Search Results for: China

BY KEITH NUTHALL

ACTIVE European Commission support and stubbornness in foreign trade talks is required to defend Europe’s shaky clothing and textile sector against a flood of foreign imports, the European Parliament has said.

In a comprehensive policy statement, MEPs effectively said textile and clothing manufacturers should not be offered as sacrificial lambs to strike an agreement at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

CHINA’S strong economy, its innovation and determined government policies have been praised for pushing its renewable energy sector into world beating prominence. Think-tank the Worldwatch Institute has released a report ‘Powering China’s Development: The Role of Renewable Energy’ that says China will probably achieve – even exceed – its target of obtaining 15% of its energy from renewables in 2020, up from today’s already healthy 8%.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

DIPLOMATIC grumbles have started to emerge about the European Union’s (EU) REACH chemical control system, with claims being made at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) its complexity could break EU commitments under the WTO’s technical barriers to trade agreement.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the European Brands Association reporting that customs seizures of counterfeit drink and food products within Europe increased by 250% between 2003 and 2005, the world’s largest think tank has called for government action to fight this growing problem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH the European Brands Association reporting that customs seizures of counterfeit drink and food products within Europe increased by 250% between 2003 and 2005, the world’s largest think tank has called for government action to fight this growing problem.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE VAST profits generated by smuggling counterfeit cigarettes have been highlighted in a new OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development) report. It concludes that container with 8.5 million sticks smuggled into the US would yield US$ 1-1.5 million in revenue, while costing the illicit manufacturer just US$ 120,000-130,000 to make, plus 25%-30% shipping costs, if made in China.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

FOLLOWING the late-November OPEC summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Tehran to discuss joint ventures over oil refining and then chuckle with his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over the weakened US dollar.…

BY MARK ROWE

THE POTENTIAL and impending influence of nanotechnology on soap and perfumery products has been acknowledged with a detailed report on the dramatic changes that may lie in store for the cosmetics industry.

The report, Nanotechnologies for Household and Personal Care, which runs to 130 pages, has been produced for the Institute of Nanotechnology, a UK government-funded research unit based at the University of Stirling, Scotland.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

CHINESE Harry Potter fans face long queues at the counters at the Xidan Book Building – Beijing’s largest book store by floorspace – before they can thumb the green-tinted pages of Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, priced at RMB66 (GBPounds 4.25).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE ORGANISATION for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has criticised weak implementation of anti-counterfeiting laws in countries that are a major source of fake medicines. In its report the Economic Impact of Counterfeiting and Piracy, the OECD noted that Brazil, China, India, and Russia, all have trademark laws with civil and criminal remedies against pharmaceutical counterfeiting, including "graduated levels of fines and terms of imprisonment".…