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BY DINAH GARDNER, in Beijing, MONICA DOBIE and KEITH NUTHALL

GLOSSY GANODERMA is a crusty, yellowish brown fungus, the size of a football. It’s been used for centuries in China as a traditional medicine to cure everything from deafness to hemorrhoids.…

BY ALAN OSBORN, in London

EUROPEAN manufacturers have been given the go-ahead to use explosive chemicals as igniters for airbags after a new European Union (EU) law had threatened to put them out of business. The new legislation drawn up by the European Commission in Brussels last year (2005) was principally aimed at the fireworks industry and laid down new regulations to ensure safety in handling, storage and transportation binding across the 25 member countries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HAVING a crystal ball can be useful and profitable for businesses wanting to get ahead of the game and know what investments they may need to comply with future regulations and best practice?

One tactic is to exploit globalisation.…

BY MARK ROWE

SALES of olive oil in the United States are likely to be boosted by the decision of the Food and Drug Administration to approve in part a health claim for olive oil submitted by the North American Olive Oil Association (NAOOA).…

BY JULIAN RYALL, in Tokyo

IT may be in its infancy, but European scientists have high hopes for new research into more effective ways to store hydrogen, and particularly in how it can be applied to next-generation fuel cell systems for vehicles, research that could have global implications.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

VIETNAM will hope its November approval of accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will improve the access to overseas markets enjoyed by its clothing and textile exporters. Membership means that Vietnam and its trading partners have promised to keep their mutual clothing and textile trades unimpeded by restrictive quotas.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

WITH global trade ever increasing, and the power of brands to generate massive profits made starkly clear with every company report, the counterfeiting of goods is one of international organised crime’s major boom areas.

It is a serious problem for legitimate business, especially those based in developed countries with tough piracy controls, who are seeking to export to poorer countries where intellectual property crimes are a low priority.…

BY WESLEY GIBBINGS, in Port of Spain

TIME-WAS that food production in the Caribbean was dominated by commodities, with sugar and bananas being king and queen of island economies. Protected from the rigours of world markets by age-old ties to current or former colonial markets, these cash crop supplies remained largely unchanged for centuries.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE WORLD Trade Organisation (WTO) has exempted from its standard free trade rules for a further six years countries involved in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme combating ‘blood diamond’ sales.

Its current waiver was to expire December 31 and protects trade restrictions undertaken by participating countries preventing rough diamonds being exported to non-signatory states.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL and MARK ROWE

THE INSTITUTE of Nanotechnology, in Stirling, Scotland, has released a new compendium of groundbreaking research, with many studies focusing on the use of nanotechnology in environmental health. The research covers commercial and academic developments in using nanoparticles, for instance in antibacterial, self-decontamination and anti-fouling coatings; antimicrobial capsules and surfaces; making surfaces easy to clean conventionally; self-cleaning glass; eliminating odours; and other uses.…