AFMASS COMPETITIONS

• The AFMASS Cake Decoration Competition is a new initiative by the organisers of the AFMASS Food Expo that is mainly focused on promoting excellence in cake making and decoration, advancing the pastry and baking profession in Africa and to create vibe and celebration at this pan-African Expo.

Barista Competition

• The AFMASS Cocktails Competition at the AFMASS Food Expo promotes excellence and creativity in the art (and science) of cocktails making and thereby advancing the cocktail making profession in Africa.

• The AFMASS Barista Competition at the AFMASS Food Expo promotes excellence and creativity in the art of coffee making and thereby advancing the barista profession and coffee industry in Africa.

FOUR PAVILLIONS THAT COVER THE FOOD INDUSTRY FROM A-Z

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AFRICA EXPO Process &

Canada imposes strict deadline on

Use Plastic Products Elimination

CANADA - The government of Canada has laid out a mandatory timeline for industries to phase out and ultimately eradicate single-use plastic products throughout the country.

According to the authorities, six items are being prohibited: checkout bags, cutlery, foodservice ware made from hard-to-recycle plastics, ring carriers, stir sticks and straws.

Each item has been selected because they are commonly found in the environment, harmful to wildlife and wildlife habitat, difficult to recycle

Competition Tribunal blocks merger between Neopak and Corruseal

SOUTH AFRICA – The Competition

Tribunal has issued an order prohibiting the proposed merger between paper and packaging company Corruseal Group and recycled containerboard and paper company Neopak Holdings.

The Tribunal has stated that the merger is likely to result in a substantial prevention of competition in the upstream and downstream markets.

“The Commission found that the merged entity will have the ability to act unilaterally by, for example, raising and have readily available alternatives, according to the Canadian government. the prices of recycled containerboard, refusing to supply competitors of Corruseal who also rely on Neopak for recycled containerboard, or supplying downstream competitors on poor terms,” said the Tribunal in a statement.

As of December 2023, all sales of those items will be prohibited. The manufacture and import for sale of these items were already banned last month.

The Canadian government says that ring carriers and flexible straws packaged with beverage containers will be prohibited in June 2024. All items sent for prohibition will also be outlawed for export sales in 2025.

The Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations were made under the authority of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA), following the addition of “plastic manufactured items” to Schedule 1 of the Act in May 2021.

The commission said the investigation revealed that the merger would result in the merged entity having high market shares irrespective of whether production capacity, production volumes or domestic sales volumes are used to measure their size.

The Commission said it further found that barriers to entry into the upstream market were high.

“There has been no significant production capacity installed in the upstream market for at least the last five years,” it added.

“Moreover, the Commission found that the supply of recycled containerboard paper from the upstream market to the downstream market is tight.”

Corruseal and Neopak had approached the Tribunal with a request for consideration after the Competition Commission (“the Commission”) prohibited the proposed transaction on grounds that it would likely result in a substantial prevention or lessening of competition.

In their request for consideration to the Tribunal, Corruseal and Neopak sought to have the proposed merger unconditionally approved by the Tribunal or, alternatively, approved subject to conditions.