(This news is timely considering our recent mention of inclusion of AIM companies in mutual funds.  Seems they WERE banned from inclusion in "ethical funds", but now are not.)
Janice Reynolds.


See link for entire article:
http://www.csrwire.com/sfarticle.cgi?id=1529


(SocialFunds.com) - Earlier this month, the global socially responsible investment (SRI) index provider FTSE4Good announced the results of its biannual review of company adherence with its Inclusion Criteria.

<snip>

FTSE4Good has also lowered the bar on one of its criteria, removing an outright exclusion for companies marketing breast milk substitutes that applied to seven companies, including Nestle (NESZn), Danone (BSNP), and Heinz (HNZ).

"This does not mean that the affected companies will automatically go into the index," explained Lynne Sims, FTSE's senior vice president for marketing and communications. "The exclusion has been replaced with a set of demanding criteria, developed with experts in this area." Chairing the Expert Committee on this issue is Reg Green, head of environmental, health, and saftey affairs for the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers Union (ICEM).

"Although all companies involved in the manufacture and marketing of breast milk substitutes are now eligible for inclusion, none of them currently meet the standards set by the criteria and will therefore not be included in the index until such time as they do," Ms. Sims told SocialFunds.com.

Furthermore, the recent review resulted in the deletion of Meiji Dairies (MMPRF) for failing to meet the breast milk substitutes marketing criteria.

"In our experience, setting transparent, defined and measurable criteria has encouraged companies to significantly improve their corporate responsibility commitments and practices and we hope that these companies will strive to meet the new demanding standard for this area," said Ms. Sims.

(see link above for entire article)

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