Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AMERICAN pork exports are thriving according to a new report from the United States Trade Representative (USTR) office. Overseas sales of swine, pork and pork products have increased three times in volume and 2.5 times in value since 1993, with the US now exporting more than 700 tonnes of pork worldwide worth over US$1.5 billion.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States has launched a disputes case at the World Trade Organisation against Mexico, complaining about its southern neighbour’s antidumping duties on American beef exports. Washington is claiming that Mexico broke WTO rules in framing these duties, notably its choice of data used in dumping investigations and its methods of measuring alleged injuries suffered by Mexican beef producers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH the World Health Organisation securing approval for its long debated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, attention is now turning to ratifications by member countries: 40 are needed for it to come into force, Last minute concessions were made at the WHO to bring dissenters such as Germany and the United States on board, who had objected to the convention’s insistence on signatory governments banning tobacco advertising; both countries said this broke constitutional guarantees of free speech.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A UNITED Nations Environment Programme report has urged governments to take better care of the underground aquifers that they plunder for drinking water supplies, warning that many countries are pumping groundwater at unsustainable rates.

The paper singles out Spain’s Segura river basin for particular concern.…

BY PHILIP FINE

IN order to persuade the US government to change its position on Chinese exports, six groups have planned an "aggressive" joint lobbying campaign in Washington. The American Textile Manufacturers Institute, the National Cotton Council, the National Textile Association, the American Fiber Manufacturers Association, the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition and the American Yarn Spinners Association claim that China’s textile and apparel exports to the United States have surged 140 per cent in one year, causing their industries to close more than fifty plants, destroying more than 40,000 American jobs.…

BY PHILIP FINE

AN AMERICAN beef company has turned to Canada to provide a steady supply of organic beef to the EU. The Dakota Beef Company signed an exclusive agreement with the Canadian Organic Livestock Association to try to meet European demands for hormone-free meat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has struck a research cooperation deal with the United States over the development of hydrogen fuel cells. Both sides have agreed to pool efforts, including staging demonstrations of fuel cell vehicles and fuelling networks, writing codes and standards for the technology and assessing the economics of exploiting rare earth materials to build special high-temperature cells.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States and the European Union have traded barbs over their respective policies regarding genetically modified food. During a US-EU summit in Washington, President George W Bush claimed European reticence over GM was preventing starving African countries from importing a valuable food resource.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A CALL has been made at the World Trade Organisation for this September’s summit in Cancún, Mexico, to agree to compensate least developed countries for the economic pain wreaked on their cotton producers by subsides paid out in rich developed countries.…

BY MARK ROWE
LEADING Thai car and electrical appliance manufacturers have said they are prepared to switch to direct imports of cold-rolled steel amidst a looming shortage and expected subsequent price rise for domestic hot-rolled coils, a raw material for cold-rolled sheets.…