Archive

BY MARK ROWE
CHINA is drafting its first law governing the use of biotechnology in an attempt to protect public health and the environment. The law will seek to control the potentially harmful effects of genetically modified organisms, such as crops, in areas including research and imports from abroad.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BRITISH government is being threatened with legal action at the European Court of Justice over its alleged failure to have implemented two air pollution directives.

It has been sent legal warning letters by the European Commission for failing to notify its officials about national regulations complying with to a general directive for assessing and managing air quality, something it should have done by last July.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Parliament has tightened a proposed reform of the European Union rules protecting construction workers from asbestos, cutting maximum exposure levels, especially during demolition, removal, repair and maintenance work, (except for asbestos cement work). Here, workers would be exposed to a maximum average of 0.05 fibres per cm2 over eight hours, rather than 0.1.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Agency for Safety and Health at Work has called for project proposals tapping a Euro 4 million funding scheme to encourage higher safety and health standards in small and medium-sized businesses. The agency will provide co-financing grants of between Euro 25,000 and Euro 200,000, especially for training, providing information and spreading good practice.*Details:…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ARCANE procedures of the world’s food standards body the Codex Alimentarius could be made simpler and more transparent, because of the launch joint review of its work by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLIO has driven to the edge of extinction, the World Health Organisation has claimed, with only 537 cases being reported globally in 2001. However, an expert panel overseeing the WHO campaign against the disease has warned that given the current prevalence of conflict, polio must be wiped out now, as delays could jeopardise the effort launched in 1988, when polio paralysed more than 1,000 children daily.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Agency for Safety and Health at Work has called for project proposals tapping a Euro 4 million funding scheme to encourage higher safety and health standards in small and medium-sized businesses. The agency will provide co-financing grants of between Euro 25,000 and Euro 200,000, especially for training, providing information and spreading good practice.*Details:…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE ARCANE procedures of the world’s food standards body the Codex Alimentarius could be made simpler and more transparent, because of the launch joint review of its work by the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLIO has driven to the edge of extinction, the World Health Organisation has claimed, with only 537 cases being reported globally in 2001. However, an expert panel overseeing the WHO campaign against the disease has warned that given the current prevalence of conflict, polio must be wiped out now, as delays could jeopardise the effort launched in 1988, when polio paralysed more than 1,000 children daily.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IN a groundbreaking legal move, the European Commission has proposed a regulation that would force courts and other judicial authorities across the EU to recognise an uncontested order secured by a creditor, for the recovery of owed money held in another Member State.…