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BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has launched a general action plan to promote biotechnology in the EU, which will especially focus on encouraging innovation in food production. Brussels fears that the EU could lose competitive advantage against its competitors if the opportunities offered by biotechnology are not seized.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
CHINA has attacked a ban by the EU on certain Chinese food imports on health grounds as ‘unacceptable’ and warned it could seriously affect bilateral trade. The European Commission voted to ban honey, poultry and rabbit meat, plus shrimps and prawns, following the discovery of “serious deficiencies” in China’s medical residue control system and “problems related to the use of banned substances in the veterinary field.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has given Germany permission to pay state aid of Euro 3.5 million to introduce a new quality label for beef sold in Bavaria.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has developed plans to lend Euro 25 million to Croatian air navigation services provider Croatia Control Ltd. The money would pay for the renewal of Zagreb Area Control Centre, replacing old equipment and allowing the country to cope with an expected future increase in air traffic.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States government has informed the disputes settlement body of the World Trade Organisation that it “intended to comply” with the final Havana Club ruling issued at the start of this year, although it warned diplomats that it “would require for that purpose a reasonable period of time.”…

BY ALAN OSBORN
REQUESTS by France and Italy for authorisation to pay national aids to wine producers in connection with the distillation of table wine have been sharply criticised by the EU wine commissioner, Dr Franz Fischler for removing incentives for European wine makers to produce quality vintages.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has approved an application from France to extend for another seven years its right to reduce by up to half the rate of excise duty applied in mainland France to traditional rum from the French Caribbean and Indian Ocean departments of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Guyane.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PROSPECTS of success for the planned merger between Denmark’s two largest slaughterhouses Danish Crown and Steff-Houlberg have been dealt a blow, with the case being referred by the European Commission to the Danish competition authority, which has aired concerns about the deal’s impact.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GERMANY has admitted there were flaws in its testing for BSE in certain non-approved laboratories. The German agriculture minister Renate Kunast detailed “certain deficiencies” to other EU farm ministers this week, but said that measures had now been taken to correct matters on the advice of the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved the payment of Euro 50 million in grants over six years to help the South African government strengthen its primary health care, in particular in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The first Euro 25 million for the 2002-2004 will be allocated to the South Africa’s Department of Health, the remainder will be paid in 2004, subject to positive external review.…