Archive

BY MONICA DOBIE, in Montreal
THE OWNERS of the Le Clos Jordan vineyard estate in Canada’s Niagara Peninsula have commissioned Canadian architect, Frank Gehry – known primarily for his unorthodox Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao, Spain – to design plans for a new winery set on a 137 acre site.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Trade Organisation’s general council has been asked to approve global trading laws stating that the drying of fish, fish livers, roes and fish fillets should legally be considered a product of the country where fish is processed, not where it was caught.…

From Alan Osborn
The European Commission has proposed changes in fishing rules to

reflect recent international agreements, new scientific advice and a ruling

by the European Court of Justice. Brussels said the adjustments were to

strengthen the sustainability of the fisheries concerned and provide EU

fishermen with the opportunities available after the latest scientific

advice.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved a special new budget item of Euro

32 million, (Pounds 20 million), in respect of the policy to reduce the EU’s fishing capacity by scrapping vessels, which should enable fleets to be downsized from next year, rather than in 2004, as previously discussed.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed he creation of a new Euro 13 million per annum scheme to monitor the health of Europe’s forests. Assuming it is approved by European Union ministers, the programme would initially run from January 2003 until December 2008.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Bank is lending US$108.2 million to a project improving the management of tropical hardwood forests in Andhra Pradesh, India. This investment will be focused in 14 of the poorest districts of the state, covering 3.86 million hectares of forest.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
Belgium may be charged in the European Court of Justice unless it changes its legislation on the imposition of tobacco excise duties within two months, the European Commission said today (Monday).

The complaint is over the Belgian practice of demanding payment of excise duties at the time a “fiscal mark” is issued and not when the products are released for consumption, as laid down in EU regulations.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE ONTARIO Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers’ Marketing Board has announced the Tillsonburg auction warehouse will close and that the 2001 tobacco crop and future crops, will be marketed exclusively through the nearby Delhi auction exchange.

The board said the reduction in crop size, due to anti-smoking policies and excessive taxation by both Canadian federal and provincial governments, made it uneconomical to operate both the Delhi and Tillsonburg exchanges.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE EUROPEAN Commission has filed an appeal against the dismissal of its cigarette smuggling action in the US against three tobacco companies: Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds and Japan Tobacco. Notably, it has received formal support in the proceedings from the US Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association for its action, along with the World Health Organisation, the US Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation has released a draft treaty text providing the basis for the final stage of the negotiations of a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Assembled by WHO Brazilian Ambassador Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa, Chair of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body on the convention, it highlights areas of potential agreement on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship, black-marketeering, taxes, and international cooperation in agricultural diversification and financial resources.…