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.
BIRD FLU ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MASS vaccination campaign against bird flu might result from the ongoing outbreak in Asia, with the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) moving away from a pure pro-culling policy. Following meetings with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Office International des Épizooties on animal health the FAO said that a targeted vaccination campaign in heavily affected countries maybe required.…
BALLAST WATER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW International Maritime Organisation convention will – upon ratification – tell ships to better manage ballast water releases, preventing transported species escaping into alien waters where they may cause ecological havoc. Ships would also record ballast water collection.…
EU DANGEROUS PRODUCTS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the European Commission from January publishing consumer safety alerts from European Union Member States, a soap has already been identified as dangerous: Rico Germicidal Soap, banned in Denmark. The note in the Commission’s Rapid Alert System for Non-Food Products (RAPEX) says the soap “contains three per cent potassium mercuric iodide,” adding “the use of this substance in cosmetic products is prohibited under the provisions of the Cosmetics Directive (76/768/EEC, Annex II, entry 221).”…
HEMAS HOLDINGS
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
GROWING Sri Lanka soap manufacturer Hemas Holdings wants to increase exports and acquire more brands to exploit new additional manufacturing capacity, notably its new SLRupees 106 million soap plant at Welisara. The company currently only makes its own brand Baby Cheramy, commanding 35 per cent of the island’s baby soap market.…
RUSSIAN PHARMACY CHAIN EXPANDS
BY MARK ROWE
ONE of Russia’s leading health and beauty retailers, Pharmacy Chain 36.6, has acquired 73 regional outlets in the southern (Russian Federation) Republic of Bashkortostan. The purchases involve the takeover by 36.6 of the local Leko pharmacy chain in the republic, including 30 stores in the capital city of Ufa and stores in 17 other cities across Bashkortostan.…
EP POLLUTION REPORT
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has called for a moratorium on new pollution control proposals from the European Commission, claiming that national governments have quite enough new European Union (EU) legislation to absorb and administer already. Overwhelmingly backing a non-binding report on the Commission’s recent policy paper on integrated pollution prevention and control, MEPs called on the Commission and ministers “not to supplement or expand the relevant legislation at present.”…
COMBASE - FOOD PATHOGENS
BY MONICA DOBIE
AN ONLINE database of information on how pathogenic bacteria respond to different environmental conditions in food has been established by Britain’s Institute of Food Research and the Eastern Regional Research Centre’s Microbial Food Safety Research Unit, in the United States.…
EEA DATABASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE FIRST Europe-wide register of industrial emissions into air and water has been launched by the European Environment Agency and the European Commission. This European Pollutant Emission Register is available on the Internet and contains detailed information on pollution from around 10,000 large industrial facilities in the European Union and Norway, including large pig and poultry farms.…
ORGANIC CONTAMINATION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A LARGE proportion of food sold in Britain as organic or as health foods contain traces of genetically modified (GM) ingredients, according to a University of Glamorgan study. Researchers tested 25 products containing soya and discovered that 10 samples tested positive for GM ingredients, even though eight were labelled “organic” or “GM free”.…
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEGOTIATIONS on the final shape of a European Union (EU) environmental liability directive, held between the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers have proved successful and the legislation will now come into force. Importantly, MEPs and ministers agreed that the Commission should review the directive within six years of its operation, to see whether the financial services sector has developed sufficient insurance policies and other guarantees to cover polluters against claims based on the directive.…