Search Results for: united nations

KEITH NUTHALL
GLOBAL consumption of textiles is “continuing on its upwards trend,” the latest World Commodity Survey from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has said. Consumption volume is predicted to rise from 48 million tonnes to between 56 and 58 million tonnes by 2005, said the report.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE DISMANTLING of the Indonesian price regulator APKINDO and short-termist over-production in the south east Asian country has been blamed by the United Nations as the source of continual instability in world markets for this key timber product. Since the abolition of the organisation, said the new 2000-2001 World Commodity Survey from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD), “the plywood market has witnessed extremely volatile prices.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations’ increasingly misnamed oil-for-food scheme has been extended until November 30, with the Iraqi government and the UN Security Council agreeing to break the deadlock that led to the agreement being suspended since June.

Diplomats agreed that any changes to the programme should be put off in the meantime, although the American and British governments have released statements saying that they intended to continue discussions focused on reforming the system.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIPLOMATS are working hard to lay the groundwork for the launch of a new general round of trade talks at the World Trade Organisation, when the international commerce body holds its biennial ruling ministerial meeting this November.

By the time trade ministers congregate in Doha, Qatar, it is hoped that the bulk of a deal will have been stitched up behind the scenes, allowing governments to rubber stamp a move into negotiations mirroring the depth and breadth of the Uruguay Round that set up the WTO in 1994.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
AFTER Mexican plantation workers walked off tobacco fields in Ontario, Canada, to protest about the deplorable working conditions, the Canadian section of the United Farm Workers of America has called for the establishment national labour standards to protect them.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADIAN furriers are expecting international demand for fur garments will drive Canadian exports up 10-15 per cent this year, to more than CAN$350-million according to the country’s National Post newspaper.

Alan Herscovici, executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada, said fur does not have the negative connotations it used to.…

BY MONICA DOBIE, in Montreal, Canada
THE GREAT Lakes of Canada and the United States, in particular Lake Erie, suffered the highest levels of pollution in the sixties and seventies, attracting global attention and concern to urgently clean the waters that at their peak pollution levels actually caught fire.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
THE AIRPORTS Authority of India has granted a 10-year licence to an international consortium to provide ground and passenger handling services at four of the country’s busiest airports, namely New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Trivandrum.…