Search Results for: World Trade Organisation

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE TIMING of concessions that can be achieved at the World Trade Organisation’s agricultural round, sweeping away the high tariffs, import quotas, production subsidies and export credits that make the working lives of every agricultural exporter more of a struggle, are likely to be set in the next three months.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union has lodged formal requests for three disputes panels to be set up to rule on steel import restrictions imposed by the USA, in the teeth of opposition from Washington, which is vigorously opposing the move.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has cleared the planned acquisition by Interseroh AG of Hansa Recycling GmbH, using its merger approval powers under the European Coal and Steel Community. Both companies trade in ferrous scrap and are based in Germany, where their services overlap in some regions.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice has been active recently, using its unique powers within international law to bring EU Member States to heel for failing to implement European legislation promoting health and safety.

Unlike any other international court, the ECJ has the power to fine sovereign states, which ignore its rulings.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
EUROPE’S direct marketing organisations have expressed delight at a vote in a European Parliament committee to agree an opt-out system for electronic messaging in the EU Member States.

What the MEP’s are saying is that companies should not have to seek permission from consumers before sending them unsolicited commercial e-mails, or “spam,” (the so-called “opt-in” approach), but can operate on the basis that if the messages are unwanted the recipients can opt out.…

KEITH NUTHALL
THE EU Council of Ministers has approved a textiles trade agreement signed with Estonia, which will widen import quotas, especially for Estonian exporters. The deal includes a double-checking system to check for surges in imports of a particular product and to ensure that textiles declared as Estonian were made in that country.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission is distributing 1.2 million leaflets this summer – many via EU hotel and tourism federations – which aims to educate holiday-makers on how to use the single European currency, the Euro.

With its notes and coins due to be launched in January, “Don’t forget to Pack the Euro” encourages tourists to get used to the concept of the single currency whilst vacationing abroad this summer.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE KYOTO protocol on climate change was adopted by 186 nations in Bonn, but without the participation of the US, which is responsible for 25 per cent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

President Bush is now likely to come under intense international pressure to produce an American plan to tackle climate change.…

BY ALAN OSBORN
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce has warned that the proposed introduction of a law insisting that in e-commerce disputes, it is the law and courts of the consumers’ country that should prevail in any legal disputes, runs the risk of “stifling” business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions over the Internet.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Union is pressing for the ongoing World Trade Organisation round in agricultural goods to lead to a reduction in export credits for food products, that are currently unregulated by world trade rules.

EU chief negotiator David Roberts has offered to maybe trim Europe’s export subsidies under a new WTO Agreement on Agriculture, if other countries – notably the USA – consider reducing loans such as export credits.…