Search Results for: European Parliament

Keith Nuthall
CHINA has sought to allay fears that it is dragging its feet over the implementation of liberalisation commitments it made when it was admitted into the World Trade Organisation. It has released explanatory notes to the European Union and Canada, who have raised concerns over the opening of textile import quotas.…

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

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

BY KEITH NUTHALL
The Directive is due to be implemented by 15 December 1999. Adoption by the Council follows adoption of the Directive by the European Parliament at its November plenary session.

“Adoption of this Directive marks an important step forward”, Mr Monti stated, “both for lawyers themselves, who will find it much easier to practice in other Member States, and for their clients, especially the many businesses and citizens who need a lawyer in another Member State.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRITAIN is to be taken to the European Court of Justice over two allegations that it has broken European waste laws and one that it has broken the EU drinking water directive.

The government will have to defend its implementation of the hazardous waste directive, which the Commission claims has been incorrect, notably regarding its official definition of the waste controlled by its rules.…

Keith Nuthall
PROPOSALS that could streamline applications by foreign accountants to work in Britain must take account of their need to have sufficient English skills and knowledge of local taxes and law, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants has said.

Director Mike Walsh told Accountancy Age said that proposals from the European Commission on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications needed careful scrutiny, so that standards are protected.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW fast-track system for updating guidelines on the training that must be undertaken by foreign nurses from other European Union Member States, if they want their qualifications recognised in Britain, has been proposed by the European Commission.…

BY PHILIP FINE

THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking France to the European Court of Justice for applying a reduced rate of withholding tax on income from investments and contracts with a debtor who is resident or established in France, while not allowing this tax break when the debtor lives in another EU Member State.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has “expressed concern” and “disappointment” over China’s failure to met a January 1 deadline to establish low duty tariff quotas for imports of sugar, palm oil and some other commodities under the terms of its accession to the World Trade Organisation.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union is to update its administrative systems for monitoring its trade in textiles and clothing with the limited number of countries with whom it does not have trade agreements covering the sector, which include Taiwan.

In particular, the European Commission has asked EU ministers to update rules on surveillance and the use of electronic documentation.…

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.…