Search Results for: United Nations

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRAZIL and the USA have struck a deal over the licensing of generic drugs, which should see an end to the looming World Trade Organisation dispute between the two countries, brought by the American government.

The Brazilian government have agreed to consult the US, if in the future it thinks that it might have to use its Article 68 law to a grant compulsory licence on patents held by US companies.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
CANADIAN furriers are expecting international demand for fur garments will drive Canadian exports up 10-15 per cent this year, to more than CAN$350-million according to the country’s National Post newspaper.

Alan Herscovici, executive vice-president of the Fur Council of Canada, said fur does not have the negative connotations it used to.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BRUSSELS is always looking for big ideas by which it can justify its existence to a doubting public and one of the latest of these is the concept of a European Research Area. This idea is that Europe – with its patchwork of nations and national research units – should coordinate its academics and researchers, making sure that they do not duplicate their efforts, rather dovetailing them with a single European goal in mind.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE FIRST session of the United Nations’ Forum on Forests has begun work at UN headquarters in New York, with a brief to identify a five-year agenda of discussions and develop the means of implementing any international agreements on forests that might be struck by the forum in future.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
SWEDEN has been told by the European Commission to end its favourable tax treatment of beer compared to wine or face legal action at the European Court of Justice.

Under the Swedish alcohol tax regime, wine in the 8.5 per cent to 15 per cent abv band bears tax at about four times the rate for beer in the three per cent to five per cent range, even though it has only three times as much alcohol.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
DIPLOMATS are working hard to lay the groundwork for the launch of a new general round of trade talks at the World Trade Organisation, when the international commerce body holds its biennial ruling ministerial meeting this November.

By the time trade ministers congregate in Doha, Qatar, it is hoped that the bulk of a deal will have been stitched up behind the scenes, allowing governments to rubber stamp a move into negotiations mirroring the depth and breadth of the Uruguay Round that set up the WTO in 1994.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
COPPER production is expected to continue forging ahead, fuelled especially by surging Chinese demand, the World Commodity Survey 2000-2001, published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (UNCTAD), has predicted.

The annual survey, covering market trends of the trade in most major and minor metals, says that supplies should increase by seven per cent this year, with a number of mining expansion and development projects reaching maturity.…

Keith Nuthall
THE TEXTILES Monitoring Body of the World Trade Organisation has asked the United States to confirm that textile and clothing imports that are to be subject of liberalised quotas, under the third stage of its implementation of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, will be free of visa restrictions that have been applied in the past.…

BY SWINEETHA DIAS WICKRAMANAYAKE
THE AIRPORTS Authority of India has granted a 10-year licence to an international consortium to provide ground and passenger handling services at four of the country’s busiest airports, namely New Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) and Trivandrum.…