Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Ombudsman has welcomed the fact that the European Commission has re-examined import permits granted to a Russian game exporter, which were issued by Brussels officials who had enjoyed hospitality from the applicant. However, although the Ombudsman’s call for further checks on Sweden-based company Norrfrys Ab Was complied with, the Commission conformed its earlier decision.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
FAST-FOOD giant Kentucky Fried Chicken will next month (August) open the country’s first drive-through KFC, in Beijing, targeting the capital’s booming daily traffic, now 1.8 million vehicles. “China-KFC can’t miss the chance in advance while the number of private car owners continues to grow in major Chinese cities,” said a spokesperson for KFC’s local partner, Yum Restaurants.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed new tougher animal health regulations for live exports, which would insist on high standards of cleanliness at staging posts created to rest livestock in transit. The new rules – which must be approved by European Union ministers to take effect – would tell staging post managers to “clean and disinfect” the areas within 24 hours of a visit by transported animals.…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
RESEARCHERS in Ireland have developed a system that allows farmers to remotely monitor the temperature of cattle using a mobile phone. The Grange Research Centre, part of the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), have recently completed tests using an electronic bolus (a kind of pill) placed in the cow’s rumen, (one of its stomachs).…

BY JONATHAN THOMSON
THE EUROPEAN Union is reassessing its so-far negative position on individual sheep tagging, says the Irish Farmers’ Association. Brussels has maintained that individual tagging is not practical, but association sheep committee chairman, Laurence Fallon claims that the Commission is having a “major reassessment” of its position.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
Nestlé SA and Dreyer’s Ice Cream Inc. have agreed on a merger deal that will eventually see Nestlé owning Dreyer’s entirely. Under the agreement, Nestlé will merge its US ice cream business into Dreyer’s brand, the best selling packaged ice cream in America.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRODUCERS of wine in Belarus can heave a sigh of relief; if they import wine must from France to ferment, they can still brand it as French wine, under a global rule of origin proposed by a special World Trade Organisation committee.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
NOT many items of legislation from Brussels have provoked quite such anger among farmers over the years as the nitrates directive, which seeks to protect water from nitrate pollution caused by the application of organic and inorganic fertilisers to agricultural land.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has struck a fishing access deal with the west African island republic of Sao Tome and Principe, lasting from this summer until May 31, 2005. Assuming it is confirmed by EU ministers, access will be granted to Sao Tome waters for 36 freezer tuna seiners, (from France and Spain), two pole-and-line tuna vessels (from Portugal) and 25 surface longliners (from Spain and Portugal).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
APPLICATIONS have been made by the Australian government for the trade in two species of Pacific toothfish to be controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). These species, Dissostichus eleginoides and mawsonii, which are also known as Chilean sea-bass, would be included on its Appendix II list, requiring traders to acquire special permits to deal in them.…