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.
IMS HEALTH
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has ordered American medicines information company IMS HEALTH (IMS) to abandon its refusal to allow rivals to copy its pharmaceutical sales and prescriptions data collection system in Germany.
In an unusual step, Brussels has used its powers as a competition authority to tell IMS to immediately licence the use of its 1860 brick structure method, over which it has copyright, “on commercial terms.”…
GUIDELINES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
NEW guidelines have been added to the EU Guide to Good Manufacturing Practice in the pharmaceutical industry. They include rules on the manufacture of medical gases, qualification and validation, (which come into force in September), as well as certification by qualified persons, batch release and parametric release, due to come into operation in January 2002.…
SAFETY DIRECTIVE
BY ALAN OSBORN
A COMPROMISE has been agreed by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament over the proposed bus safety directive, on the “carriage of passengers: vehicles comprising more than 8 seats or maximum length 15m, (amending directive 70/156/EEC).…
SPEED LIMITERS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that EU legislation be amended to make the installation of speed limiting devices compulsory for all buses. Thus far, regulations have only ordered that limiters are fitted on buses of 10 tonnes or more in weight, but the Commission has now concluded that this rule should be extended to all buses and minibuses with more than eight passenger seats.…
AIRLINE SLOTS
Keith Nuthall
TOUGHER control of airline slots at EU airports have been proposed by the European Commission, in a bid to reduce delays. Its proposals include sanctions against abusive practices and incentives for airlines to use slot portfolios efficiently through exchanges and re-timing.…
JFK NEW TERMINAL
BY KATE REW
THE NEW international terminal at JFK airport, New York, is now open. The project to build Terminal 4 was one of the biggest public/private ventures in the US, and it is the country’s first terminal to be developed by an overseas airport company, Schiphol USA.…
INDIA
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
THE AIRPORTS Authority of India has granted a 10-year licence to an international consortium to provide ground and passenger handling services at four of the country’s busiest airports, namely New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Trivandrum.…
IRELAND
Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank has announced that it is providing a Euro 125 million loan for improvements at the three largest airports in the Republic of Ireland. The money will be lent to Aer Rianta Finance plc, wholly owned by Aer Rianta cpt, for work on passenger terminals, aircraft aprons and ancillary services at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports.…
COLD STARTS
Keith Nuthall
THE EU Council of Ministers (environment) has approved the expansion of the European directive setting emission limits for vehicles undertaking cold starts, to include certain classes of light commercial vehicles and domestic vans that have hitherto been exempt from the law.…
EUROSTAT
Keith Nuthall
ALTHOUGH petrol and diesel consumption rose by 45 per cent in the European Union between 1985 and 1998, technological improvements meant pollution by emissions such as nitrogen oxide actually fell during this time, a study from Eurostat, the EU statistical agency has claimed.…