british fashion designer vivian westward has died at the age of 81. her label said she passed away peacefully, surrendered by her family. the cause of death was not disclosed. westwood was highly influential lies or fashion design, and he brought rebellion and attitude to the catwalk. the 970. she rose to fame by giving the punk movement it's trademark look westward. embraced political activism in her later years using her position to lobby for environmental reforms. coming up next is business news with my colleague steven beardsley. stay tuned for that. ah ah ah,

in the monday oh, and how did you because i'm a cool cool breeze. i live but it is just me in the month. oh, ah, ah, ah, i'm steven beardsley in berlin. here's look at our top stories. large firms in germany are about to open the books on their supply chains. a new law aims, reduced child labor and forced work around the globe croatia which is to the europe

and caches out its own currency. the kona, there's, we trade for many that the country health will pay off and yet also coming up fireworks are back in germany after 2 year ban on the sale. due to cove, it in business is booming. welcome to the shop, to creating degrading work conditions, child labor, even slavery, the extremes of modern supply chains are all too well known for the companies that benefit from such work and often plead ignorance. a new law in germany hopes a change that requires larger companies to provide risk assessments along their supply chains and take responsibility for direct suppliers. this dental company from vill bertin, germany's industrial rural pot has long relied on a traceable supply chain. it makes industrial sold, abbas, and also sold a wire and buys tin from a certified mine in peru using a smartphone and a q r code. you can follow the supply chain. the product can be traced back to its

origin using block chain technology. 6000 kilometers away in rwanda, up here to their minds that care about employment contracts, occupational safety and guidance for the employees such as the mines of rural material. group, luna smelt up. however, this is still not the norm here. made up a sand off mining in the land. unfortunately, still are tis no money which lack of proper mining procedures and nom as safety. the safety level is quite for a block chain records. the data of the shipment here on site for tin extracted here is mostly exported to asia and europe, back in germany, sternal process around a 1000 tons of tin a year. the company itself isn't covered by the new supply chain rules. it's too small. instead, it offers an example of how other firms may trace their supplies in the future.

over big companies, the new law means big changes. but there's also been criticism of the measure from advocates of tighter oversight. my colleague lars halter spoke to marsal, fracture the president of the german institute for economic research, tech listen muscle. fletcher. there are 25000000 people in the world who are doing forced labor. there's the wrong. $80000000.00 child labor us is this new law putting an end to this? no, the new law will not put an end to this, but it will put to the bar a lot higher for companies to produce worldwide. it will protect human rights, protect labor standards, environmental standards. so it's an important step in the right direction to protect people also in the weakest in the poorest country in the world. and it's also protecting consumers and the bitch countries because they are looking more more at these issues and saying we want high standards. we don't want cheap products or sells. pretty good. you have been

a little bit more skeptical in the past. is this now the law that you want or how could it be improved? my personal view is that the law could have been tougher. it gives a lot of ways for companies out to say, look, we are not responsible. we don't want to be responsible. but by large, i think it's a good law because it tells german companies look, you are responsible for ensuring that along the entire supply chain the standards are met and there is no abuse. this is a high bar particular for small companies that are not able to control every step. but that is not necessarily the problem, but the idea to say you're, you're responsible if you have doubts, cut your supply chains, or make sure that standard summit and how hard exactly is that? if i want to look at the business side of this, what does this really mean for companies? how hard is it for them to comply with the new law?

it will be hard for some companies to comply. it can be that some companies will say be leaving a particular country because we cannot ensure that the standards i met many companies, many german companies consider it a disadvantage in the competition with other companies. but i think this is wrong. i think this can be the case of individual individual cases, but by and large when consumers are looking at the product and say, we want to be make sure that the product i'm buying is meeting very high. ethical and labor standards and environmental standards. vendors can be an advantage for companies because they can prove, look, we are complying with these laws. our competitors are not. and that's the idea to move to the set, the system that consumers are wet and reward companies, meeting those standards. is this message clear to the companies? how do you view the company's views of this? do they see this as a potential advantage?

or do they see it more skeptical as a disadvantage? most german companies of course, skeptical, not all of them. so my actually in favor of that law on it and even happiness in favor of a tougher law. but clearly this law is creating some uncertainty for companies how they will, will they cope. can they really prove the standards? will there be potential costs involved? it creates uncertainty, but i think time will show that if this laws implemented properly, if it sets the right incentives that it moves every one of the right direction, namely meeting higher standards and consumers rewarding prudent behavior on behalf of companies with support. so thank you very much. my colleague lars halter they're speaking to marsal, fracture he's president of the german institute for economic research. let's go now to some of the other global business stories making headlines. u. s. department of justice has filed a lawsuit against drug distribute distributor a mera source. bergen prosecutor say the company fuel the nation's deadly opioid

crisis. by failing to report hundreds of thousands of suspicious orders of prescription drugs. it could face billions of dollars and penalties. electric cars might become less attractive for consumers in germany next year. that's according to the association of motor vehicle manufacturers. that's due to the higher cost for electricity and reduce government subsidies for plug in hybrids and electric cars. the 1st legal cannabis dispensary has opened in new york cities east village housing works and non profit organization is the 1st of 36 licensed dispensary is allowed to sell the product to the public in new york housing works group is dedicated to fighting homelessness and aids portugal infrastructure minister pedro nano santos has stepped down after a backlash surrounding executive compensation at state owned airline tap. it was recently, it was recently revealed that a member of the government received

a 500000 euro payout when she stepped out from the board. a beginning sunday croatia has a new currency. the euro is the 20th country to join the common coin. and the 2nd from the former yugoslavia falling sylvania for some croatians, it's a time for excitement. others fear that with prizes already rising. a switch to a new currency could make things even harder. this rainy day in december doesn't quite seem the time for a visit to milan speech hotel, but he keeps the place open. some guests are coming all year round and he's got high hopes for the next year. me what the lady who town as are looking forward to the euro, our job will be much easier. there's no more need for exchange, but i understand some people are afraid of the transition him up on a load equates to styrofoam or deck railroad. tourism is the biggest urn or for the creation economy and preparations for the change to the new currency have been underway for months. but citizens opinion is split on the market and gracious

capture zagreb. it's easy to find dissenting voices. nick, obviously we are not happy. everything was okay. ne, do you everything. but they shouldn't take our currency, our corner. it has been our money forever. our grandfathers used it. it should stay here. but i did obviously mallet all of that. they have all of that. yeah. i made it 3 years old. i don't care anymore. but was pensions in croatia hovering at around $250.00 euros per months. older people will be hit the hardest. in a nearby bakery, a big olive loaf still costs 18 corners 70 and will become 2 euros. 48 boss ivana fields, uncertain about the future are, says is o corrosion or prices will be rounded up for people have mortgages, interest rates will go up, and things are already expensive. after the 1st of january, we don't know what to expect, not our. so our sides, i put of a got,

but of august i must take another. the busk around the corner still takes which ever currency people throw into his box. i play for bows for euro or for krona. but for the economic outlook of this relatively small country, the change will make a big difference. and economists and you would, your chick beliefs, politicians are taking a gamble that thought to stop introducing the euro to croatia is purely a political decision under the assumption that will bring us closer to europe. but livable create great problems for the creation economy. even though the u officially determined krasier was fulfilling the master's criteria alex elliot, the real condition is that we should have roughly the same level of development as that you average. but we are 3 times lower than that, because we don't fulfill any of the real criteria. creation won't have any benefit from introducing the euro or modeling what they've got is good. although

a ginia era down at the beach hotel own, and milan is not intimidated by the big economic picture. i order the euro, shang in europe. it means a lot for gratian tourism, and it shows we're part of europe. it's a big plus for croatia all day. this new year with new currency and open borders. you can fear it. oh, you can reach it was optimism was being of the new year after a 2 year pandemic hyatt, us germany, is once again allowing the sale of fireworks. it's a new years tradition that is sure to go off with the bangs we can get them while they're hot. fireworks are once again for sale in germany. in the run up to new years eve. this year that means december 29th to the 31st. germans from the country side to the cities will ring in the new year with typically a lot of sparkle and a lot of noise. you're missing. we haven't been able to set our fireworks for 2

years. it's a must this year. that'll fine. we can do it again. so he thought, of course we're going to hammer models, published at amazon with pre orders. we spent about $200.00 euros, so yeah, well, enjoy it. the v p. i pyrotechnics industry association is expecting a $120000000.00 euros and fireworks sales this year. manufacturers hope for rocketing sales. many watched previous years, inventories get dusty in the face of benz robins, which means we lost more than 40 percent of our workforce, even closed our largest plant in germany with our in house production. despite that, we are hopeful about the end of the year when hopkins fall off to see alice. and while mary makers are excited to light up this weekend, both hospitals and environmentalists are worried about smoke and localized pollution, of course, but also about the medical risk to amateurs handling explosives on german streets is. look, the top is

a story we're falling 40 this. our new supply chain law takes effect in germany on january 1st, the aim of reducing instances of child labor and slavery. among other problems, companies, least 3000 employees will be forced to open the books on their supply chains and take more responsibility for direct suppliers. right, that's our show. we'll be back later with more headlines in the meantime. you can check us out online at e, w dot com slash business, but also on youtube or the d. w. news channel. i'm from beardsley. berlin, thanks for watching. is the end of the pandemic in site. we show what it could look like will return to normal and we visit those who are finding it difficult

to success in our weekly coping. 19 special next on d. w. a thought they were able to be able to do oh, do you remember how it all started with the corona virus? there were rumors, speculation and a lot of fear. the whole world yearned for concrete information. that's why.