Search Results for: World Trade Organisation

BY KEITH NUTHALL
NATIONAL governments of the European Union should be prevented from imposing weekend or holiday driving bans on lorries carrying fresh flowers or horticultural products on international journeys, the European Parliament’s transport committee has said.

Voting to amend long debated proposals regulating the ability of Member States to restrict HGV movements on designated international main roads in the so-called Trans-European Network, (to reduce noise and nuisance), the EP’s transport committee has proposed limiting these powers regarding the garden trade sector.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DETAILED rules on the international shipment of waste destined for recovery have been released by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The guidelines, which are optional for the group’s rich country membership, include notes on documentation, the definition of recovery, and on how to deal with waste mixtures, re-exports and other issues.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IN an increasingly borderless world, the power of international intellectual property conventions is growing ever stronger and the garden trade is being affected by this trend as much as mining and IT.

Take new plant varieties. In the EU, since 1995 Community Plant Variety Office (CPVO) has been established.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States Farm Bill, which has passed through the US Congress, will not only potentially depress meat prices by boosting subsidies to American farmers, but also introduce mandatory rules of origin for meat products for the first time.…

BY MONICA DOBIE, in Montreal
THE FIRST steps have been taken towards making cigarettes – a cornerstone of small shop revenue – an under-the-counter product worldwide. Laws have already been passed in Canada and Ireland banning the public display of tobacco products, dismaying shopkeepers’ representatives.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Health Organisation is advising countries experiencing a rise in resistance amongst malaria mosquitos to conventional medicines, such as chloroquine, to start promoting new combination treatment. These Artemisinin-Based Combination Therapies are derived in part from a Chinese herb, killing malaria parasites very fast, allowing patients to recover rapidly with few side effects.…

Keith Nuthall
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has slammed the door shut on entreaties from the American government to abandon its plans to exempt EU-based suppliers of digital products from charging VAT when they sell to customers in non-EU countries.…

KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has sought to counteract criticism that the EU is failing to sufficiently help small cotton producers in Africa. In a public statement, he has highlighted the ongoing liberalisation of import quotas, notably the duty free access for cotton from the ACP (Africa, Carabbean and Pacific) countries that have close links with Brussels.…

Keith Nuthall
A BOOKLET has been published by the International Chamber of Commerce that advises accountants and their clients on how to protect themselves from being swindled by fraudsters. ‘Trade Finance Fraud,’ produced by the ICC’s Commercial Crime Services department includes case studies demonstrating the techniques fraudsters use to cheat victims of millions of Pounds, Euros and dollars through “phony documentation, non-existent consignments, containers packed with worthless rubbish and a multitude of other devices.”…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
Japan’s Nissan Motor Ltd has begun exporting vehicles from plants in Thailand to Indonesia as part of a plan to make the south-east Asian kingdom its main supplier of vehicles in the region. Nissan plans to take advantage of the fact that the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is lowering duties on locally made vehicles to increase shipments in the region of passenger cars and pickup trucks from Thailand, and commercial vehicles from Indonesia.…