Search Results for: United Nations

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

WHILE Venezuela’s economy relies on its petroleum wealth, oil spills could devastate its environment. In 1997, a tanker spilled thousands of tonnes of oil in the Maracaibo Channel, affecting wildlife along 45 km of beach. Would Venezuelans support environmental restrictions on the petroleum industry if it meant that the country’s oil production fell, denying them millions of petrodollars?…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TALKS chairmen at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round talks on food liberalisation have lost patience with the big member governments trying to frame a deal behind the scenes, and will now draft take-it-or-leave-it proposals for the entire membership.…

BY PHILIPPA JONES, in Paris

SIMPLE cost-effective actions can help road hauliers run more efficient businesses, reduce their fuel bills and improve their environmental credentials, expert speakers have told an international conference on fuel efficiency in Paris.

Fuel accounts for at least 30% of operating costs in most road transport operations, but few, if any, haulage companies are really maximising the potential to be more fuel efficient, according to Jonathan James, a consultant with Faber Maunsell.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BOOM in counterfeit cigarettes being smuggled into the European Union (EU) is intensifying, according to the latest figures from the European Commission. It says EU customs officials seized 156 million packets’ worth of fake cigarettes in 2006, up 380% on 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has created a disputes panel to rule on the vexed question of whether India’s import duties on wines and spirits are so punishing, they break WTO rules. The panel will hear complaints from the United States, whose drinks industries have long chafed at the aggregated duties that range between 150% and 550%.…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

IT comes in a stunning multi-layered Perspex box that combines traditional elements of Japanese design with contemporary materials, the trays sliding out and each lotion held in a delicate, individual jar. But it is the contents of those jars, as well as the spray canister, that really has the scientists at Shiseido Co.’s…

BY MARK ROWE, in London
NANOTECHNOLOGY may help textile manufacturers dramatically reduce their costs and overheads, according to a design expert speaking at a conference at the Royal Society in London. The precise measurements involved in using nanofibres and other nanotechnology means that manufacturers could both significantly reduce the bulk of raw materials they need but also produce bespoke products that are far more targeted than is presently the case.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States is challenging China at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), asking a disputes panel to order Beijing to tighten its “inadequate protection of copyrights and trademarks”. The US Trade Representative office claims that China’s “excessively high legal thresholds for launching criminal prosecutions offer a safe harbour for pirates and counterfeiters,” breaking Chinese commitments under the WTO’s Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement.…

BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Dubai
THE CLOTHING market in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is experiencing stellar growth on the back of rising consumer spending, a surge in tourists, and 145% growth in retail space as new malls and shopping centers spring up.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE AMERICAN Red Cross and the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have launched a joint US$7.5 million project to restore seafood and finfish aquaculture and wild harvesting in Indonesia’s Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province, which was devastated by the 2004 tsunami.…