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.
SUV/PICK-UP TRUCKS
BY PHILIP FINE
THE AMERICAN automobile industry has acknowledged for the first time that sport utility vehicles pose dangers to smaller vehicles and says it will enact voluntary standards to help increase safety. The USA’s Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers has said its members will enact voluntary standards, which will likely mean a broader deployment of air bags and a lowering of large S.U.V.’s…
MOULD CLAIMS
BY PHILIP FINE
AMERICA is experiencing a rash of mould-related lawsuits. Recent cases have included a US$14 million judgment in Florida against a contractor for alleged toxic mould-related construction defects at a courthouse and a US$65 million lawsuit against a New York community college by one of its former employees for injuries and damages allegedly caused by mould exposure.…
MINE ACCIDENT FINES
BY PHILIP FINE
THE US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) has raised the level of fines for all mine safety and health violations by just over 10 per cent. A ‘single penalty’ assessment for what is termed as a ‘non-serious violation’ and corrected promptly will rise from US$55 to US$60 (GBPounds 31-37).…
US MINING DUTIES
BY PHILIP FINE
THE UNITED States is offering to eliminate tariffs on imported mining equipment and unspecified "energy products" as part of their initial offer to create the proposed 34-country Free Trade Area of the Americas. Those sectors join a number of other goods, including steel, and environmental and wood products, for which Washington wants to offer duty free access to its markets under a reciprocal agreement, as well as improving market access for a range of services, including "energy services."…
US STEEL DUTIES
BY PHILIP FINE
The United States has offered several trading partners an immediate
elimination of the tariffs it currently places on steel, provided the other
country does the same. U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick
announced the reciprocal agreement in several key sectors as part of its
first offer for the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, a trading
bloc of 34 countries.…
NEWCASTLE DISEASE
BY PHILIP FINE
WITH cases of Exotic Newcastle Disease having now turned up in California, Nevada and Arizona chickens, several other American states have issued import bans on poultry emanating from the infected areas. They include Washington, Utah, Oregon, Massachusetts, Iowa, Georgia, Louisiana and Florida, while Hawaii and Texas have been telling their producers to be on alert for signs of the disease.…
MACDONALDS WEB
BY PHILIP FINE
FAST food meat and high-speed Internet have teamed up. McDonald’s Restaurants and Intel Corp. have launched a joint pilot marketing campaign that offers customers high-speed wireless Internet access in 10 Manhattan, New York, McDonald’s restaurants. The firms plan to expand the deal to include hundreds of other locations by the end of this year.…
US MEAT DUTIES
BY PHILIP FINE
THE UNITED States says it is offering duty reductions for all agricultural imports from Americas trading partners to create a proposed 34-nation New Word trading bloc. While meat products were not mentioned specifically in its initial Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) offer, the US says it would be prepared to admit at least 56 per cent of agricultural imports from all these countries duty-free by 2005.…
R&D RANCH
BY PHILIP FINE
AN AMERICAN meat industry "R & D Ranch" introduced 1,100 new value-added beef products to the US market from 1999 to 2001, according to the US Cattlemen’s Beef Board. The ‘ranch’ is a think tank that coordinates the USA sector’s scientists and researchers and it has been profiling the characteristics of individual muscles of the beef carcass to develop ways to add value for the beef producer.…
AVENTIS/ANDRX
BY PHILIP FINE
AVENTIS and Florida-based Andrx, both accused of conspiring to keep a generic blood pressure medication off the market, have agreed to pay a US$80 million settlement, according to documents released by Michigan and New York states’ attorney generals.…