Search Results for: International business

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A RESTRICTED trade in wool from captured wild vicuna in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile has been approved by a conference of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The United Nations (UN) convention’s members agreed in Santiago, Chile, to lift a ban in trading these small beasts “for the purpose of allowing international trade in wool sheared from live animals…bearing the label vicuna Argentina, Bolivia or Chile.”…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved Germany’s controversial Euro 647 million state aid injection to TotalFina Elf subsidiary Mitteldeutsche Erdöl Raffinerie for constructing the Leuna 2000 refinery in Saxony-Anhalt. Brussels had re-examined the project and has now cleared all aid, including Euro 61.4 million, which had been blocked pending the decision.…

BY MATTHEW WELLS
A UNITED Nations (UN) envoy is urging the Saudi Arabian government to speed up an unprecedented, yet tentative, judicial reform process.

Speaking after a week-long mission to the country, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Dato Param Cumaraswamy, said the kingdom’s legal system was improving following the introduction of a new criminal procedure code in May.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BURIAL of carbon dioxide underground has been examined by an international workshop on reducing CO2 air emissions convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. It debated good practice such as International Energy Agency sponsorship of projects dealing with the capture, transport and underground storage of CO2.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
AS the bill for cleaning up after the Prestige disaster grows larger and larger, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has committed itself to redoubling efforts to raise the standard of shipping amongst its developed country members.…

Keith Nuthall
THE INTERNATIONAL Air Transport Association and the US’s Federal Aviation Administration are launching a CD-rom designed to train and raise the awareness of pilots and air traffic controllers in reducing the risk of runway incursions by taxiing aircraft.

Delegates at a recent International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conference on the topic in Mexico City heard that this Runway Safety Education and Training Aid was necessary because – said one speaker – “in recent years the number of runway incursions has increased significantly worldwide,” and stands to increase further as civil aviation grows.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
LONGSTANDING Canadian meat traders have vowed not to ship to Cuba in future because the Caribbean island dumped them for American competitors.

The switch followed an agreement in November 2001 by Fidel Castro to buy agricultural goods from US companies, following a hurricane that ravaged his country.…

BY PHILIP FINE, in Montreal, Canada

THE EFFECTS of September 11 have left their mark on the relationship between air traffic control national service providers (ANSPs) and their customers. The economic fall-out from the terrorist attacks now defines much of the dialogue between ANSPs, airlines and airports.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
HALF-HEARTED efforts by European Union Member States to impose controls on shabby shipping have been blamed for the disastrous sinking of the ill-named Prestige oil tanker, off Galicia, Spain. Placing on record their disgust at the environmental tragedy, the Council of Europe’s environment committee deplored “the negligence of governments and their lack of any real determination to provide themselves with the means of preventing such disasters – or at least minimising their impact.”…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKA
A FORMER president of the Thai Leather Goods Association has said that the Thailand leather industry has to improve its designs to more effectively compete globally. Sunanta Wuthisakul said that this would build upon the standard product quality of local manufacturers, which in general “currently met international standards,” notably those of the big brands which use Thai leather.…