Archive

KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) scientists have developed artificial sensors that can – they claim – more rapidly and cheaply assess the freshness of fish than existing trained human panels. Traditionally, these specialists monitor “appearance, smell, taste and texture”, which is, said a European Commission note “expensive, both in terms of training and assembling the panel.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has unveiled details of its plans to impose temporary safeguard duties, especially on salmon imports from Norway and the Faroe Islands. It has told the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that it intends to levy Euro 522 on every tonne of unfilleted fish and Euro 722 per tonne of filleted salmon that enters the European Union (EU) over certain fixed quotas for the next six months.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE WIDEST possible processing of farmed fish is to be promoted by a new European Fisheries Fund, whose details have recently been unveiled for approval by ministers. The Euro 4.96 million budget proposed by the European Commission for 2007-13, and a similar annual pro-rata share over the next three years, would be earmarked for securing “the greatest possible added value” to fish.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) fishing boats will receive additional quotas this year for catches in Greenland waters, after a renegotiation of financial compensation from the EU to the Danish self-governing territory. If a proposal from the European Commission is accepted by EU ministers, a new quota of 1,000 tonnes for snow crab will be introduced, shared by Ireland and Spain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ‘HALF-TIME’ agreement on the current World Trade Organisation (WTO) round struck over the weekend in Geneva is an exercise in setting red lines, so that rich and poor countries protect their key interests.

This so-called ‘framework’ deal struck at the WTO general council includes just enough numbers to guarantee poor countries there will be a significant reduction in developed world food production subsidies.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has raised human health concerns about the use of Monteban® G100, a feed additive controlling the poultry infection coccidiosis. The authority recommended “the use of appropriate personnel protective equipment for the workers”, noting it can “cause irritation to the eyes but not to the skin”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH a new European Union (EU) regulation on animal nutrition additives coming into force in October, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has provided detailed guidance on helping feed companies apply for market approvals. These guidelines would be updated regularly, said EFSA.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ITALIAN government and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have launched a US$1.5 million project to restore food production in the West Bank and Gaza, that will rehabilitate livestock sheds damaged in the ongoing civil conflict.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FEEDING an enzyme called phytase to pigs and combining aluminum chloride with their manure, reduces phosphorus pollution in pigmeat production run-off water by as much as 70% according to a study by the USA Agricultural Research Service. Adding aluminium chloride alone reduces phosphorus by 53%, whilst phytase reduced it further because it helps pigs digest phosphorous.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A PUBLIC audit has cleared Alberta, Canada, meat packers of profiteering from CDN$402 million federal-provincial benefit packages distributed during the country’s recent BSE crisis. The probe concluded that packers legitimately tripled their profits during this time because cattle supplies exceeded packing plants’ capacity and the domestic and limited export-market remained strong.…