controversy over the seal hunt and seal products – furs and leather - that has led to jurisdictions such as the US, Mexico, EU, and Russia banning them in some way.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China has said in a new report that China’s government efforts to address excessive production capacity including in steel have failed due to, for instance, regional protectionism, weak regulatory enforcement, low resource pricing, and misdirected investment.

Scotland’s confusing food labels are contributing to food waste and could hinder the government’s circular economy strategy, according to Approved Food, a large online retailer of short-dated and residual stock food. Approved Food surveyed 2,079 people from across the UK on their food waste habits and found more than 50% of people across Scotland throw away food that is approaching or past its best-before date despite it being perfectly safe to eat. Scotland plans to reduce food waste by 33% by 2025.

The European Union Council of Ministers yesterday debated how to better link education to the skills needed in the market. The outcomes will help shape a European Commission policy initiative "A New Skills Agenda for Europe", which is expected to orient education EU higher education policy, expected for May. In the debate, ministers noted the importance of upgrading numeracy, literacy and digital skills of all students.

A piece looking at the potential benefits and detriments of Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and EU for the meat sector as negotiations reach the twelfth round. For instance, Copa-Cogeca has noted that protectionism should be avoided and that areas such as processed food exports in particular could benefit from the deal. However, the organisation has warned there is a lack of progress on eliminating red tape and non-tariff barriers to trade.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Adidas may oppose Belgium-based Shoe Branding Europe’s application to register a shoe with two parallel stripes on the side as a trade mark. This is similar to Adidas’ mark, which is a shoe with three parallel stripes on the side. This decision overturns an earlier decision by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) that dismissed Adidas’ opposition.

The European Commission has approved Cinven Capital Management General Partner Limited’s (UK) sole control over shoes and accessories retailer Kurt Geiger Topco Limited (Cayman Islands). Cinven is a private equity business providing investment management and investment advisory services.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing finance for a new Coca-Cola drinks bottling plant in Tajikistan.

The Bank’s loan will be used by Coca-Cola Beverages Tajikistan to refinance loans provided by Coca-Cola İçecek A.Ş. to set up a green-field soft drinks bottling plant in the suburbs of Dushanbe, the capital city of Tajikistan. 

The state-of-the-art production plant will produce up to 100 million litres of beverages per year.

The Scottish government has announced it will formally ban genetically modified crops, such as those used for animal feed, from being grown in the country. This follows the granting of recent EU powers that allow devolved administrations to opt out of a more relaxed regime. 

*We want to offer a news piece on this.

*We can also offer a follow up feature looking at the position being taken or considered by other EU regional governments – using our network of writers.

The Indian government is suing Nestle for USD100 million over its ‘unfair trade practices’. The complaint against Nestle is that it caused damage to consumers through misleading advertisements related to its Maggi noodles product, which was banned in India after the food safety regulator said Nestle was not complying with food safety laws.

The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has backed a review of EU Air Quality Policy, which farmers are warning will hit the EU livestock sector hard.

They are upset about what they see as unrealistic targets called for in the National Emission Ceilings Directive (NEC), opposing fixing methane targets in the agriculture sector.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is investing

EUR8.5 million in bonds issued by SIJ-Slovenska Industrija Jekla d.d., the largest specialised steel manufacturer in Slovakia.

 We have the details.

A European Commission scientific committee has proposed 57 chemicals that could be part of the priority list of tobacco additives, which would trigger enhanced reporting obligations under the EU Tobacco Products Directive.

These includes caramel colours, carob bean extract, cocoa, glycerol and guar gum. 

The additives were proposed based on their toxicity, attractiveness to the consumer and role in increasing tobacco addiction.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has raised concerns over the flavouring substance p-Mentha-1,8-dien-7-al, also called “Perilla aldehyde”, which is added to some drinks to produce a pungent citrus smell and a woody, spicy, citrus taste.

The substance has been proven to damage DNA in animals.

Would you like some copy? If you do, we would  be glad to supply it.