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Trans-Atlantic Beef Hormone Dispute Heats Up Once Again
The trans-Atlantic trade dispute over hormone treated beef is heating up once again. A 15 January move by the outgoing Bush Administration to provide greater flexibility for retaliatory tariffs against the EU over its beef ban has raised the ire of Brussels, which has recently been attempting to engage the US at the WTO. The…
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New WTO Rules Text Outlines Fisheries Roadmap
The chair of the WTO rules group reeled in controversial language related to fisheries subsidies in the latest draft rules text released on 19 December. Unlike the prior text – which contained hard language calling for a ban on specific subsidies – December’s text outlines only a ‘roadmap’ for future discussions. The document had been expected…
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Carbon Prices Follow Global Economic Downturn
The global carbon market has not remained unshaken after the world financial crisis and gloomy economic outlook. Over the past two months, prices of emissions permits have fallen, with risks of a negative downward effect on investment in carbon reducing projects. Driven by weak energy prices, increased selling of credits by cash-strapped firms and an anticipated…
- In Brief
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Canadian Delegation in Brussels to Stop Proposed Seal Ban
Canadian officials are in Brussels this week in an attempt to persuade the European Union to abandon its proposed plan to ban imports of seal products. If passed, the proposal would ban seal products from countries whose hunting practices involve ‘unnecessary pain’. Rumours of a vote on the EU proposal are not new. However, recent moves…
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US Takes Aim at EU Poultry Ban
The United States announced last week that it was filing a WTO complaint against a long-running European Union ban on imports of chemically treated poultry. For more than a decade, Brussels has barred the import of chicken treated with anti-bacterial chemicals such as chlorine dioxide, a practice that the US contends is safe and effective. The…
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Indonesian Navy Cracks Down on Environment Crime
Indonesia is clamping down on foreign registered ships suspected of participating in illicit activity, such as illegal fishing and the transportation of illegally harvested timber. Since the beginning of the month, 32 ships - predominantly from Malaysia, the Philippines, China and Thailand - found in the southern Papuan region of the archipelago have been impounded. Illegal…
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Bolivian Restrictions on Polluting Car Imports Upheld
The Government of Chile’s efforts to reverse a decree by Bolivian president Evo Morales to ban imports of used vehicles more than 5 years old have ended in failure. The Bolivian ban aims to stem the steady cross-border stream of mainly Japanese used cars arriving in the Chilean ports of Arica and Iquique. Rigid emissions and…
- Events
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Events
Coming up in the next two weeks 26-27 January, Bonn, Germany. FOUNDING CONFERENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL RENEWABLE ENERGY AGENCY (IRENA). Prior to the Founding Conference, the statutes will be sent to all member countries of the United Nations, inviting them to participate and become founding members of the agency at the Founding Conference. For more information…
- Resources
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Resources
WEATHER AND CLIMATE SERVICES IN EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA: A REGIONAL REVIEW. The World Bank, Washington, DC, 2008. This paper reviews the status of weather and climate services in Europe and Central Asia (ECA). Worldwide, the accuracy and value of weather and climate services are rising, bringing great economic benefits. However, many national hydrometeorological services…