Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) Council of Ministers has allowed the European Commission to lift the EU’s de-facto moratorium on selling new GM foodstuffs. It failed to approve (or reject) Syngenta’s insect-resistant maize Bt11 for consumption, clearing the way for a Commission rubber-stamping.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FLAVOURED wines – such as Vermouth – and minerals exported from Bulgaria into the European Union (EU) will be free of import duty until 2007, by when the country will probably have joined the EU. The concessions are part of a wide-ranging duty-free drinks and food trade access deal struck with the European Commission, not covering regular wines.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) legislation that allows member countries to maintain widely divergent rates of excise duty will not face formal reform proposals from the existing European Commission promoting greater harmonisation. In a note released ahead of yesterday’s EU Council of Ministers for finance (ECOFIN), internal market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein confirmed a report on alcohol excise was under discussion, but would not confirm a release date.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed rounding up the European Union (EU) alcohol excise duty rates from levels agreed for 1993’s establishment of the European single market, taking account of the 24 per cent inflation to 2003. This, said a formal Commission report, would “ensure that the minimum rates of excise duty do not become meaningless over time.”…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADA’S Molson Inc. has launched a slim 250-ml beer can, a first in the Canadian beer market. The company hopes consumers will view the new packaging as “cool” and a “conversation-starter”. Eight of the skinnier cans, containing Molson Canadian, Dry or the company’s new low-carb Ultra brand, are priced the same as a six-pack of standard 355-ml cans.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
VINCOR International, Canada’s largest winery, has recently formed a partnership with north-American retail goliath Wal-Mart to sell its wines in its megastores. Three of Vincor’s own-brand wine boutiques (called Wine Rack) have appeared in Wal-Mart outlets in Ontario cities selling popular Canadian wine lines such as Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank will lend US$65 million to Turkey petrol importer and retailer Opet Petrolcülük, helping it build a marine terminal and tank storage facility, while buying another small terminal. This would help expand Opet’s retail distribution network.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is bankrolling the development of Kazakhstan’s oil and gas reserves, a key alternative supply for the European Union (EU). It wants to lend Tasbulat Ltd Euro 60 million to help develop three medium-sized oil and gas fields in Mangistau region, western Kazakhstan, producing up to 8,000 barrels/day in 2006; Tasbulat is owned by SNP Petrom, Romania’s national oil company.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MIGROS Turk AS, Turkey’s largest food retailer in Turkey, has received a US$8.3 million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to create a food hypermarket and mall in Macedonia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN ABANDONED bid to toughen anti-dumping duties on Chinese coke exports to Europe has been formally scrapped by European Union (EU) ministers. The abolition of a formal review of the Euro 32.6/tonne duties (on coke exceeding 80mm in diameter) comes as ministers consider taking China to the WTO over its export restrictions.…