Archive

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has formally issued an awaited regulation that will require the labels of fish and fish products to contain more detailed information to better inform consumers and help officials police the Common Fisheries Policy.

Under the new rules, from 1 January 2002, all fish products on sale at retailers will have to be labelled with the following information:

*The commercial name of the species, with the common term used in each Member State being used for local sales;

*The production method of the fish, being wild, farmed or cultivated in fresh water or at sea;

*The area where the fish was caught.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given the go ahead for the British government to grant Euro 10 million, (Pounds 6.4 million), in state aid to two coal mines, operating losses for 2000 and 2001. The money will go to Longannet Mine of Mining (Scotland) Ltd, (Pounds 5.4 million), and Aberpergwm Colliery of Anthracite Mining Ltd, Wales, (Pounds 1 million).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has told France that it should amend its mining code, or face possible legal action at the European Court of Justice, as it does not allow companies from other EU Member States to secure French licences.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has appealed for proposals for EU grants, which would fund technological initiatives boosting the clean and efficient use of solid fuels, notably the use of clean coal technologies by power plants to limit emissions such as carbon dioxide.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
GERMANY’S coal industry is to be allowed to receive Euro two billion, (about DM 4 billion and Pounds 1.2 billion), in state aid from January 1, 2002, to July 23, in 2002, the European Commission has agreed. The grants will cover operating aid of DM 1.9 billion, (Pounds 580 million), aid for the reduction of activity of DM 785 million, (Pounds 238 million), aid to maintain the underground mining workforce of DM 33 million, (Pounds 10 million), and exceptional charges of DM 1.32 billion, (Pounds 400 million).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITISH American Tobacco has won a legal battle to secure documents from the European Commission, on the EU Committee on Excise Duties decision that expanded tobacco should attract duty. The Commission fought BAT’s application, claiming that EU committee papers were confidential under EU regulations, because publication would inhibit members from being frank.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A FEDERAL appeals court in the United States has dismissed a case against RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company, brought by the Canadian government, which was seeking to recover tax revenues allegedly lost because of cigarette smuggling through a Native Indian reserve.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
ROTHMANS Inc.,(Canada), has bought 100 per cent of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company’s shares for US$275 million.

The purchase price comprises of US$105 million in cash, 4,241,312 common shares of Rothmans, having an ascribed value of US$65 million, and US$105 million in bonds to be issued at closing by Santa Fe and to be repaid over four years from Santa Fe’s operating cash flows.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE THREE important central European tobacco-growing countries of Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary will be able to claim production subsidies from Brussels when they join the European Union on the same basis as existing EU producers, European Commission officials have confirmed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BRITISH government is being questioned by the European Commission over claims that its officials are breaking EU law by restricting the amount of tobacco brought into the country from other Member States. Brussels will use the replies to decide whether to start legal proceedings, which could reach the European Court if Justice.…