Useful Information on Spices & Herbs Industry

Birmingham’s business community is “overwhelmingly” in favour of proposals prepared for the creation of a Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

A 9,000-word document will shortly go to the Government advocating an LEP comprising business leaders and the local authorities in Birmingham and Solihull.

Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCI) has been a partner in preparing the proposal from the outset and its chief executive, Jerry Blackett, said: “The support we have received so far has been overwhelming but we now need to keep the momentum going until the September 6 deadline for submissions to the government.”

He is now widening the campaign by writing to nearly 200 key businesses in the region seeking their backing.

He added: “Our work in conjunction with Birmingham City Council and others has been received enthusiastically by a wide section of the business community in the region.

“We are now strengthening that position by seeking wider support. It is important that the government receives a strong message of support from everyone in the area.”

In the letter, Mr Blackett says: “The LEP will be created to improve the attention we give to developing the very best conditions for enterprise and business to flourish.

“The LEP is necessary because the new government has removed a number of quangos such as Advantage West Midlands, which have until now played leading roles in helping the economy.

“It is important that we demonstrate to government that the private sector is very much behind the objectives for our LEP so we’d like to see if we can enlist your support. LEPs will be competing for national funds and it is important to our region that Birmingham and Solihull is perceived by government to be a substantial and serious economic partnership.”

If the government supports the proposal in principle, the group proposes to establish a Shadow Board by November 1.

Source: http://www.birmingham-chamber.com/Influencing-Government/Latest-News/Press-Release/LEP-support-26-8-10.aspx

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Birmingham: West Midlands business leaders welcome the news that nearly seven out of ten entries in this year’s GCSE results (over 69%) have been awarded a C grade or above.

The increase in the numbers of students taking up science is particularly good for the high number of manufacturing and engineering companies in the city, says Birmingham Chamber Group’s policy adviser Kiran Virk.

“But we are a global economy and it is disappointing that there has been a decline in the study of modern languages.

“The East is fast becoming the world’s new economic centre, and employers will be looking for candidates who possess a working knowledge of other languages and cultures.

“Students have the opportunity of the remaining summer vacation to develop their employability through internships, volunteering or part-time employment.

“Businesses will also want to employ individuals who have strong skills in communication, team working and problem solving.”

Source: http://www.birmingham-chamber.com/Influencing-Government/Latest-News/Press-Release/GCSE-results.aspx

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Australia: If you live in a rural or regional town, or an out of town rural area, and have a normal electricity supply of 240 volts, you can help the Alternative Technology Association by taking part in a survey.

We are looking for 250 volunteers and the survey will take about 25 minutes to complete.

To complete the survey, you will need your last four electricity bills handy. You also must not be living in a metropolitan area.

The ATA has received funding through the National Electricity Market to conduct research comparing the expected costs of a stand alone power system (that is, owning your own power supply), to the costs of being connected to the distribution network.

The Market and Social Research Privacy Principles will apply to the survey, so you are assured that the data will be de-identified and no personal information will appear in the report.

The results will be published in ReNew magazine, and the data and information will be of significant use to the ATA in its ongoing advocacy work on behalf of rural and regional people in the National Electricity Market.

Source: http://www.ata.org.au/news/help-atas-research-into-energy-supply-options-for-rural-households/

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London, UK: Commenting on the news that the RMT is to announce a series of 24-hour tube strikes in September, Colin Stanbridge, Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said:

“If these strikes go ahead it will cause massive disruption to London’s firms and damage our city’s reputation as a reliable place to do business. Each day the Underground is shut it will cost the London economy £48 million and hamper the recovery of all sorts of companies still hungover from a crippling world wide recession.”

“The RMT need to accept that everyone in the private and public sectors are having to do more with less nowadays and understand that holding millions of commuters to ransom is an unacceptable response to not having its demands met.”

Source:http://www.londonchamber.co.uk/lcc_public/article.asp?id=0&did=47&aid=4531&st=&oaid=-1

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July 2010:

UK BPI -1.5%
London BPI -1.5%

June 2010:

UK BPI -1.8%
London BPI -1.8%

Thursday 12 August 2010

Immediate Release

Underlying business inflation weak

July 2010

UK BPI -1.5%
London BPI -1.5%

June 2010

UK BPI -1.8%
London BPI -1.8%

UK:

The BPI indicates that business costs continue to fall, and figures for the second quarter have been revised down, reflecting better-than-expected labour productivity data.

Although the contribution from fixed cost inflation is particularly low, pressure from labour costs also remains subdued.

The BPI has proved to be a good leading indicator of underlying CPI inflation, once indirect taxes, such as VAT, are stripped out.

London:

London firms saw a significant fall in their total costs over the year to July, similar to the falls experienced across the country as a whole.

A rapid reduction in fixed costs, reflecting cheaper borrowing costs than a year ago, is a big part of the story. But a resumption of economic growth means that pressure from labour costs has eased somewhat.

Andrew Brigden, Senior Economist at Fathom Financial Consulting, said:

“Our own research suggests that the BPI is a good predictor of underlying inflation, excluding the effects of indirect tax changes, six months ahead. Although headline CPI inflation is currently elevated, the MPC should take comfort from the fact that cost pressures facing businesses remain subdued. Rate setters are likely to look through the effects of tax changes, such as next year’s increase in the rate of VAT. London businesses should not fear a tightening of monetary policy for some time to come”.

Dr Helen Hill, Director of Policy at the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said:

“Businesses are certainly more confident, with more than a third of London firms now expecting both the UK and the London economy to improve over the next 12 months but concerns remain about underlying indicators. 69% of businesses are worried about inflation and 60% fear a rise in interest rates. Our Business Price Index suggests that these fears might be overdone. In the short-term at least, underlying inflationary pressures appear muted so London firms are right to feel more positive about the prospects of the economy overall.”

Source:http://www.londonchamber.co.uk/lcc_public/article.asp?id=0&did=47&aid=4524&st=&oaid=-1

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Australia - Australia’s food manufacturing sector and Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) retailers have already made strong inroads in addressing obesity through making foods healthier, reducing advertising to children and front-of-pack labelling, according to the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC).

NSW Greens MP John Kaye today accused the NSW Coalition of “pandering to their friends in the [food] industry” for not supporting mandatory reductions in salt, fat and sugar in fast foods and point-of-sale labelling.

AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell dismissed these claims, saying food and grocery manufacturers and QSR retailers had achieved positive results in providing healthier options and better educating consumers.

“QSR retailers McDonald’s, KFC, Hungry Jack’s and Red Rooster have reduced sodium in foods and are not using trans-fats in cooking oil. They are also offering healthier choices on menus and limiting advertising of high fat, sugar or salt (HFSS) foods to children,” Ms Carnell said.

“The QSR sector has proactively reduced sugar and sodium in buns as well as committing to sodium reduction of products over the next five years.”

Industry’s new QSR Forum – launched yesterday – will also allow industry to work with government to address important health, nutrition and chronic disease issues in Australia.

Source: http://www.afgc.org.au/media-releases/295-food-industry-making-products-healthier.html

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Australia - The Coalition’s election pledge to form a working group to develop a National Food and Grocery Agenda – which industry has been calling for over the past two years – has been welcomed by the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) today (18 August 2010).

The Coalition plans to form a “new partnership with industry” to create a national strategy to enhance the food and grocery industry’s export capacity, improve food safety and strengthen consumer education about a healthy and balanced diet.

Food and grocery is Australia’s largest manufacturing sector worth more than $100 billion annually in turn-over and employs 315,000 people across Australia, including more than 150,000 in rural and regional Australia. It’s four times larger than the automotive sector.

On top of this, Australian farms and their closely related sectors generate $137 billion-a-year in production – underpinning 12 per cent of GDP – and support more than 317,000 direct jobs on Australian farms with a flow-through of about 1.6 million jobs across the nation.

AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell applauded the Coalition’s move, saying it was essential to have a national food and grocery strategy to optimise Australia’s entire value chain from farm-gate to the consumer.

“Australia urgently needs a partnership approach involving relevant stakeholders and to plan and achieve a national food strategy to ensure Australia has a safe, affordable, nutritious and sustainable food supply into the future,” Ms Carnell said. “All Australians want a robust local food production and processing sector – they don’t want to be increasingly reliant on imports from the Asia Pacific region for our food and grocery supply.”

Ms Carnell also applauded the Coalition’s commitment today to review Australia’s anti-dumping laws, which affect competitiveness and jobs in the nation’s food and grocery manufacturing sector.

“Industry welcomes the Coalition pledge to assess Australia’s anti-dumping scheme to ensure local manufacturers’ products aren’t undercut by imported, subsidised products,” Ms Carnell said.

In March this year, AFGC urged the Federal Government to reverse its decision to lift anti-dumping duties on discounted toilet paper imported from Indonesia and China, which could cause “significant harm” to industry and Australian jobs in SA and Victoria. Ms Carnell said the removal of anti-dumping duties undermined the sustainability of Australian industry and ran counter to the Government’s sustainability agenda.

Source: http://www.afgc.org.au/media-releases/294-food-agenda-plan-backed-by-industry.html

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Australia: Tax reform, fiscal responsibility and regulatory reform are the key economic issues that must be addressed by the major political parties, according to a new pre-election survey of Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) members released.

The survey found that leading food and grocery businesses – representing Australia’s largest manufacturing sector worth $100 billion – want an elected Government to focus on the development of a more balanced economy with a robust capacity to adjust to longer term structural challenges.

About a third of respondents said taxation reform was their first economic priority for a re-elected Government, according to the survey conducted in conjunction with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI).

AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said having a simpler tax system was an important issue for industry, which employs more than 315,000 Australians including more than half in regional and rural areas.

“The Coalition has already called for lower, simpler and fairer taxes and plans to review Treasury secretary’s Ken Henry’s modelling of tax reform options – industry would support this move,” Ms Carnell said.

“Industry also supports the notion that having a lighter tax burden on business and individuals can drive economic growth and jobs.”

Economic management was another major concern raised by food and grocery businesses. The pre-election survey found almost 70 per cent of respondents were concerned about high levels of government spending while about 50 per cent were worried about the current level of interest rates.

“Industry believes that a re-elected Government must return the Budget to surplus as quickly as possible over the economic cycle to remove pressure on borrowings and interest rates,” Ms Carnell said.

Other issues raised by AFGC members said a re-elected Government must focus on included:

• Regulatory reform - a well designed regulation and effective functioning of the federation supports the seamless operation of a national economy and business efficiency.
• A skilled workforce – having improved capacity for business to attract and develop appropriate employees and maintain the current level of skilled migration to contribute to ongoing economic growth.

Source: http://www.afgc.org.au/media-releases/285-tax-reform-tops-food-industrys-economic-agenda.html

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Australia: Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to leave the official cash rate unchanged at 4.5 percent for the third month will give struggling retailers a glimmer of hope for retail trade recovery.

ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said retailers who have come off several months of dismal trade - and who now face increased wage bills from the Modern Retail Award - would hope for consumers will regain confidence and grab retail bargains.

“A rate rise amidst the uncertainty of looming Federal elections would have been disastrous. We are receiving pleas from members daily about their plight with most trading below 2009 levels.

“Retail sales across all states and categories have increased only 1.9 percent from June 2009 to June 2010. This is not real growth – it’s well below healthy levels for the sector.

“The ARA is now calling on the RBA to continue this prudent, steady approach to interest rates and give consumers some breathing space to get funds flowing through the retail sector,” Zimmerman said.

For over 105 years, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has been the peak industry body in Australia’s $292 billion retail sector which employs over 1.2 million people. As an incorporated employer body under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 and with a range of member services including business consulting, policy development, advocacy and education, the ARA promotes and protects over 5000 independent and national retailers throughout Australia.

Source: http://www.retail.org.au/index.php/news/Commonsense_RBA_rate_hold:_hope_for_retail_recovery_

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India: The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) has projected Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) going up at 15 per cent and Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeding 18 per cent in next two months mainly due to hike in prices of petroleum products, rains disrupting supplies of food and primary articles and continued rise in consumption patterns. The WPI and CPI inflation is currently estimated at 12 and 14 per cent respectively.

In it’s assessment of rising inflation, the ASSOCHAM has emphasized that festival season would shortly approach and drive demand of almost every item of primary articles and essential commodities and substantially fuel inflation rates.

Releasing its assessment, ASSOCHAM Secretary General, Mr. D.S. Rawat said that projected rate of inflation would start moderating from October 2010 onwards because by then a good Kharif crop would have come to help supplies increase especially for rice and pulses and other grains.

Mr. Rawat pointed out that full impact of rise in prices of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel, compressed natural gas, LPG and kerosene would begin its reflection from next two-three weeks in the sense that cost of transportation and movements of goods would further go up and stroke inflation.

Considering a favorable monsoon season this year, jitters are already being felt in the supply chain management of food and other primary articles across the country. ASSOCHAM feels that once, the supply chain process gets disrupted, it leads to shortages of supplies and fuels inflation. Already a major part of on-going inflation rate has significant influence of shrinkages on supply side.

Crude prices are not showing any southward movement while commodities’ prices of metals like zinc, copper, aluminum go on soaring due to rising demand. All these factors would push up inflation even if state governments are able to manage movement of supplies. This is because mismatch between demand and supplies has been growing. Naturally, inflation will further inflate and start deflating as projected after October onwards when kharif crop yield has come into the market, argued Mr. Rawat.

The chamber has also pointed out that consumption patterns of some sections of society are not showing signs of stability because of availability of finance with them. Rising consumption patterns help supplies cause inequitable distribution of supplies.

Another significant factor which will prevent inflation to subside in next two months is due to the fact that festive season would have fallen by then in which even if pockets of masses are not that deep, demand grows and masses make purchases irrespective of prices going higher for essential commodities.

Source: http://www.assocham.org/prels/shownews.php?id= 2529

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