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.
PASSPORT BIOMETRICS
BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADIAN passports are to contain facial biometrics as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) under an anti-terrorist initiative costing Canada’s federal government CDN$10 million. The technology involves a camera capturing holders’ images, computer chips being embedded in the passports to carry their personal information and a central computer database of their images being created.…
CODEX - DAIRY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
GLOBAL food standards body Codex Alimentarius has drawn up new standards for dairy products for consultation, including guidelines for evaporated skimmed milk-vegetable fat blends, fermented milks and minimum protein content in cheese.…
DAIRY AID
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EURO 127.7 in German state aid – enabling Theo Müller GmbH & Co to expand a dairy plant in Leppersdorf, Saxony – has been approved by the European Commission.…
GUINEA BISSAU DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have approved an agreement with west Africa’s Guinea Bissau, which will guarantee access to its fishing grounds for Italian, French, Greek, Portuguese and Spanish fishermen until June 2006. The deal involves the Guinea Bissau government being granted Euro 7.26 million a year in financial compensation.…
USA MEAT RECALL
BY MONICA DOBIE
ONLY half of tainted meat subject to formal recalls in the United States from 1998 to 2002 was actually returned, according to a recent study at Ohio State University. It suggests that improved record-keeping and information about retail outlets that sold recalled products could lead to more returns.…
ARGENTINA WTO
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler has encouraged key meat exporter Argentina to strike a deal with Brussels at the ongoing World Trade Organisation (WTO) and EU-Mercosur trade bloc talks. “Both will offer Argentina opener markets for agriculture goods,” notably lower tariffs and wider quotas for beef, said Fischler during a visit to Buenos Aires.…
TALLOW BOILER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW thermal boiler process for combusting tallow has been declared safe for human health by the European Food Safety Agency’s (EFSA) panel on biological hazards. The committee said the method could safely dispose of materials of animals suspected of being infected by a TSE’s or certain specified risk materials.…
MEAT BY-PRODUCTS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has relaxed rules preventing the import of certain animal by-products, following criticism the rules were tougher than required to protect human health. A ban has been waived on importing certain risk materials (such as hides and skins, rendered fats, intestines and bones) when earmarked exclusively for technical and industrial uses, for instance.…
BULGARIA DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to approve granting Bulgaria duty free access to the EU market for a range of meat products from this year onwards. These include animal fats and oils, meat-stuffed pasta and broths.…
MEAT HYGIENE - EU
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has finally approved the controversial EU hygiene package, scotching concerns that European Parliament amendments passed last month would delay approval into the autumn. Instead, ministers shirked a fight with MEPs, agreeing changes that will allow public officials to inspect the slaughter of pigs and veal calves.…