MARCH 27, 2014 news.com.au NEW York City grocery shoppers may soon face a 10 cent (A11 cent) fee on all plastic and paper bags, enlisting the nation’s largest city in a growing green movement. The City Council introduced a bill on Wednesday that would impose the fee in an effort to spur customers to bring their own reusable bags. Supporters of the bill say it would benefit the city’s economy as well as its environment. “The bags get stuck in storms drains, they cause flooding and they litter our beaches,” Council member Margaret Chen of Manhattan, one of the co-sponsors of the legislation, said at a news conference on the City Hall steps. “And they cost New York City a lot of money.” City residents use one billion disposable plastic bags a year and it costs the city $US10 million ($A10.94 million) annually to ship used bags to landfills, according…

Elizabeth Knight March 27, 2014 The Age Whether to stack or bundle – that is the question being pondered in the Federal Court today as Coles goes head to head with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. And don’t be confused; the question doesn’t refer to how tomato cans are placed on the shelves – it’s about how the retailer rewards its loyal customers by distributing shopper dockets for discounts on petrol. There has been a long-running dispute with the competition regulator, which has determined supermarkets can offer a discount to consumers who spend more than $30 in the supermarket of no more than 4¢ a litre on petrol. The ACCC runs the argument that it disadvantages independent service stations and supermarkets that don’t have fuel outlets. Following that piece of string the theory goes that independents will ultimately disappear and the market will be dominated by large supermarket chains…

MARCH 27, 2014 AFP A BATTLE against Australia’s plain tobacco packaging rules has gained pace at the World Trade Organisation, as Indonesia won the right to seek a ruling by the global body. Trade sources said that the WTO’s disputes settlement body had agreed to set up an independent panel of trade and legal experts in order to assess whether Australia is breaching the rules of global commerce. Canberra has faced a raft of challenges to its tobacco legislation, passed in 2011 and in force since December 2012, which politicians hope will curb the numbers of people smoking. Under the rules, all tobacco products have to be sold in drab green boxes, use the same typeface and contain graphic images of diseased smokers. Indonesia, which exports more than $US670 million ($A733 million) worth of tobacco a year, is the fifth country to take Australia to the WTO, after cases brought…

Helen Davidson 27 March 2014 theguardian.com World Trade Organisation has now allowed five countries to appeal against cigarette labelling legislation The World Trade Organisation has granted Indonesia the right to challenge Australia’s plain packaging laws in front of a panel of trade and legal experts, trade sources say. Indonesia – and a number of other countries before it – are seeking to challenge the legislation which has required all cigarettes to be sold in Australia have uniform green packets with white labelling since December 2012. The WTO’s decision makes Indonesia the fifth country – after Ukraine, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Cuba – to be granted the opportunity to challenge plain packaging, which opponents say breaches trade and intellectual property regulations. Indonesia had previously asked that a panel be established to hear the case – something that was granted to Ukraine in 2012 and Honduras in 2013 but not yet…

Zoe Wood The guardian Demand for affordable Scandinavian chic has helped Danish chain of variety stores go from strength to strength in Britain Whether it’s noir detectives, Faroese knits or home furnishings, Scandinavian chic has never been cooler. Now the Danes have even given the pound shop a Nordic makeover and British shoppers can’t get enough. It’s lunchtime on Monday and trade in Tiger’s central London store is brisk as office workers browse rainbow-coloured displays of toys, stationery and hobby paraphernalia such as knitting needles and glitter glue. With 80% of the products selling for £5 or less, the concept is Danish design at Woolworths’ prices. “It’s a bit like an Ikea marketplace on speed,” says Maureen Hinton, retail analyst at Conlumino, describing a chain which is going from strength to strength in the UK. “There’s great design and it’s cheap so you are always tempted to buy something. Also…