Archive

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AN INTERNATIONAL legal dispute between the United States and Iran over the destruction of Iranian oil platforms in the Gulf in 1987 and 1988 by US military forces is about to enter its 10th year, with International Court of Justice judges trying to decide whether the attack was a breach of a 1955 treaty.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD Trade Organisation officials are still optimistic that China’s accession to the WTO will be approved this Thursday, despite continuing wrangles between the US and EU over their respective access to the Chinese life insurance market. Preparations for an announcement at 12 noon are still being made, as is a public statement the following day, for the accession of Taiwan, which was always going to follow on the heels of a decision on mainland China.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
FURTHER details have been revealed about the concessions that have been made by China in its successful bid to secure membership of the World Trade Organisation.

According to an EU briefing paper, China has promised to remove all of its import quotas for industrial goods, which restrict the amount of cargo that can be imported, by 2005.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
TUESDAY’S terror attacks in the US will accelerate moves to create a new European Aviation Safety Agency, EU officials said the following day. The European Parliament approved the proposal last week but also wants to set up a new separate authority, on the lines of the US National Transportation Safety Board, to investigate aircraft accidents and make recommendations.…

KEITH NUTHALL
URGENT action to boost airport security in the wake of the destruction of New York’s World Trade Centre has been ordered by the European Union Council of Ministers (transport).

In an emergency session, EU Member States agreed to implement recommedations from the European Civil Aviation Conference,” including recommendations on machine readable travel documents, using accident investigation experts, information and communications and the treatment of inadmissable persons and deportees.…

KEITH NUTHALL
HEADS of government of the European Union have met at an emergency summit in the wake of the terrorist disasters in the USA and have agreed to fast track proposals to boost airline security for agreement by the Council of Ministers for transport in October.…

KEITH NUTHALL
FOREIGN companies will be able to hold 100 per cent ownership in hotels in China, under the trade deal which led to Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation being approved this week. Smaller tourist businesses will also be able to operate in China in future, because of a promise by Beijing to scrap minimum capital and turnover requirements for overseas travel firms.…

KEITH NUTHALL
TOURISTS have the right under European law to claim damages for the loss of enjoyment in a holiday marred by negligence from travel companies, in addition to the compensation due for the non-performance of a package travel contract, an advocate general to the European Court of Justice has stated.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is considering new legislation that would make it compulsory for transport contracts to include clauses allowing hauliers to adjust their fees, if they are hit by sudden rises in the price of fuel. EU transport Commissioner Loyola de Palacio said that she was considering the idea as a priority response to the Commission’s recent transport White Paper.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CHINA has been granted membership of the World Trade Organisation, following 15 years of often intense negotiations, although its automobile industry is to retain a significant level of tariff protection.

For industrial goods the average bound tariff level will fall to 8.9 per cent with a range from 0 to 47 per cent, with the highest rates applied to photographic film and automobiles and related products.…