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.
FRANCE & ITALY
BY ALAN OSBORN
REQUESTS by France and Italy for authorisation to pay national aids to wine producers in connection with the distillation of table wine have been sharply criticised by the EU wine commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler for removing incentives for European wine makers to produce quality vintages.…
HAVANA CLUB
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States government has informed the disputes settlement body of the World Trade Organisation that it “intended to comply” with the final Havana Club ruling issued at the start of this year, although it warned diplomats that it “would require for that purpose a reasonable period of time.”…
ENLARGEMENT THINK PIECE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS acts of international largesse go, the expansion of the European Union eastwards and southwards must rank as being one of the most generous in history. With research estimates claiming that the size of the EU budget will soar to accommodate the needs of the former communist republics, (plus Cyprus and Malta), we are talking Marshall Plan here; billions of Euro’s being transferred from national coffers in western Europe to the east, via Brussels.…
AGRICULTURAL ROUND THINK PIECE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FOR an institution known for its tortoise-like deliberations, the World Trade Organisation has set itself such tight deadlines to make serious progress in its ongoing agricultural round that it will have to work, in its terms, at break-neck speed.…
EU ROUND UP
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been given authority to negotiate a comprehensive “Governing International Fisheries Agreement” with the USA. EU ministers said Brussels officials should
Meanwhile, the EU Council of Ministers has agreed a regulation aiming at boosting cod stocks in the Irish Sea this year, protecting adult cod during the spawning season, notably enforcing an area closure from February.…
CZECH REPUBLIC
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CZECH Republic has launched a trade investigation which may lead it to impose safeguard duties on imports of citric acid, which Prague claims have been booming, threatening domestic producers.…
BAVARIAN BEEF
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given Germany permission to pay state aid of Euro 3.5 million to introduce a new quality label for beef sold in Bavaria.…
FOOD SAFETY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GLOBAL Forum on Food Safety Regulators has been staged in Morocco by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation, reflecting concern about recent food safety disasters, such as BSE.…
ITALY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
ITALY is being taken to the European Court of Justice by the European Commission for insisting that special sports foods be authorised for sale by its national health authorities, even if they are legally sold elsewhere in the EU.…
BIOTECHNOLOGY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a general action plan to promote biotechnology in the EU, which will especially focus on encouraging innovation in food production. Brussels fears that the EU could lose competitive advantage against its competitors if the opportunities offered by biotechnology are not seized.…