Search Results for: japan

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A UNITED Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction, in Japan, has agreed a “Hyogo Framework for Action: 2005 – 2015,” which calls on governments to put disaster risk management at the centre of their national policies and for rich states to help improve disaster preparedness in poor countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE LEATHER industry could shed significant numbers of jobs in poor and rich countries following a successful World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Round agreement on industrial and textile goods. Its aim is to slash tariffs across the board, and in that instance, said a UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, there will be winners and losers.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Forum for Renewable Energy Sources (EUFORES) is opposing European Commission plans to roll its Intelligent Energy for Europe (IEE) programme into a new umbrella scheme promoting competitiveness and innovation. Brussels is considering its medium-term spending plans from 2007-2013 and wants more flexibility in its ability to boost economic productivity in the European Union (EU), following its so-called ‘Lisbon strategy’ to outpace the US and Japan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS trade ministers flew home from four days of gruelling talks at last week’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Hong Kong, they could be forgiven for feeling some satisfaction: the end of the Doha Development Round is nigh, probably.…

BY TAMARA VANTROYEN, in Hong Kong

IT is not just a rumour anymore: China is officially upgrading its water quality, a move welcome to drinks manufacturers that rely on and control costs through guaranteed clean water supplies. China launched new drinking water standards in June, raising the number of forbidden water pollutants from 35 to 101.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) and Japan have joined Mexico in demanding formal talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over American anti-dumping duty procedures protecting its steel industry. Mexico is challenging US tariffs on its exports of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils, alleging American trade officials erred when calculating dumping margins used to set duty levels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A NEW United Nations inter-agency programme has been launched to minimise the loss of life and property damage caused by floods. The International Flood Initiative will be headquartered at the Public Works Research Institute, Tsukuba, Japan. The initiative would “integrate the scientific, operational, educational and public awareness raising aspects of flood management, including the social response and communication dimensions of flooding and related disaster preparedness,” said UN cultural and scientific organisation UNESCO director-general Koïchiro Matsuura.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
FOLLOWING a recent official visit to Japan, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin claimed he had convinced the Japanese government to hasten its scientific investigations on his country’s BSE outbreaks, so it swiftly reopens its borders to Canadian beef.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AUTO manufacturing firms will be closely monitoring next week’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Hong Kong for signs that the WTO’s long-running Doha Development Round talks are about to crack open national automobile markets. Key auto industry countries – the US, the European Union, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India and Brazil – have been making steady progress this year in identifying non-tariff barriers to trade they would like to remove, such as burdensome customs procedures, technical engineering rules and licences.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

IMPORTANT changes in the European auto manufacturing industry are expected next year following the introduction of a new crackdown on dangerous chemicals by the European Union (EU). The proposed legislation, known as REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals), has been recently adopted by the European Parliament and now requires the assent of the 25 EU member countries and this is likely to be given – at least in principle – before the year-end.…