Search Results for: Environmental Health⊂mit=Search

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SHIPOWNERS and operators who carelessly pollute the seas off the European Union (EU) may be fined heavily, or even imprisoned, under a new directive on ship source pollution approved by the European Parliament yesterday (23/2). MEPs accepted an informal deal on this legislation thrashed out last week with the EU Council of Ministers and the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is taking the Spanish government to the European Court of Justice (ECJ), asking judges to order Madrid to conduct environmental assessments into sand extraction it allows along the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Brussels said under European law, Spain should have in particular protected EU-registered Natura 2000 conservation sites.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A GROUP of major European plastics producers have promised to abide by an internationally recognised standard when manufacturing biodegradable plastics, to minimise their environmental impact. Germany’s BASF, the USA’s Cargill Dow, Italy’s Novamont and the Netherlands’ Rodenburg Biopolymers and others, supplying 90% of the EU biodegradable plastics market, made the pledge in a voluntary agreement with the European Commission.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
GUIDELINES on ensuring foodstuffs can better be traced from original producers to manufacturers, distributors and retailers have been released by the European Commission. They help environmental health officers and the food industry comply with the general food law 178/2002 in force since January 1, which insists dangerous food is removed from circulation.…

KEITH NUTHALL
A STATE aid inquiry has been launched by the European Commission, which could restrict the freedom of European Union (EU) governments to promote renewable energy through fixed price schemes. It is examining Slovenia’s “preferential dispatching of electricity” scheme, which names renewable energy, combined heat and power (and one coal-fired generator) as “qualified producers”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
PRESSURE on oil companies to continue cleansing their fuels of potential pollutants continues to be applied within the European Union (EU), with the European Commission preparing for the introduction of a new standard ‘Euro 5’ in 2010. It has advised EU member states to harmonise any tax concessions encouraging the use of diesel cars cleaner than the ‘Euro 4’ emissions standard, (which became compulsory on January 1).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A PAPER on environmental risk assessments for medicinal products containing genetically modified organisms has been released by the European Medicines Agency (EMEA): see http://www.emea.eu.int/pdfs/human/bwp/13514804en.pdf

And an explanatory memorandum regarding European Union (EU) rules on clinical trials documents has been published by the European Commission: see http://pharmacos.eudra.org/F2/pharmacos/docs/Doc2005/01_05/ClinicalTrialQ&A%20_24-01-05.pdf…

BY TAMARA VANTROYEN, in Hong Kong

IT is not just a rumour anymore: China is officially upgrading its water quality, a move welcome to drinks manufacturers that rely on and control costs through guaranteed clean water supplies. China launched new drinking water standards in June, raising the number of forbidden water pollutants from 35 to 101.…

BY DEIRDRE MASON

THE EUROPEAN automotive industry is gearing up for tighter pollution emission limits, possibly by mid-2008, under the European Union’s (EU) Euro 5 program, due to be announced by the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium on 21 December. Also expected to be announced in parallel to these restrictions on engine performance and fuel cleanliness is a carrot to encourage use of new technologies and to create a market for clean vehicles through an EU Environmental Technologies Action Plan.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AN INTERNATIONAL alliance of environmental and conservation organisations, led by the United Nations Environment Programme, is developing maps pinpointing lakes, marshes and other wetlands, where wild birds potentially infected with bird flu are likely to fly, helping health authorities prevent and plan for outbreaks.…