Archive

KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers have been asked to approve definitive anti-dumping duties on large rainbow trout from Norway and the Faeroe Islands, answering claims that cut-priced imports are damaging EU producers. The tariffs would be particularly tough for the Danish island dependency, ranging from 30 and 54.4 per cent, depending on the company concerned.…

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 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.…

BY MARK ROWE
RUSSIAN smokers have undergone a quantum leap in the past 10 years. From smoking the notorious unfiltered Soviet-era papirossi, they now have a wide choice of international brands, for whom this liberalisation has been commercially significant. Russia remains one of the more appealing markets for tobacco companies, with fewer barriers and, for the time being, a fairly laissez faire approach to advertising, as well as a burgeoning middle class with the disposable incomes to afford premium cigarettes.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADIAN cigarette manufacturer, Rothmans Inc. reported a 30 per cent jump in sales and a 22.5 per cent boost in profits in its latest quarterly results (to December 31 past year). Sales leaped to CDN$170 million from CDN$130.3 million compared with the same period in 2002.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament agriculture committee has called for European Union (EU) member governments to have the freedom to link up to 70 per cent of tobacco growing subsidies to production, which would demolish the European Commission’s plans to phase out these supports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States Trade Representatives Office has been trying to play down the impact a new free trade deal with central American countries will have on US sugar producers. A briefing note however admits widened import quotas will equal 1.2 per cent of US production, rising to 1.7 per cent within 15 years, rising from 99,000 to 140,000 tonnes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MOZAMBIQUE will be admitted to the European Union’s special sugar market access agreement with producing countries in the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) block of (mostly) former colonies, following a European Commission inquiry into its sugar export industry.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has ruled Italy’s labelling and marketing controls on energy bars and rehydrating glucose drinks are too restrictive, breaking EU trade rules. The court said prior authorisation procedures and administrative costs made marketing these foods too difficult and costly.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A USA-Australia trade deal could be threatened by excluded Australian sugar producers, who have threatened their influence within the Australian senate to stall ratification as their US sugar export quota remains at 87,000 tonnes. Australian Canegrowers president Jim Pedersen said Canberra “has an obligation to let us share in some of the (deal’s) benefits”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union research project has developed ways to exploit tomato waste as a source of sugars. The TOM project says around 4 million tonnes of tomato dregs are disposed of in Europe annually, with especially seeds, containing many nutrients.…