Search Results for: International law

Keith Nuthall
UNILATERAL action by the Belgian government to ban night-time landing and take-offs of outdated aircraft using hush-kit mufflers is being challenged by the European Commission. It says that Belgium should impose noise restrictions on aircraft in a way that is harmonised with the rest of the EU, under a new air noise directive, in force from July 1.…

Keith Nuthall
SRI Lanka was to increase its international airport departure tax from July 1 from SLRupees 1,000 (US$10.29) to 1,500 (US$15.44), outstripping rival destinations in the region. Although Sri Lanka Civil Aviation Authority officials stressed the extra money would be spent on Columbo’s Bandaranaike airport, the island’s press has noted Indian airports charge INDRupees 150 (US$3.22) departure tax on south Asian nationals and INDRupees 500 (US$10.73) on other travellers and Nepal’s Tribhuvan International Airport charges between NEPRupee 900 (US$11.89) and 1,100 (US$14.54).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS with many projects inspired by the start of the next 997 years and the last three, the framing of the United Nations’ (UN) Millennium Development Goals was an ambitious enterprise.

Imposing statistically measurable targets for international organisations and national governments in making improvements in global poverty, education, gender equality, health, the environment and education, they have proved tough to attain.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GLOBAL trade is being hampered by uncertainty amongst large companies over which national courts might hear a case regarding a contested contract, according to a International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) survey.

The world business group found that 40 per cent of 100 – unnamed – companies said that they had been “dissuaded from going ahead with international contracts” because of such concerns.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUNDBREAKING legal watchdog, charged with ensuring governments abide by a new international convention on environmental decision-making and information dissemination, has had its first meeting. This Compliance Committee of the recently strengthened Aarhus Convention will, from October, have the right to consider complaints from individual citizens and non-governmental organisations (NGO’s) that their governments are not complying with its terms.…

Keith Nuthall
THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Bureau (IMB) of the International Chamber of Commerce has called upon the Indonesian government to take action against a gang of pirates who attacked and hijacked six vessels in six days in the Gaspar Straits, east of Java.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union airport industry has been asked to comment on possible changes to the EU’s key groundhandling directive (EC/96/67), as the European Commission is preparing to propose reforms later this year. The deadline for submitting suggestions is June 1 and may be based on questions posed in a new consultation document issued by Brussels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union is pushing for an acceleration of the phasing out of single hull tankers worldwide in the wake of the Prestige accident. Indeed, in an unusual move, all of its 15 Member States have simultaneously proposed amendments to the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) MARPOL Convention, which would hasten their scrapping and replacement with safer double hull vessels.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A BRITISH footwear importer has won a case at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which should lead it to hold onto GBPounds 38,085 in import duties repaid by the UK Customs and Excise, with judges saying customs officials could not reverse their earlier decision to return the money.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
EUROPEAN Union (EU) ministers yesterday (Wednesday) formally agreed an amending directive that will allow member countries which do not apply International Accounting Standards (IAS) to all companies to bring in matching transparent, high quality financial reporting, so preparing the way for like-for-like financial comparisons throughout the EU.…