Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
TURKISH leather, clothing and textile producers have “come under intense imports pressure” following the third stage of liberalisation under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, Turkey has claimed. A letter to the WTO Textiles Monitoring Body said these industries had already “been negatively affected” by quota liberalisation, prior to January 1’s comprehensive liberalisation under the ATC.…

Keith Nuthall
THE GERMAN government has banned the sale and distribution of a line of tights – “Strumpfhose Hilka – Passend für alle Größen” (Hilka tights – one size fits all), because of concerns that they contain potentially carcinogenic illegal azo-dyes, the European Commission has reported.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ATTACK has been made on the United States, European Union (EU), and other textile importing jurisdictions for waiting until the last minute to abolish most restrictive quotas under the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Agreement on Textile and Clothing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has offered another loan to the Ukraine regarding the Khmelnitsky and Rivne nuclear power plants in an attempt to force Kiev to raise safety standards. The Ukraine government rejected another loan offer for the development of these plants in 2000 over conditions attached by the bank.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers (IAEA) has adopted a Euro 3.3 million action plan to support International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) work on protecting sensitive nuclear materials that could be exploited for weapons production. Helping the IAEA’s Nuclear Security Programme, the EU will boost:

*The physical protection of nuclear materials in use, storage and transport, and of nuclear facilities;

*The security of radioactive materials in non-nuclear applications; and

*Member countries’ ability to detect and rapidly respond to illicit trafficking.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UKRAINE has come under pressure from European Union (EU) representatives to reform its nuclear sector at the fifth meeting of the EU-Ukraine Co-operation Council. EU ministers and officials especially called on Kiev to boost environmental standards in the industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUNDBREAKING legal watchdog has started its first investigations into whether governments are abiding by the international Aarhus Convention on environmental decision-making and information dissemination, with one probe focusing on nuclear waste. This convention compliance committee can rule on breaches, telling governments they need to release information or consult more widely on proposals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DISCUSSION note has been issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suggesting reforms to the world’ non-proliferation regime. They include contracts between nuclear fuel supplying and consuming states, freezing deliveries if an importing signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons produced nuclear weapons.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUNDBREAKING legal watchdog has started its first investigations into whether governments are abiding by the international Aarhus Convention on environmental decision-making and information dissemination. This convention compliance committee can rule on breaches, telling governments they need to release information or consult more widely on proposals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE NEW socialist government in Spain has rewritten plans developed by its conservative predecessor to boost water supplies in the south, proposing a Euro 3.7 billion scheme that relies heavily on desalination plants. Dumping controversial plans to transfer water from the northern Ebro river basin to southern Spain, the José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero government has also proposed making improvements to existing water facilities and better exploiting groundwater reserves.…