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BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TERM ‘preparation’ for chemical compounds used within cosmetics will be replaced in European Union (EU) legislation with the term ‘mixtures’ in a raft of legal reforms covering chemical products. These are being proposed by the European Commission to bring EU legislation in line with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) maritime safety committee has accepted an offer from the United States to be the initial temporary host of a global data exchange linking centres for long range identification and tracking (LRIT) systems for shipping.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and ALAN OSBORN

GEOGRAPHICALLY Russia is part of Europe. Moscow is 1,557 miles from London, but 3,456 miles from New York. The Russian capital is also just 760 miles from Stockholm, as the crow flies. These figures are worth considering when trying understanding the often fraught energy diplomacy between Russia and the European Union (EU).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) should not only increase the waste electrical equipment it collects for recycling and salvage, it should prioritise collecting items posing dangerous environmental problems, a UN report has claimed. Written for the European Commission, the United Nations University (UNU)-led study concluded only 25% of Europe’s medium-sized household appliances and 40% of larger appliances are collected for salvage and recycling, leaving "substantial room for improvement."…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE UNITED Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is pushing for an international agreement limiting the production and use of mercury, which it considers a dangerous pollutant of drinking water supplies. The UN agency has urged governments, industry and utilities to set "clear and ambitious targets" to reduce global mercury levels, for instance by installing technology that slashes emissions from coal-fired power stations.…

BY MARK GODFREY, in Beijing

CHINESE coatings made the headlines for all the wrong reasons this summer. Faulty paint jobs on Chinese exports has however put into sharp relief the quality gap between local and foreign players in China’s paint and coating sector, which has been enjoying unprecedented growth.…

BY MARK ROWE

ONE of the most perfidious environmental legacies of communism in eastern Europe was that of mining pollution. In particular, across a swathe of the Balkans, from Albania to Bosnia & Herzegovina, (the former Yugoslav Republic of) Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo, up to 150 mines have been identified by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as areas of concern.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) is refusing to give up on Russia and its neighbours as stable energy partners for the future, despite the largely inconclusive summit between member states and Moscow last month (October) in Mafra, Portugal. It failed to make progress on the demands from the European Commission for reciprocal liberalisation in Russian energy markets, should the EU allow Russian companies – notably Gazprom – a free hand in member states gas sectors.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE TERM ‘preparation’ for chemical compounds such as textile dyes is to be replaced in European Union (EU) legislation with the term ‘mixtures’ in a raft of legal reforms covering chemical products. These are being proposed by the European Commission to bring EU chemical mixtures legislation in line with the United Nations’ Globally Harmonised System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals.…

BY RAGHAVENDRA VERMA, in New Delhi

THE INDIA-USA nuclear power technology transfer agreement has received a new lease of life after the Congress Party-led Indian minority government’s communist allies (on whom they rely for votes) relented partially during a crucial coordination committee meeting on November 17.…