Search Results for: japan

BY DAVID EIMER, in Beijing

TO be beautiful in China is to be fair-skinned and for cosmetics companies, that’s an opportunity to tap the world’s largest emerging market for whitening creams. According to Chinese government figures, China’s beauty and cosmetics market was worth between 42 and 46 billion Yuan (US$5-5.5 billion) last year and a third of that total was spent on whitening products.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AS trade ministers flew home from four days of gruelling talks at last week’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Hong Kong, they could be forgiven for feeling some satisfaction: the end of the Doha Development Round is nigh, probably.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

AUTO manufacturing firms will be closely monitoring next week’s World Trade Organisation (WTO) summit in Hong Kong for signs that the WTO’s long-running Doha Development Round talks are about to crack open national automobile markets. Key auto industry countries – the US, the European Union, Canada, Japan, South Korea, India and Brazil – have been making steady progress this year in identifying non-tariff barriers to trade they would like to remove, such as burdensome customs procedures, technical engineering rules and licences.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

IMPORTANT changes in the European auto manufacturing industry are expected next year following the introduction of a new crackdown on dangerous chemicals by the European Union (EU). The proposed legislation, known as REACH (registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals), has been recently adopted by the European Parliament and now requires the assent of the 25 EU member countries and this is likely to be given – at least in principle – before the year-end.…

BY MARK ROWE
OVERSHADOWING the Japanese paint industry in recent years has been the overall shape of the country’s economy. The stagnation of the economy lasted for much of the 1990s but it showed signs of recovery in the first half of fiscal 2004-2005, driven by solid exports and strong corporate capital investment.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) is considering an application for the creation of three new civil aviation routes linking the Russian far east and South Korea, crossing North Korean air space over the Sea of Japan. An ICAO meeting concluded that the “extreme high cost of fuel has elevated this to an urgent request”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has annulled fines imposed by the European Commission on Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd and Sumika Fine Chemicals Co. Ltd for fixing prices of vitamins A, E, B2, B5, C, D3, beta?carotene…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has acted to simplify the approval of ‘intelligent’ adaptive front-lighting systems (AFS) that boost illumination for drivers, while cutting the risk of glare for fellow motorists. It is proposing that manufacturers should bypass existing European Union (EU) complicated approval procedures for new technologies, by writing a draft United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) technical regulation for this kit into EU type-approval rules.…

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
CRITICS of European political institutions have sometimes been unkind about the Council of Europe, which has been accused of being a powerless talking shop. And although the Council lacks the power to fine and cajole member governments enjoyed by the European Union (EU) – from which it is completely independent – it has some important roles.…