Search Results for: Australia

BY PHILIP FINE

SURPLUSES and high quality imports seem to be causing a slide in US wine prices. "There is a lot of wine out there to sell right now," Gladys Horiuchi, spokeswoman for San Francisco’s Wine Institute, told the Los Angeles Times.…

BY PHILIP FINE

CONAGRA Foods Inc is to sell its red-meat business in the United States and Australia, according to the US Cattle Buyers Weekly. The multinational, with sales of US$27 billion a year, will sell processing operations, cattle feeding operations and Australia Meat Holdings, says the newsletter.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
TWO key mining research facilities in Australia are collaborating to devise a standard set of accounting practices for the industry. The international industry research association AMIRA, and the Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre (JKMRC), at the University of Queensland, are establishing a practical and user-friendly system to suit all operations irrespective of the size, scale and type of ore involved.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
A NEW oil spill response atlas (OSRA) has been developed in Australia which should help the petroleum industry minimise coastal and marine environmental pollution from oil spills.

The electronic mapping system developed by the Australian Marine Safety Authority (AMSA) measures and tracks the size, speed and direction of slicks.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
A NEW “safe saw” hits the market in April, which could find favour with plant hire companies keen to prevent accidents involving their ‘amateur’ customers.

The brainchild of Arbortech Industries Ltd, in Western Australia, the blades of the Australian KS150 Kango Saw cut with an orbital action slicing through masonry, wood and tough composite materials but not breaking the skin if they accidentally hit flesh.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE, in Sydney
AUSTRALIAN scientists are experimenting with an early warning device that monitors water quality in tuna cages and phones its vital information back to shore. The aim of the machine is to save the fish farming industry in Australia and others around the world millions of dollars.…

Keith Nuthall
MEMBER governments of the World Trade Organisation have agreed to embark on two-phase talks to meet the 2003 deadline for completing negotiations on a multilateral registration system for geographical indications of wines and spirits.

The WTO’s TRIPS (trade related aspects of intellectual property rights) council has broadly agreed that a single draft document should be written by early next year, even if this included alternative options.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PRICE of tobacco products fell in developing countries from 1990-2000, according to the World Health Organisation, which has concluded that they are now “sometimes even cheaper than bread or rice.” By contrast, the WHO tobacco price trends study assessing more than 80 countries concluded that cigarettes have become more expensive in most industrialised countries, such as Norway, Australia and Hong Kong.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT is common knowledge that deepening concern about terrorism following the September 11 attacks has led to tighter security in the civil aviation industry, but there have also been important implications for the shipping sector. Keith Nuthall reports.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE, in Sydney
AN AUSTRALIAN early warning device that monitors water quality in tuna cages and phones its information back to shore is proving to be a lifesaver for aquaculture fish stocks; the slightest change in conditions can wipe out millions of dollars worth of marine stocks and cripple sectors of the industry.…