Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
DOHA DEVELOPMENT ROUND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEMBER countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are being urged to meet a ‘drop-dead’ deadline of July 30 for agreeing a ‘framework’ for the Doha Development Round, including a new outline agreement for its key agricultural talks.…
FOOD CONTAMINATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU) research project examining human health damage caused by endocrine-disrupting trace chemicals in food, is now operational. The CASCADE network hopes to increase public awareness and promote better decision on the subject. Endocrine-disrupting chemical residues disrupt hormone distribution and are linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes.…
AVIAN FLU BAN
BY KEITH NUTHALL
IMPORT bans into the European Union (EU) of poultry products (and poultry) from Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Pakistan, China, South Korea and Vietnam have been extended to December 15 by the European Commission. The existing restrictions were to expire on August 15, but Brussels is still concerned about bird flu in these countries.…
RUSSIA DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has told the European Commission it wants a deal struck with Russia by September 30 on agreeing a veterinary certification system for EU meat exports that is acceptable to Moscow. Ministers supported the stance so far taken by the Commission in technical discussions with the Russian government.…
PORTUGAL PROTECTION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has added six traditional Portuguese meat products to the European Union’s (EU) register of protected geographical indications. They are sausages Chouriço de Carne de Estremoz e Borba, Chouriço grosso de Estremoz e Borba, Paia de Toucinho de Estremoz e Borba, Paia de Lombo de Estremoz e Borba and Paia de Estremoz e Borba; and Morcela de Estremoz e Borba.…
CANADA FEED RULES
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE CANADIAN federal government has announced tightened rules on animal feed that will prevent the use of risky cattle parts – associated with BSE – from being fed to any farm animals, including poultry and pigs. The measure is in addition to an existing 1997 ban forbidding cattle parts being fed to other cattle.…
IRELAND SHEEP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE IRISH government is being threatened with the levying of large daily recurring fines from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) if it continues to ignore a ruling telling it to cease overgrazing by sheep in protected bog areas.…
BIRD FLU - ASIA
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for human flu vaccines to be given to all poultry slaughterhouse workers, following the reemergence of bird flu in three Asian countries: Vietnam, China and Thailand. The FAO said research showed the virus was more widespread than previously thought and was unlikely to be “eradicated soon”.…
STUNNING ADVICE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW research is “urgently” needed to inform better guidelines on stunning methods minimising distress to livestock at slaughterhouses, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has said. In an assessment of stunning, EFSA said detailed investigations should focus on the “mechanisms and effects of the different stunning methods, their technical and organisational performance in practice and improved and continuing education of the staff to ensure good animal welfare”.…
DEER TSE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has called for detailed studies into whether farmed and wild deer used for venison carry scrapie or an unknown TSE strain. In the meantime, it has suggested it “might be prudent” to ban the sale of “tissues such as central nervous system (CNS) and lymphoid tissues” from sale to food processors or consumers.…