Recent developments in Iran, Syria and Libya, for example, resulted in far-reaching sanctions by Australia, Canada, the European Union and its 27 member states, the United Nations, the US and others. The complexity of sanctions, and the speed with which governments implement them to address rapidly changing political situations, create serious compliance challenges.

Companies are therefore well advised to implement compliance from management through all levels of sales, logistics and finance. The stakes are extremely high because compliance failures—even unintentional ones—can result in the imposition of substantial fines, debarment from government contracts, damage to public reputation and even imprisonment. Recent penalties illustrate the risks and the high governmental enforcement priority for trade sanctions. These include fines of up to US$536-million imposed by US and UK regulators against financial institutions and major businesses. Individuals may also be subject to prison sentences of up to 10-years in the US and the UK.

Anyone involved in cross-border transactions therefore needs to determine if their conduct and that of persons acting on their behalf is regulated by trade sanctions. At a minimum, businesses must understand: which countries, regimes and individuals are targeted by trade sanctions; who is obliged to comply; which transactions are prohibited or restricted; and which authorisations may be available or required for any restricted action.

Motorists were urged to apply for the refunds.  According to the agency’s terms and conditions it could take up to two months before the customer was refunded, Cliff Johnston from the SA National Consumer Union told the newspaper. 

That was why it was imperative that e-tag holders applied for a refund as soon as possible. Johnston said the issue of whether the e-toll project would start or not “will not be resolved in the near future”.

On April 28 the High Court in Pretoria granted an urgent interdict, brought by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance, to stop the launch of the electronic tolling system in Gauteng, pending a full court review to determine if it should be scrapped or not.

The company’s executive board member Andre Laux denied that it had improper dealings with arms manufacturing company, Saab – which admitted in June to paying bribes of more than R24-million to ensure it was picked to supply Gripen jets to South Africa in the arms deal.

“We firmly reject any speculation linking Kapsch TrafficCom and the arms deals. We believe this allegation is the result of a simple misinterpretation of information regarding one of our subsidiary companies,” he said.

Patil, who arrived in South Africa last Wednesday, brought a business delegation and several government officials along on her visit to the country.

The two countries have set a bilateral trade target of R111 billion to be reached by 2014.

The South African economy grew by 3.1% in 2011 with unemployment at 23.9%.

The two countries were keen on expanding relations, said the President, adding that various areas for economic cooperation existed such as in manufacturing and energy.

India is one of South Africa’s top ten export countries and it is among the top five import countries for South Africa.

Indian companies that are investing in South Africa include Mahindra and Tata, while several South African companies operate in India, such as the Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) – which is assisting India’s Mumbai Airport – and Sasol which is considering investing in the Asian country.

According to the carrier, the results – which include a 6%, year-over-year, revenue jump, but an 82% decline in EBITDAR – are in line with expectations.

Officials blame the slow cargo environment – which started its depression in May 2011 – for their lacklustre freight numbers. During the first quarter, traffic fell by 6.1%, capacity lost 2% and load factor declined by 2.9%. Cargo revenue finished the quarter down 3.3% when compared to the same period in 2011, with an operating result a deficit of € -68 million.

The airline currently operates flights from Johannesburg to Maun, Gaborone, Francistown and Kasane.

Source: Sapa

“Møller became joint owner of the company Firmaet A.P. Møller in 1940. Since his father’s death in 1965, he has been director and chairman of the most important companies in the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. He undertook the daily management until 1993 and was chairman of A.P. Møller – Mærsk until 2003.”

At the time of his death he was Chairman of the Board of the A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation, the A.P. Møller Relief Foundation, and the Maersk Employee Foundation, all of which are significant shareholders of A.P. Møller – Mærsk.

The trans-Pacific routes (Asia-US West Coast and Asia-US East Coast), paved the way for the rising of the index.

The other main-haul trading routes, Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean are sliding from the beginning of March but standing above US$1 000/TEU.

The Shanghai Container Freight Index is standing up by 27% from February 10th, when it was at 965 points – with the Asia-Europe paying US$1 379/TEU from US$721/TEU and Asia-Mediterranean route US$1 385/TEU from US$758/TEU.

On a weekly basis, Asia-Europe and Asia-Mediterranean routes have shown moderate declines of 1%. But the outlook remains negative even with the general rate increases (GRIs) applied by liner operators, because the additional capacity tonnage still poses serious pain, along with increased bunker expenses.