Search Results for: hong Kong

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CHAIRMAN of the World Trade Organisation’s (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 that there remained significant disagreements on market access (tariffs, import quotas, etc).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CHAIRMAN of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) agricultural liberalisation talks revealed plans this week to run the Lausanne marathon, in a city neighbouring the WTO’s Geneva. And whilst there are many of us who think sport running is for heroes or lunatics (or both), we can at least admire their stamina.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EXPORTS in Hong Kong have warned that the human H5N1 strain of avian flu detected in northern Vietnam this year has proved resistant to Tamiflu, the commercial brand of oseltamivir, the powerful antiviral drug considered the best chance of fighting the disease, especially if human-to-human transmission arose.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MEMBER governments of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) are preparing for the key December 13-18 summit in Hong Kong, where it is hoped key decisions will be made regarding the overall goals of the Doha Development Round’s agricultural talks.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE RISK of bird flu entering the European Union (EU) is becoming increasingly likely, with the European Commission banning imports of live birds and untreated feathers from Turkey, after a suspected outbreak in this country straddling Europe and Asia.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has warned “bottlenecks in Indian and Pakistan airspace” are being caused by “route and level restrictions and limitations within the Kabul FIR”, in Afghanistan. The problem has caused traffic intended for the Kabul-controlled area to be diverted via Iran.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EUROPEAN Union agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is taking a tough line against critics of her sugar reform plan, telling the European Parliament agriculture committee she is sticking to her proposed 39% price cut. She also insisted the plan needs political agreement by November, ahead of December’s World Trade Organisation Hong Kong summit.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
BARRIERS preventing the insurance industry from penetrating one of the world’s last largely-untapped insurance markets are to be demolished, with Saudi Arabia agreeing to liberalise a strict regulatory system to gain World Trade Organisation (WTO) membership.

In a key deal with the US, Saudi Arabia has promised to sweep away restrictions hindering insurers from offering standard western-style services previously deemed un-Islamic under the country’s strict Wahabist Sunni Muslim system.…

BY MATTHEW BRACE
FIGHTING money laundering is about getting your hands dirty. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) may pronounce global standards that it would like jurisdictions to follow, but all governments need help, and often regional bodies are better placed to do the detailed work than more remote global organisations.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
THE USA launch of a new “safer” cigarette Fact that sports a filter cutting out harmful chemicals has been delayed over fears its marketing could mislead consumers into thinking it was “safe”. The PREP (potentially reduced-exposure product) cigarette was to be manufactured by an independent tobacco company in North Carolina, US, the Flue-Cured Tobacco Cooperative Stabilization Corporation.…