Search Results for: japan

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Kuwait City

THE KUWAIT National Petroleum Company is pushing ahead with multi-billion dollar energy projects, recently green lighting a US$14 billion budget for the 615,000 bpd Al Zour refinery, the world’s largest purpose built facility of its kind.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DIPLOMATIC grumbles are emerging about the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system, claiming its complexity could break EU commitments under the being made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) technical barriers to trade agreement. A meeting of the WTO technical barriers to trade committee heard Argentina, Brazil, the USA, South Korea, Australia, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, Chile, China, Mexico and Thailand raise concerns that REACH could impose illegally difficult tasks on exporters.…

BY NICK HOLDSWORTH, in Moscow

RUSSIA’S outgoing president Vladimir Putin put the fight against corruption and money laundering top of the agenda September 2007 when in a surprise move he appointed Viktor Zubkov as prime minister, following the resignation of a government lead by technocrat Mikhail Fradkov.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Commission will press next year (2008) for major tobacco companies to actively participate in an anti-smuggling protocol to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The unlikely alliance was floated by EU anti-fraud Commissioner Siim Kallas at a Uruguay conference on oncoming talks about the protocol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DIPLOMATIC grumbles have started to emerge about the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system, with claims being made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) its complexity could break EU commitments under the WTO’s technical barriers to trade agreement.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

WITH the start of production at its new automotive plant in the Shushary district of St. Petersburg on December 21, Toyota will become the latest Japanese car manufacturer to set up shop in a market it says has "tremendous potential" and is looking forward to the roll-out of the first Russian-built Camry.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

CHINESE coatings made the headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer. Faulty paint jobs on Chinese exports has however put into sharp relief the quality gap between local and foreign players in China’s paint and coating sector, which has been enjoying unprecedented growth.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CLAIMS are being made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) that the complexity of the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system could break EU commitments under the WTO’s technical barriers to trade agreement. Argentina, Brazil, the USA, South Korea, Australia, Japan, Canada, Taiwan, Chile, China, Mexico and Thailand claim REACH could impose illegally difficult tasks on exporters.…

BY DAVID HAWORTH, in Brussels

CONFECTIONARY consumers will need to note a clear perceived benefit from nanotechnology when applied to their products if there is not to be a re-run of debate similar to that surrounding the introduction of GMOs: that was the message from scientists and other food experts speaking at an EU seminar last week entitled "From Safe Food to Healthy Diets."…

BY CHRISTOPHER JONES, in Paris

ROAD haulage companies and fleet operators can be convinced of the benefits of eco-driving, but often find it hard to maintain momentum after the initial flurry of interest. This was one of the key findings from a two-day conference on eco-driving organised by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, attended by delegates from across the globe.…