Search Results for: hong Kong

BY TAMARA VANTROYEN, in Hong Kong

CHINA looks to be a likely candidate for the first country in the world to approve genetically modified rice, despite the fact that the State Agricultural GM Crop Biosafety Committee, a technical body which evaluates GM rice for research, did not approve the idea at its three-day meeting in Beijing, December 10-12, 2005.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TRADE ministers meeting at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Hong Kong last night (Sunday) set a tight timetable for agreeing of the Doha Development Round’s overall goals on agricultural liberalisation, saying these long discussed ‘modalities’ must be approved by April 30.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE KENYAN trade minister charged with pushing forward compromise on agricultural issues at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit has called on his colleagues to abandon political caution to make a deal possible. Mukhisa Kituyi said at the summit’s first agriculture meeting: "Our diplomats in Geneva and our experts from capitals have not succeeded (in lower level talks) and now it is for ministers to show leadership and take responsibility and calculated risks."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

TRADE ministers at the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Hong Kong summit are struggling today to reach a compromise deal on the vexed question of cotton subsidies that will prevent west African exporters scuppering an overall agreement. The United States has been under pressure to abandon its production payments to American growers, which are highly politically sensitive in the US.…

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.…

BY TAMARA VANTROYEN in Hong Kong

HONG Kong’s higher education system’s gradual move away from the British system of education to one that is more aligned with the US and mainland China models, is leading to a proliferation of associate degrees (ADs) springing up in Hong Kong.…

BY TAMARA VANTROYEN, in Hong Kong

BEIJING’S museums have been hit by Olympic fever. China’s capital currently has 118 museums and by 2008 that figure is expected to have increased to 150. A total of US$854 million is expected to be spent on the building and renovating of museums prior to the Olympic Games.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A EUROPEAN Union (EU)-wide customs initiative has netted thousands of counterfeit articles of knitted clothing manufactured from China. Operation Fake was two-week exercise involving customs authorities, the EU anti-fraud office, OLAF, and the European Commission’s taxation and customs directorate, and took place this May, although its results have just been released.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CHAIRMAN of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) agricultural liberalisation talks has warned the December 13-18 Hong Kong trade summit is unlikely to agree comprehensive final goals for the negotiations. New Zealand Ambassador Crawford Falconer said there remained significant disagreements on market access (tariffs, import quotas, etc).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CHAIRMAN of the WTO agricultural liberalisation talks has warned that the December 13-18 Hong Kong trade summit is highly unlikely to agree comprehensive final goals for the negotiations. New Zealand Ambassador Crawford Falconer said there remained significant disagreements on market access (tariffs, import quotas, etc).…