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Search Results for: United Nations

10 results out of 4207 results found for 'United Nations'.

UNEP - ENVIRONMENTAL DISEASE



BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE 2005 Yearbook of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has warned environmental change is spreading diseases beyond their traditional range, while causing pathogens to mutate and become more deadly.

It includes a number of case studies, illustrating one message: “Loss of forests, road and dam building, the spread of cities, the clearing of natural habitats for agriculture, mining and the pollution of coastal waters are promoting conditions under which new and old pathogens can thrive”.…

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US RICE ROW



BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED States Trade Representative has notified WTO that it intends to raise tariffs on a number of EU food exports following a hike in European duties on brown rice imports. Yoghurt, processed cheese, mandarins, saffron, truffles and Brussels sprouts, are amongst the EU foods attracting extra American duties from March 1.…

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MECHANICAL COUPLING STANDARD



BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed that a United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) standard on the type approval of “mechanical coupling components of combinations of vehicles” becomes a European Union (EU) regulation. It has asked the EU Council of Ministers to formally accede to the UNECE’s regulation 55 on this subject.…

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UN OIL FOR FOOD REPORT



BY KEITH NUTHALL
CLEAR lessons on the need to improve accounting procedures at the United Nations have been spelt out by the interim report into alleged fraud and corruption at the now defunct UN Iraq Oil for Food Programme. They were made by an Independent Inquiry Committee led by former US Federal Reserve Board chairman Paul Volcker in a report accusing the programme’s chief Benon Savan of “ethically improper” conduct.…

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UNECE E-INVOICES



BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE UNITED Nations is pushing for an increase in the use of electronic invoices, developing guidelines for harmonising the format, legal and technical requirements of these documents. Its Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) is adapting to e-invoices its ‘Recommendation 6 on the Invoice for International Trade’, providing a solution easily implemented by all companies, it said.…

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TAIWAN & POLAND



BY KEITH NUTHALL
POLAND and Taiwan have remained on a United States government watch list on counterfeiting and fraud, largely because Washington thinks they can do more to fight pharmaceuticals piracy. The US Trade Representative (USTR) office said it would push Taiwan to pass a law preventing unfair commercial use of pharmaceutical test data.…

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LEAD BATTERIES GUIDE



BY KEITH NUTHALL
A DETAILED manual on disposal, transport and recycling of lead-acid batteries has been issued by the secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. The United Nations convention body has designed the publication as a comprehensive set of policies to reduce the overall impact of these batteries on the global environment.…

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HAMAD MEDICAL CITY - QATAR GIANT MEDICAL COMPLEX



BY PAUL COCHRANE, in Beirut

MORE than 7,000 construction workers are toiling around the clock on the first phase of the Middle East’s largest integrated medical complex in the oil rich Gulf state of Qatar, with top medical positions, including nursing managers, expected to go to British applicants.…

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WTO TRIPS AGREEMENT GENERIC MEDICINES WAIVER - PERMANENT



BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation’s (WTO) general council has permanently amended the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement to make permanent a 2003 waiver helping poor countries obtain generic medicines during health emergencies. The TRIPS amendment enables any WTO member country to export generic pharmaceuticals made under a compulsory licence to assist countries lacking their own manufacturing capacity and whose nurses and doctors would otherwise be unable to deal with a serious disease problem.…

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UNEP BIRD FLU - EARLY WARNING SYSTEM - MIGRATORY BIRDS



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.…

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