Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
CHINA WTO - MORE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A later briefing paper issued by the European Union also confirmed that the accession deal involved China conceding the right for foreign private firms to import silk directly from China. In the past, this has been subject to a state run export monopoly.…
SA/ZIM/MAURITIUS
BY RICHARD HURST
THE SOUTH African government is reported to be considering a proposal by Zimbabwe and Mauritius for the removal of clothing and textile tariffs to be brought forward from the year 2006 to 2004.
The two countries have also asked the Department of Trade and Industry in Pretoria to amend its rules of origin, to speed up the implementation of the existing Southern African Development Community, (SADC), agreement.…
POWER COSTS
KEITH NUTHALL
A MAJOR European Union research study has concluded that the ‘true’ price of using renewable energy is actually much more competitive than usually assumed, when the costs of cleaning up the resulting pollution of fossil fuel power generation and dealing with the resulting health problems are taken into account.…
RENEWABLES CONFERENCE
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE PROMITION of renewable energy use in the European Union will be discussed at a conference, in Brussels, on the 25 and 26 of September, hosted by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Research.
More than 400 people from relevant areas in the European power industry will be present to address factors associated with boosting green electricity generation and associated areas such as minimising greenhouse gases and air pollution, increasing the security of energy supply by reducing dependency on oil, gas and coal imports, and improving employment in the energy sector.…
WIND POWER
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
EUROPEAN Union hauliers have been encouraged to install a ground breaking wind power system for lorries, where two and three units of compact propellers and generators are fitted on the cab roof. The resulting electricity powers the air conditioning, saving fuel.…
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
KEITH NUTHALL
FRANCE is being threatened with massive fines because of its alleged failure to abide by an ECJ ruling that it should set up redress procedures provided for in the EU legislation allowing suppliers, who feel they have been unfairly excluded from tendering for contracts in the renewable and non-renewable power sectors, to make formal complaints and launch appeals.…
LEBANESE PROGRAMME
BY MONICA DOBIE
THE UNITED Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced it will give Lebanon a US$3.4 million grant to finance a new initiative aimed at boosting renewable energy generation, as well as increasing energy efficiency and environmental protection in this eastern Mediterranean country.…
EU ROUND UP
KEITH NUTHALL
IN what could almost be said to be a Brussels tradition, the beginning of the long summer break at the European Commission – when officials disappear to the south of France to lap up the Mediterranean sun – is usually heralded by the announcement of a series of legal cases against Member States.…
GERMANY PACKAGING
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has further clarified European competition law regarding the operation of packaging waste disposal systems and when it will allow exclusive contracts to be signed with collection agencies for particular localities. Its advice has come in a decision to approve the packaging waste operation run in Germany by Duales System Deutschland AG, the only company that runs a nationwide system for the collection and recycling of sales packaging in the country.…
NOISE LIMITS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEP’s are sticking to their guns in a political battle with European Union ministers over whether there should be EU legislation laying down noise limits or particular forms of transport operations across the continent. The parliament’s environment committee is resisting a decision by the European Union Council of Ministers to reject amendments that would have strengthened a planned noise directive, making it include commitments to set specific and binding EU noise limits for road vehicles, trains, rail tracks and aircraft.…