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.
FRUIT AND VEG ROW
BY PHILIP FINE
THE USA fruit and vegetable industry has lashed out at the Bush administration over a federal dairy campaign that they say promotes consumption of all dairy products without regard to fat content. In a letter to agriculture secretary Ann Veneman, the groups say the new 3 A Day advertising campaign abuses the USA’s federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans.…
MICROCHIPS - CAR PARTS
BY PHILIP FINE
Tyres and car engine parts could soon be imbedded with radio frequency identification tags (RFID). International Paper and Canon USA have implemented a pilot project to imbed them into products from a selected range of industries, including the automotive sector.…
MICROCHIP INCORPORATION FEATURE
BY PHILIP FINE
A TINY wire antenna and a computer chip the size of a piece of glitter will be imbedded into most retail product materials in the next few years, if all goes as
planned by those currently involved in developing a revolutionary tracking system.…
GEL PRODUCTION
BY PHILIP FINE
A US government scientist has found a way to make hair gel more environmentally friendly and less expensive to produce. Styling agents currently on the market have costly synthetic polymers to thank for their ability to keep hair in place.…
DRUG PRECURSORS
BY PHILIP FINE
IN its comprehensive annual report on worldwide drugs activities, the US
government is asking foreign countries to be more transparent with information on
their legal chemical industries that might be useful in controlling the production and trade in illicit drug precursors.…
CHILD FRIENDLY SECURITY
BY PHILIP FINE
FUZZY stuffed animals and puppet-toting uniformed guards could soon find a
permanent place amid all the high-level security at American airports. The
US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has launched a ‘kid-friendly’
pilot programme at Denver International Airport. A triggered metal detector
alarm for a child will now launch screeners at Denver into federally
approved double duty, talking to the children, handing out smiling-face
stickers and entertaining them with hand puppets — all the while making
sure the children are not packing heat.…
CANADA SMUGGLING CHARGES
BY MONICA DOBIE
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has laid criminal charges against Toronto-based JTI-Macdonald Corp., and eight of the firm’s current and former executives, alleging fraud and conspiracy involved in knowingly selling cigarettes to smugglers in the early 1990’s. “Our preliminary assessment of the RCMP’s charges strongly suggests that they are based on false evidence offered by convicted felons, encouraged by government-sponsored anti-tobacco activists,” said Guy Cote, JTI spokesman.…
USA CIGAR FEATURE
BY ALAN OSBORN
A LOT of people are saying that cigar smoking may be in serious long-term decline given the way things are going in America. World Tobacco is inclined to treat the figures a little more cautiously. It is true there has almost certainly been a sharp drop in American consumption in recent years but, as Chris Boon, the premium cigar manager at British American Tobacco, points out, there are no true figures: “you draw own conclusions and arrive at an estimate.”…
ILO TOBACCO CONFERENCE
BY ALAN OSBORN
TOBACCO companies, trade unions and governments have agreed that employment in the tobacco sector “needs to be reviewed in terms of recent economic and social developments.” The three sides, meeting under the auspices of the International Labour Organisation in Geneva last month (February), accepted that the sector’s jobs in industrialised countries and some developing countries “have either been stagnating or declining, although tobacco production, especially cigarettes, has been increasing due to higher demand worldwide supported by state-of-the-art technology and corporate consolidation.”…
MALAYSIA FEATURE
BY MARK ROWE
IT is only four letters long but for a little word AFTA is having a big impact on the Malaysian tobacco industry. AFTA, the impending free trade block for south-east Asia, is forcing the Malaysian tobacco industry, widely regarded as having the most sophisticated (and expensive) leaf production and manufacturing infrastructure in the region, to radically overhaul the way it goes about its business.…