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.
OLAF-EUROJUST
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union’s cross-border judicial network Eurojust has signed a cooperation agreement with EU anti-fraud unit OLAF, which will see the two bodies work together to fight corruption and financial misdemeanours. They have forged a Memorandum of Understanding outlining practical arrangements easing their coordination, notably on the exchange of information, where both sides have agreed to inform each other, “without delay, of any information that concerns the other.”…
FRANCE ECJ
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is threatening France with massive daily recurring fines – which could exceed Euro 20,000 – over its alleged failure to comply with an order of the European Court of Justice to liberalise its legal profession.…
ICC - JURISDICTION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
GLOBAL trade is being hampered by uncertainty amongst large companies over which national courts might hear a case regarding a contested contract, according to a International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) survey.
The world business group found that 40 per cent of 100 – unnamed – companies said that they had been “dissuaded from going ahead with international contracts” because of such concerns.…
AARHUS CONVENTION
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUNDBREAKING legal watchdog, charged with ensuring governments abide by a new international convention on environmental decision-making and information dissemination, has had its first meeting. This Compliance Committee of the recently strengthened Aarhus Convention will, from October, have the right to consider complaints from individual citizens and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) that their governments are not complying with its terms.…
GM CASE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States, with Argentina, Canada and Egypt have decided to challenge at the WTO the EU’s five-year de facto moratorium on imports of biotech foods and crops. EU trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said Brussels would fight the case, maintaining that “the EU’s regulatory system for GMO’s authorisation is in line with WTO rules.”…
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Council of Ministers has widened the scope of Europe’s geographical indication legislation, protecting names marketing traditionally made foodstuffs. Ministers allowed future applications for the protection of mustard pastes and uncooked and unstuffed pastas and permitted producer groups to insist that protected products should be packaged in their home region.…
GENE POOL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FOOD researchers will be able to use the world’s largest library of genetic information about wheat, created by the combination of data by Britain’s John Innes centre and the National Institute for Agronomical Research, France.…
EFSA NUMBER 2
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Food Safety Authority wants a specialist to fill a new position of deputy executive director – head of science. Meanwhile, the agency has chosen experts to fill its scientific committee and panels; 1,050 scientists had applied for membership.…
STEERING COMMITTEE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Scientific Steering Committee – offering the European Commission expert food safety advice – has held its final meeting, to be superseded by the European Food Safety Authority. The committee advised there should be no great concern about BSE cases in Britain after the imposition of the reinforced feed ban in 1996.…
COD STOCKS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released its long-term strategy to rebuild EU cod stocks. It will begin with low catch quotas and monitoring, especially in fisheries under serious threat of collapse. Brussels wants sticks to recover within five to 10 years.…