Search Results for: european union

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GREEK government has asked EU ministers permission to exempt local small waste dealers in glass, paper, board, scrap iron and steel and suppliers of any size in non-ferrous metals from paying VAT. Athens wants to deviate from European tax directives this way, because of VAT evasion and the difficulties of investigating the sector.…

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 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 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 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 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
A KOSOVO sunflower oil factory, in Ferizaj/Urosevac, has re-established itself utilising a Euro 1.2 million loan from the European Agency for Reconstruction to buy 3,600 tonnes of seeds from local farmers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union Council of Ministers has ignored strong pressure from the American government to abandon its plans to exempt EU-based suppliers of digital products, (including e-books), from charging VAT when they sell to customers in non-EU countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has been given authority by European Union Council of Ministers (finance) to negotiate a comprehensive “Governing International Fisheries Agreement” with the USA. A Brussels official in the Commission’s directorate general for fisheries told Fishing News International that a future deal could lead to EU fishing crews being given access to fish US waters and for European factory ships to be allowed to buy stocks from American fishermen at sea.…