Search Results for: International Law

BY KEITH NUTHALL
COTTON production will be a future key focus of the ongoing World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Round, member countries have agreed in Geneva. A half-time ‘framework’ agreement commits developed countries slashing at least 20% from all “trade distorting support” for agriculture (which includes cotton growing), including schemes limiting production.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE ANNOUNCEMENT of the policy portfolios commanded by the incoming European Commission from November generally spells good news for the European Union’s (EU) ferrous and non-ferrous sectors, senior industry figures have told Metal Bulletin. “In general … we are quite happy with the commissioners who will be responsible for industry”, said Gordon Moffat, director of the association of European iron and steel industries Eurofer.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is gloomy about the prospects of success this year at the WTO Doha Development Round agricultural talks. It was “deeply disappointed” at the failure of negotiations last month designed to deliver a first approximation of the talks overall ‘modalities’ goals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE OFFICE International des Épizooties (OIE) has reported USA claims of now being completely free of bird flu. The country’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says the outbreak in Texas in April in a non-commercial flock and two live bird markets has been “completely eradicated”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has released a practical guide advising small and medium-sized businesses on improving their security for information technology and telecommunications. ‘Securing Your Business: Information security issues and resources for small and entrepreneurial companies’ tells companies how to implement 2002 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines on network and IT security.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi has launched talks with member countries on maybe staging an emergency meeting of the WTO council for trade in goods on the oncoming abolition of textiles and clothing quotas. He has been consulting on this idea, proposed by Mauritius, Bangladesh and Nepal, which want the council to examine the costs of adjusting to a global quota-free regime from January, under the WTO’s agreement on textiles and clothing.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WITH Greece and Cyprus are taking over the key European Commission jobs for the cosmetics, soap and perfumery sectors, the enthusiasm of Brussels for tougher environmental, consumer protection and animal welfare rules could wane.

Cypriot Markos Kyprianou has been appointed as health and consumer affairs commissioner in the new Commission that takes office in November.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE LEGAL web being cast by the European Union (EU) in the fight against money laundering is being tightened still further. A third directive has now been proposed by the European Commission that, among other things, will broaden the definition of money laundering to include not only the concealment or disguise of the proceeds of serious crimes but also the financing of terrorism with either criminal or legally acquired money.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A lack of metering in Iraq means “there could be no guarantee that all the (locally produced) oil could be accounted for”, the UN Security Council has been warned. The International Monitoring and Advisory Board of the Development Fund for Iraq said the problem would “take at least a year to resolve.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Finance Corporation (IFC), of the World Bank, will provide up to US$90 million in financing to Comgás, Brazil’s largest piped natural gas distributor. The loan help the company expand and upgrade its distribution network, making gas available to 70,000 new customers in five years, and 200,000 in 10.…