Search Results for: International law

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A MIDDLE East conference of the Office International des Épizooties, the world animal health organisation, has been staged to improve the region’s weak animal health controls. There was concern at the meeting, in Istanbul, Turkey, that Middle East countries do not have emergency plans to deal with outbreaks of transmissible animal diseases, a potential barrier to trade and risk to countries importing their livestock and meat.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Investment Bank (EIB) has drawn up plans to lend Euro 70 million to help Australia’s Oxiana Resources develop a copper mine in Laos. On the basis of its policies supporting international development, the EIB would fund Oxiana’s development of the Khanong open cast pit, 370 kilometres southeast of the Laos capital Vientiane.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
UNITED Nations cultural agency UNESCO has welcomed a pledge by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) not to explore or mine in official World Heritage sites. The council includes 15 of the world’s largest mining companies, such as Alcoa, Anglo American, Nippon Mining & Metals, Rio Tinto and Umicore.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
GERMANY has brought an action in the European Court of Justice against the European Commission’s directive to outlaw tobacco advertising in newspapers and magazines and at international sporting events, charging that Brussels has “overstepped its authority” in the matter.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States, Canada and Argentina have requested that a World Trade Organisation disputes panel adjudicate in their diplomatic row with the European Union over its de facto freeze on approving the import of new genetically modified foodstuffs.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE CANADIAN Grand Prix in Montreal is likely to be cancelled in 2004 because of Canada’s upcoming anti-tobacco regulations that will ban the advertising of tobacco brands at sports events. The Canadian government said the law will not be changed to suit the Grand Prix and wants Formula 1 to agree to exceptions from its tobacco sponsorship practice mirroring those in the British and French races.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THERE has been a lot of talk about water in international meetings and organisations this year. Report after report has spelt out that we are all using too much water and if reforms do not make systems more sustainable, then a thirsty future beckons.…

BY PHILIP FINE

FOOD production always starts with the farmer. It’s a truism that we all know, but sometimes needs restating; the desires of the consumer, often fed by the marketing acumen of the retailer, guide primary producers as to how, what and how much to plant and breed.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Primate Protection League has welcomed CITES secretary general Willem Wijnstekers’s call for prosecutions over the illegal sale of four young wild gorillas from Nigeria to Malaysia, via South Africa. League chairwoman Shirley McGreal told BBC Wildlife the intervention made court action “more likely,” although she has criticised the case’s handling.…

BY PHILIP FINE

AN ASSUMPTION has been made by many in the past few months in the international food industry: the unveiling of so many new low-calorie and low-fat alternative food items must have something to do with obesity-related litigation lurking in the US.…