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.
WTO ROUND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TIMING of concessions that can be achieved at the World Trade Organisation’s agricultural round, sweeping away the high tariffs, import quotas, production subsidies and export credits that make the working lives of every agricultural exporter more of a struggle, are likely to be set in the next three months.…
PESTICIDES LATEST
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has announced that the proposed European Food Authority is to play a central role in the evaluation of pesticide safety, in a speed up the current slow pace by which the EU is checking the toxicity of active ingredients in plant protection products.…
ASIAN PAINTS
BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE AND KEITH NUTHALL
INDIAN paint giant Asian Paints has launched a new wood finishing product called Asianwoods Opal PU. It is designed to protect all wooden surfaces, interior or exterior, claimed the company, utilising UV absorbers to protect wood from ultraviolet rays and polyisocyanates which to guard surfaces from the harmful effects of wind and rain.…
STATE AID
BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MINIMUM level of state aid payments to the European Union coal industry would survive until 2010, and probably beyond, under a new subsidy regime proposed by the European Commission that would recognise the need of the EU to maintain its own indigenous energy production.…
POLAND
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Bank is to loan the Polish government Euro 112.8 million to support its Revised Hard Coal Sector Reform Programme, which is aimed at helping the country transform its coal industry into a “competitive and profitable sector.”…
FINLAND STEEL
BY JONATHAN THOMSON
FINNISH steel companies Rautaruukki and Outokumpu are set to benefit from European Commission funding of Euro 600,000 granted to support the distribution of steel across Europe using alternatives to road transport.
The funded transport project is part of the EU’s PACT programme, which aims to move containers and similar units away from roads to rail, sea and inland waterways.…
SCRAP DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the planned acquisition by Interseroh AG of Hansa Recycling GmbH, using its merger approval powers under the European Coal and Steel Community. Both companies trade in ferrous scrap and are based in Germany, where their services overlap in some regions.…
ANTI-DUMPING - CABLES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has imposed definitive anti-dumping duties on imports into the EU of certain steel and iron cables from the Czech Republic, Russia, Turkey and Thailand.
Its decision – by the written procedure used during Brussels’ summer break – follows an inquiry, which “confirmed” concerns that the sale of cut-priced cables from these countries was harming EU producers.…
US-EU WTO CASES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has lodged formal requests for three disputes panels to be set up to rule on steel import restrictions imposed by the USA, in the teeth of opposition from Washington, which is vigorously opposing the move.…
CHAPTERS AGM
BY MONICA DOBIE
CHAPTERS Inc. shareholders formally gave their approval to the merger of Chapters and Indigo Books & Music, whilst the new management announced that losses will continue to be trimmed at the company’s annual general meeting held in Toronto.…