Search Results for: United Nations

BY DEIRDRE MASON

SALES of new cars are still holding up surprisingly well despite the global downturn, but within a few years of their purchase, how many of them will be running on retread tyres?

The signs are that the market for retread and recycled tyres will grow, as world demand for rubber grows, particularly in China.…

BY MJ DESCHAMPS and KARRYN MILLER

WHILE plant-based materials have long been the go-to ingredients for biofuel production, the industry is finding that taking crops away from the agricultural industry can cause unintended environmentally problems, including the indirect generation of carbon emissions.…

BY DAVID HAYHURST

THE NEW president of OICA (the International Association of Vehicle Manufacturers) has warned American auto-manufacturers that they risk being left behind in the global race for new technologies. Speaking at his Paris office with wardsauto, Patrick Blain, now six months into his new job, and after this month’s OICA general assembly in Bucharest (October 20 and 21), said it was European and Asian automakers who are setting the pace and working together with their governments to effectively tackle issues of emissions and rising fuel costs.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A FINAL text of a new international Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) has been agreed – protecting food manufacturers against illicit copies through tough criminal penalties for counterfeiters. This follows an agreement at ACTA talks in Tokyo this past weekend between the European Union (EU) and United States over the vexed question of brand rights versus geographical indication protection.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DEFINING a niche drink is an arbitrary matter and what may pass as niche today may well be considered mainstream tomorrow. Flavoured vodka, for instance, had a relatively specialised following in Europe until a few years ago – now it is classified as an official spirit drink under European Union (EU) regulations.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has been alarmed by coordinated ‘bot-net’ attacks on computer networks in Britain, Estonia, Georgia, France, and elsewhere, and is beefing up its cyber-defences. Keith Nuthall reports.

IT takes a lot to spark the lumbering bureaucratic behemoth known as the European Union (EU) into hasty action.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

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A UNITED Nations campaign could – if successful – significantly increase worldwide demand for soap. Its Global Handwashing Day has highlighted how diarrhoeal and acute respiratory diseases kill 3.5 million children aged under five annually, and that washing their hands after using toilets and before handling food can reduce such deaths by 40% and 23% respectively.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

A WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) panel has told the US government it should review anti-dumping and countervailing duties imposed by the United States on certain circular welded carbon quality steel pipes and certain welded carbon-quality light-walled steel pipe and tube.…

BY JULIAN RYALL

BEFORE September 8, few people anywhere had heard of Zhan Qixiong or his battered fishing boat. However, since the Chinese fisherman and his 14-strong crew were taken into custody by the Japan Coast Guard on September 8, Zhan has found himself at the centre of an escalating geopolitical row that has already put planned discussions over gas and oil deposits between Beijing and Tokyo on hold and is ratcheting up broader tensions in the region.…

BY VILLEN ANGANAN

Madagascar’s textile and clothing sector has been harmed by the country’s suspension from the USA African Growth and Opportunities Act (AGOA). It lost these trade benefits last December after President Andry Rajoelina seized power in March 2009 with army backing.…