Search Results for: united nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FRENCH government has proposed a summit of G8 environment ministers, the creation of a strong World Environment Organisation, which would take over the responsibilities of the United Nations Environment Programme as well as those of environmental departments amongst other multilateral agencies.…

BY PHILIP FINE

SEVERAL major bacterial food-borne illnesses seem to be on the decline in the United States, according to a recent survey of clinical laboratories that test for infection. In their annual release of data, the US Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveyed labs that serve 13 per cent of the American population and found that sustained progress is being made in meeting the national health objectives for illnesses caused by listeria and campylobacter, when comparing 2002 data with 1996-2001 numbers.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE UNITED States needs to better link its federal and state food safety rules, says a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Washington’s official think-tank. It also recommends integrating information on pathogens that US Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration gather through food sampling, with public health agencies’ surveillance data on food-borne diseases.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS AMERICAN and British military forces secure control of Iraq from the regime of dictator Saddam Hussein using the latest military technology, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has released a cautionary report confirming for the first time that depleted uranium shells can and have contaminated drinking water.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A SERIES of papers about boosting safety in aerodromes have been released by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). They were first published at a joint ICAO-Airports Council International workshop on the certification of aerodromes, held at Dubai, United Arab Emirates.…

BY MARK ROWE
IT is only four letters long but for a little word AFTA is having a big impact on the Malaysian tobacco industry. AFTA, the impending free trade block for south-east Asia, is forcing the Malaysian tobacco industry, widely regarded as having the most sophisticated (and expensive) leaf production and manufacturing infrastructure in the region, to radically overhaul the way it goes about its business.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
*The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending Euro 150 million to a special fund to counter the damage caused by the Prestige disaster in Galicia, Asturias and Cantabria. It will be operated by local savings banks and cover recovery project costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States has announced its first offer of reductions to food duties in its bid to create a 34-country Free Trade Area of the Americas pact. It plans to slash duties on 56 per cent of agricultural imports from north and south American countries by 2005 (ignoring those from Canada and Mexico) and expects reciprocal offers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE MEXICAN government is has launched formal disputes talks at the World Trade Organisation, over claims that the United States’ reimposition of anti-dumping duties on its exports of ‘oil country tubular goods’ broke global trading regulations. Mexico City says Washington’s erred during its 2001 sunset review of the duties, assessing whether abolition might attract cut-priced Mexican pipelines.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE EXTRAORDINARY efforts by the American government to thwart terrorist financing have been leaning heavily on the USA’s financial services industry,

which continues to bear the brunt of the new anti-money laundering legislation.

Noone was surprised that the US government set its sights on the banks when it enacted legislation to make it more difficult for criminals to launder their illicit money or for terrorists to soil their clean money.…