Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009
Kyodo News
An immigration officer was arrested Friday on suspicion of receiving about ¥6 million in bribes from a man who runs pubs in exchange for favors involving residence permits for foreign women working as bar hostesses, police said.
Masashi Ogura, 54, a senior immigration officer at the Narita Airport District Immigration Office, allegedly received the bribe from Shingo Ito, 46, in 2007 regarding applications for certificates of resident eligibility, the police said.
Dozens of Filipino women who came as dancers have made the illegal entry through the scheme, and were working in Ito's pubs.
Both Ito, who was also arrested Friday, and Ogura have owned up to the charges, according to the police.
Ogura served as a senior immigration officer at the Yokohama District Immigration Office, part of the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau, at the time of the bribes.
According to police, Ito had approached Ogura after hearing rumors that the Yokohama immigration office was lax in checking the certificates. Ito allegedly wined and dined Ogura as well as taking him to golf courses and handing over ¥200,000 a month.
Ogura received ¥5.8 million for the favors he gave Ito.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Cambodian pepper farmers set to gain from 'champagne' status
Dec 4, 2009
By Robert Carmichael
DPA
Kampong Trach, Cambodia - On a small plot of earth 10 kilometres outside a dusty provincial town in southern Cambodia, farmer Nuon Yan tends his crop.
Like most farmers in Cambodia, Nuon Yan grows rice. But today he is tending his other crop: Kampot pepper. The final product - spicy black peppercorns that enliven dishes across the world - will soon become the first Cambodian product to benefit from Geographical Indicator (GI) status.
GI is more familiar as a concept than a phrase, and most famously with champagne: Only sparkling wine grown in a certain region of France which conforms to the quality standard set by its members may be called champagne. The advantage for growers is a better price; consumers benefit knowing that they are getting a quality product.
Cambodia's farmers are a key pillar of the country's economy, and widespread rural poverty means better prices for their crops are essential. UN figures show agriculture employs more than half of the 8-million-strong labour force and generates one-third of the kingdom's gross domestic product.
Kampot pepper, which is named after Nuon Yan's home province near the border with Vietnam, has an excellent name regionally and is highly regarded by some chefs in Europe. But a good name is not enough: in a world of imitations, protecting that name is critical.
Var Roth San is director of the intellectual property department at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce. He says attaining GI status typically boosts the value of a product by at least 20 per cent.
'We want to create jobs, and we want the poor to get more money from their jobs in the rural areas,' he said. 'GI is one thing that will help the poor.'
Nuon Yan is a member of the newly formed Kampot Pepper Producers' Association, which will market and promote his crop.
It is a cooperative of more than 100 farmers, along with a handful of middlemen. It will ensure the Kampot pepper its members grow comes only from certain areas and meets quality standards. By early 2010, only the pepper produced by its members will be able to use the name.
Jean-Marie Brun, an advisor at the French agricultural non-governmental organisation GRET, said members of the World Trade Organisation are obliged to protect GI-status products. Once a product earns the name and is registered, it can easily be protected.
GRET was involved in the establishment of the cooperative, whose members defined the geographical growing area and quality standards.
'The stakeholders decided on the delimitation of the area, how it should be produced, and the quality criteria for Kampot pepper,' Brun said.
Kampot pepper is not the only Cambodian product in the running. Others vying for GI status include regionally produced palm sugar, honey, silk and possibly even durian fruit.
Brun says the main benefit for the small-scale farmers who comprise the bulk of the cooperative is financial. The current gate price for black pepper is 2.5 dollars per kilogram, but that should double once the GI status is confirmed.
By the time Kampot pepper gets to Europe, where it will be sold in packets of 20 to 50 grams, it can retail at an equivalent of 100 euros (150 dollars) per kilogram.
'Importers of Kampot pepper in Europe know it has a name and they are willing to pay a higher price for that,' Brun explained. The extra profit will allow for increased marketing expenditures.
Protection of the brand rests initially with the association, whose simple office is based in a shady grove outside Kampong Trach town in Kampot province. This is picture-postcard Cambodia: green rice fields, sugar palm trees and karst hills, with wooden carts drawn by white oxen along dirt roads.
The vice-president of the association, En Trou, is a farmer with 150 pepper vines, each providing 1 kilogram of peppercorns per year. En Trou said the total output of the members this year will be 14 tons, but he predicts that will double over the next five years.
En Trou said members have in the past encountered difficulties trying to sell their crops for a decent price, but is optimistic that GI status for Kampot pepper will help.
Four kilometres from the association's office along a series of ever-narrowing dirt tracks, Nuon Yan keeps an eye on his 300 pepper vines. He earned 400 dollars from his crop last year, but aims to double that next year. So what will he do with the extra cash?
'I will put some in the bank, and I will use the rest to buy more pepper vines,' he said.
The vines take three years to mature, so it is no short-term measure. But for Nuon Yan the benefits from ensuring his pepper meets the GI requirements make it worthwhile to invest more time and money on growing Kampot pepper for the kitchens of Europe.
By Robert Carmichael
DPA
Kampong Trach, Cambodia - On a small plot of earth 10 kilometres outside a dusty provincial town in southern Cambodia, farmer Nuon Yan tends his crop.
Like most farmers in Cambodia, Nuon Yan grows rice. But today he is tending his other crop: Kampot pepper. The final product - spicy black peppercorns that enliven dishes across the world - will soon become the first Cambodian product to benefit from Geographical Indicator (GI) status.
GI is more familiar as a concept than a phrase, and most famously with champagne: Only sparkling wine grown in a certain region of France which conforms to the quality standard set by its members may be called champagne. The advantage for growers is a better price; consumers benefit knowing that they are getting a quality product.
Cambodia's farmers are a key pillar of the country's economy, and widespread rural poverty means better prices for their crops are essential. UN figures show agriculture employs more than half of the 8-million-strong labour force and generates one-third of the kingdom's gross domestic product.
Kampot pepper, which is named after Nuon Yan's home province near the border with Vietnam, has an excellent name regionally and is highly regarded by some chefs in Europe. But a good name is not enough: in a world of imitations, protecting that name is critical.
Var Roth San is director of the intellectual property department at Cambodia's Ministry of Commerce. He says attaining GI status typically boosts the value of a product by at least 20 per cent.
'We want to create jobs, and we want the poor to get more money from their jobs in the rural areas,' he said. 'GI is one thing that will help the poor.'
Nuon Yan is a member of the newly formed Kampot Pepper Producers' Association, which will market and promote his crop.
It is a cooperative of more than 100 farmers, along with a handful of middlemen. It will ensure the Kampot pepper its members grow comes only from certain areas and meets quality standards. By early 2010, only the pepper produced by its members will be able to use the name.
Jean-Marie Brun, an advisor at the French agricultural non-governmental organisation GRET, said members of the World Trade Organisation are obliged to protect GI-status products. Once a product earns the name and is registered, it can easily be protected.
GRET was involved in the establishment of the cooperative, whose members defined the geographical growing area and quality standards.
'The stakeholders decided on the delimitation of the area, how it should be produced, and the quality criteria for Kampot pepper,' Brun said.
Kampot pepper is not the only Cambodian product in the running. Others vying for GI status include regionally produced palm sugar, honey, silk and possibly even durian fruit.
Brun says the main benefit for the small-scale farmers who comprise the bulk of the cooperative is financial. The current gate price for black pepper is 2.5 dollars per kilogram, but that should double once the GI status is confirmed.
By the time Kampot pepper gets to Europe, where it will be sold in packets of 20 to 50 grams, it can retail at an equivalent of 100 euros (150 dollars) per kilogram.
'Importers of Kampot pepper in Europe know it has a name and they are willing to pay a higher price for that,' Brun explained. The extra profit will allow for increased marketing expenditures.
Protection of the brand rests initially with the association, whose simple office is based in a shady grove outside Kampong Trach town in Kampot province. This is picture-postcard Cambodia: green rice fields, sugar palm trees and karst hills, with wooden carts drawn by white oxen along dirt roads.
The vice-president of the association, En Trou, is a farmer with 150 pepper vines, each providing 1 kilogram of peppercorns per year. En Trou said the total output of the members this year will be 14 tons, but he predicts that will double over the next five years.
En Trou said members have in the past encountered difficulties trying to sell their crops for a decent price, but is optimistic that GI status for Kampot pepper will help.
Four kilometres from the association's office along a series of ever-narrowing dirt tracks, Nuon Yan keeps an eye on his 300 pepper vines. He earned 400 dollars from his crop last year, but aims to double that next year. So what will he do with the extra cash?
'I will put some in the bank, and I will use the rest to buy more pepper vines,' he said.
The vines take three years to mature, so it is no short-term measure. But for Nuon Yan the benefits from ensuring his pepper meets the GI requirements make it worthwhile to invest more time and money on growing Kampot pepper for the kitchens of Europe.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Industry Urges Trade Benefits for Cambodia
Tuesday December 01, 2009
By Liza Casabona with contributions from Kristi Ellis
WWD Business
WASHINGTON — Apparel brands, retailers and Cambodian officials are urging duty free benefits for Cambodia, the eighth-largest apparel supplier to the U.S., arguing the move would help the country stay competitive at a crucial time.
During a program last month marking the 10th anniversary of the Better Factories Cambodia project, an initiative to improve labor compliance in the Cambodian garment industry, speakers said the competitiveness of the country’s apparel industry is threatened by the economic environment as well as the lifting of quotas last year on garment imports from China and the conclusion of the Vietnam monitoring program, also last year.
The quotas and the monitoring program “gave Cambodia room to breathe” as the country built its garment sector, said Cham Prasidh, senior minister and minister of commerce. However, the end of those programs “started an onslaught.” Dozens of factories have closed and more than 50,000 jobs have been lost as a result of production shifts to other countries, Prasidh said.
Apparel imports from Cambodia dropped 23 percent to $1.41 billion this year, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department.
A significant portion of the volume lost by Cambodia has shifted to other countries, including many that “do not share Cambodia’s commitment to improving respect for workers’ rights,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of supply chain social and environmental sustainability for Levi Strauss & Co.
Kobori urged apparel buyers to reward responsible sourcing behavior by supporting “trade preference legislation that provides further incentive to countries like Cambodia that are committed to improving workers’ rights.”
A group of apparel brands, retailers and an entertainment conglomerate called on congressional leaders last month to treat Cambodia as a “special case” and grant it duty free status immediately.
Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Jones Apparel Group Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., Nike Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Columbia Sportswear Co., Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. and The Walt Disney Co., which all have significant investments in production in Cambodia, urged U.S. lawmakers to help the country halt the decline in imports and reverse the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the apparel sector.
Congress is unlikely to grant Cambodia duty free status this year, but could do so next year in the context of a broader reform and expansion of trade preference programs.
By Liza Casabona with contributions from Kristi Ellis
WWD Business
WASHINGTON — Apparel brands, retailers and Cambodian officials are urging duty free benefits for Cambodia, the eighth-largest apparel supplier to the U.S., arguing the move would help the country stay competitive at a crucial time.
During a program last month marking the 10th anniversary of the Better Factories Cambodia project, an initiative to improve labor compliance in the Cambodian garment industry, speakers said the competitiveness of the country’s apparel industry is threatened by the economic environment as well as the lifting of quotas last year on garment imports from China and the conclusion of the Vietnam monitoring program, also last year.
The quotas and the monitoring program “gave Cambodia room to breathe” as the country built its garment sector, said Cham Prasidh, senior minister and minister of commerce. However, the end of those programs “started an onslaught.” Dozens of factories have closed and more than 50,000 jobs have been lost as a result of production shifts to other countries, Prasidh said.
Apparel imports from Cambodia dropped 23 percent to $1.41 billion this year, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Commerce Department.
A significant portion of the volume lost by Cambodia has shifted to other countries, including many that “do not share Cambodia’s commitment to improving respect for workers’ rights,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of supply chain social and environmental sustainability for Levi Strauss & Co.
Kobori urged apparel buyers to reward responsible sourcing behavior by supporting “trade preference legislation that provides further incentive to countries like Cambodia that are committed to improving workers’ rights.”
A group of apparel brands, retailers and an entertainment conglomerate called on congressional leaders last month to treat Cambodia as a “special case” and grant it duty free status immediately.
Gap Inc., J.C. Penney Co. Inc., Jones Apparel Group Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., Nike Inc., American Eagle Outfitters Inc., Columbia Sportswear Co., Phillips-Van Heusen Corp. and The Walt Disney Co., which all have significant investments in production in Cambodia, urged U.S. lawmakers to help the country halt the decline in imports and reverse the loss of tens of thousands of jobs in the apparel sector.
Congress is unlikely to grant Cambodia duty free status this year, but could do so next year in the context of a broader reform and expansion of trade preference programs.
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