Search Results for: Dominican Republic

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE SUPERVISION of embattled European Union (EU) anti-fraud unit OLAF may increase after a highly critical report from the Court of Auditors – the EU’s financial watchdog. The court accused OLAF of failing to ensure its inquiries followed the law, noting: “There is no independent check on the legality of actions undertaken…and that the fundamental rights of persons under investigation are respected”.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
A RECENT USA Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report has found many online pharmacies declaring they are based in Canada, selling cheap drugs under local liberal medicine sales laws, are actually based in the US or outside North America, in Vietnam and the Czech Republic, for instance.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GUATEMALA government has launched the first stage of disputes proceedings at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over complaints about 25.87% anti-dumping duties imposed by Mexico on imports of certain Guatemalan steel pipes and tubes. The small central American republic has logged 18 claims alleging its larger neighbour broke WTO rules when imposing the duties.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has released details of a fishing agreement that will give 40 European Union (EU) tuna seiners and 17 surface longliners access to the Indian Ocean waters off the Comoros archipelago. Asking EU ministers to approve the deal, Brussels said it would cover an annual catch of 6,000 tonnes of tuna in Comoros waters until December 2010.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to lend Romania’s European Drinks Group Euro 195 million to fund a long-term investment and expansion programme. Its aim, said a bank memorandum, was to ensure the drinks and food producer changed from “a (large) family run entrepreneurial company into a well organised large corporate”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD’S crime-fighting great and good met in Bangkok in April, at the United Nations’ 11th Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. They decided rich countries should better help the poor to fight organised crime. Keith Nuthall reports.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has conditionally approved the greenhouse gas pollution allocation plan of Poland and the Czech Republic, leaving the European Union (EU) just two countries shy of approving all national components of its emissions trading scheme. Now only Greece and Italy await approval.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
WORKING hours in Britain exceed those in most new European Union (EU) member states from eastern and southern Europe says a report showing how western Europe workers generally work fewer hours. Britain’s usual weekly work hours, said the European Industrial Relations Observatory are 43.1, only exceeded in the expanded EU by Latvia’s 43.3.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
HONDURAS has failed to persuade the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to order the abolition of all Dominican Republic cigarette import red tape and tax measures it opposes. Despite winning a WTO dispute last year, forcing Dominican Republic reforms, Honduras asked an appeals body to specifically rule against a bond system and a consumption tax.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
PRESIDENT George W Bush’s re-election last November has pretty well ruled out any change in the US ban on Cuban cigars for the next four years – if anything, things are likely to get tougher. One of the last things the previous Bush administration did last October was to actually tighten the import ban by barring Americans travelling to Cuba from bringing back up to US$100 dollars worth of Cuban cigars.…