Archive

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
A JAPANESE company has developed an integrated manufacturing system for recovering odd-end fabrics created by shearing during the production of automobile air bags, turning these wastes into a high-performance nylon plastic. Toyobo Co., says that the reprocessed waste can be used in the manufacture of automobile engines and air bag cavity coverings, as well as in bicycle wheels and shopping carts.…

From Alan Osborn
The European Commission in Brussels today (Thursday) announced

plans to replace 20 per cent of present EU consumption of diesel and

petroleum fuels in the transport sector by alternative fuels by the year

2020. It said there were three possibilities: biofuels, which were already

available, natural gas in the medium term and hydrogen and fuel cells in

the long term.…

BY RICHARD HURST, in Johannesburg
MARIO Levi SPA and Ambra Leather, two Italian automotive leather companies, have opened a Rand 39 million, (US$4 million), leather plant in Uitenhage, South Africa. The re-tanning and finishing joint venture produces leather primarily for export to Italian auto-maker Alfa Romeo, although negotiations are under way to strike supply deals with local manufacturers.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared a Dutch waste disposal system for car wrecks, following an investigation into whether it was illegal state aid. It is a voluntary agreement among companies, later declared binding by the Dutch government. It has set a levy for 2001-2003 of Euro 45 per car registered in the Netherlands, paid by car producers and importers.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE PAYMENT of Euro 18 million in grants by the Spanish government in support of a Renault factory at Valladolid is to be formally investigated by the European Commission. Brussels says it fears Spain fluted EU state aid rules.…

BY RICHARD HURST
A NEWLY formed so-called South African black empowerment company, Phila Phola Pharmaceuticals, intends to import and produce generic and patented drugs under licence is actively seeking established partners from the sector.

Originally intended to be under the umbrella of the Thebe Investment Company, the company has been spun off as a separate entity and is seeking viable factory sites in Johannesburg and Cape Town.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WHEN pharmaceutical companies dilute imported medicinal ingredients to make a final product, they have in most instances legally created a new locally manufactured medicine, the rules of origin committee of the World Trade Organisation has ruled.

The decision means that worldwide, such products would in future be affected by duties, quotas and other import and export regulations relating to the country where they were diluted, rather than where the ingredients were produced.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
FROM the beginning of next year exporters of medicinal products will find it easier to sell in Japan following completion of a Mutual Recognition Agreement between that country and the EU.

The deal includes a Good Manufacturing Practice agreement under which both sides will agree to honour each other’s testing, certification and approval of products.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Trade Organisation has agreed to launch a new wide-ranging round of talks on liberalising global commerce, negotiations that will include the sale of pharmaceuticals.

Ministers at the summit in Doha, Qatar, also set deadlines for the new talks, which must be completed by 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union research Commissioner Philippe Busquin has proposed the creation of a European Platform for Clinical Tests, a body whose aim would be to intensify and fast-track studies within the EU on AIDS/HIV, TB and malaria. He said that the platform would be a “cornerstone” of the Commission’s strategy against the diseases, especially where it is considering the needs of developing countries.…