Search Results for: International Law

BY PHILIP FINE

A NUMBER of major American drinks companies have signed up with

online music operators in a flurry of cross-promotional activity following growing public awareness of the fact that illegal music downloading could run the risk of legal action for consumers.…

BY PHILIP FINE

CITIZENS in the US state of Ohio will not be able to sue food establishments they believe contributed to their ill health, if a new bill becomes law. A state house of representatives committee has just approved the bill, which now goes to the full house for consideration.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL AND MARK ROWE
THE SPREAD of the bird flu virus is still not under control, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned, pointing to new outbreaks amongst poultry in Cambodia, China, Indonesia and Laos. The FAO said that more than 80 million chickens have so far been culled, excluding those in China: (Indonesia 15 million; Thailand 30 million; Vietnam 30 million; and Pakistan, 4 million).…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE US government has been urged to further tighten safeguards on meat and animal feed by an independent international panel, made up of five scientists from Europe, New Zealand and the United States. It has recommended that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) test all high-risk cattle, such as those that die on farms or are too ill to walk, and also do random sampling of healthy cattle more than 30 months old.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL study involving 40 research facilities is trying to discover whether there is one key cause of all degenerative neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. The APOPIS (abnormal proteins in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders) project has received Euro 9 million in European Union research funding.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MASS vaccination campaign against bird flu might result from the ongoing outbreak in Asia, with the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) moving away from a pro-culling policy. Following meetings with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Office International des Épizooties on animal health the FAO said that a targeted vaccination campaign in heavily affected countries maybe required.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL conference on the faltering World Trade Organisation (WTO) agricultural liberalisation negotiations has been told that full agreement is now unlikely to be achieved until 2007. If this comes to pass, it would drive a coach and horses through the existing January 2005 deadline for concluding the Doha Development Round, of which the agricultural talks form a key part.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament’s environment committee is seeking to prioritise a new European Union energy efficiency directive, by proposing amendments forcing the European Commission to introduce electricity consumption standards for particular products generating significant global warming problems. These rules would cover heating and water heating equipment, electric motor systems, lightings, domestic appliances, office equipment, consumer electronics plus heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FOLLOWING this month’s accession of Malta to the 1996 Protocol of the 1976 International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims (LLMC), the amounts of compensation for maritime claims for loss of life or personal injury, and property claims, will be sharply increased from May this year.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
LANDOWNERS in British Columbia (BC), Canada, are appealing against a court decision confirming the right of mining companies to exploit minerals under local land that they do not own. The case involved Western Industrial Clay Products, who staked a claim to clay under a couple’s ranch in Kamloops, BC, to make cat litter.…