Europe Agri articles from May 2006

Europe Agri archives from May 2006

MARINE ENVIRONMENT : 2012 TOO LATE TO PROTECT EU MARINE ENVIRONMENT, ARGUES COR.(protection of marine environment )
May 5, 2006... 2012 will be "way too late" to get the EU's maritime waters up to scratch on environmental standards, the Committee of the Regions warned on 26 April, citing the risk of irreversible damage to sub-aquatic ecosystems. Responding to...

ACP SUGAR IMPORT PRICES.(African, Caribbean and Pacific)(prices for sugar cane)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The EU's Agriculture Ministers adopted a Decision on 25 April authorising the European Commission to negotiate the appropriateaagreements concerning the guaranteed prices applicable in the 2006/2007 marketing year to cane sugar originating in...

MEAT : BRITISH BEEF BACK ON THE MENU AT LAST.(laws for beef)
May 5, 2006... As of 3 May, the United Kingdom is free to resume exports of live cattle born after 1 August 1996, under the same terms as other EU member states. Following a favourable opinion from the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health in...

CAP REFORM.(public health and safety)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... French farmers' movement La Coordination Rurale presented a memorandum on 'a Common Agricultural Policy for the 21st century' to Agriculture Minister Dominique Bussereau on 18 April. It argues that a good farm policy needs to fulfil six...

CHEESE : COMMISSION CLEARS ITALIAN CHEESE MERGER.(prices for cheese)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The European Commission announced on 24 April that it has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the plan by the French group Lactalis to take over the Italian group Galbani Spa, a subsidiary of the investment fund BC Partners, a leading...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : COMMISSION DENIES LEAVING IT TOO LATE TO DEAL WITH POULTRY CRISIS.(risk factors of Avian influenza)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... With plummeting demand, prices in freefall, temporary staff lay-offs, the poultry industry is really feeling the heat. Armed with its own figures, the European Commission rejected accusations that it has been dragging its feet in dealing with...

COMMON AGRICULTURAL POLICY : COMMISSION RECOVERS EURO 128 MILLION FROM NATIONAL COFFERS.(agricultural policy )(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The European Commission decided on 28 April to recover 128.2 million of EU farm money unduly spent by the member but deemed to breach EU rules on agricultural expenditure. The sector most concerned is fruit and vegetables with 73.59 million...

HEALTH : EU MOBILISING TO TACKLE AVIAN INFLUENZA WORLDWIDE.(services of European Union)
May 5, 2006... The European Commission aims to be in a position at the meeting of senior officials bringing together donors and beneficiary countries in Vienna on 6-7 June to announce that it has succeeded in mobilising the 100 million it pledged at the...

FARM COUNCIL : EU TO CO-FINANCE AID FOR POULTRY INDUSTRY.(regulation and finance for poultry industry)
May 5, 2006... European Union Agriculture Ministers voted unanimously on 25 April in Luxembourg to adopt legal provisions permitting the European Commission to back measures introduced by member states to support the poultry sector in response to negative...

EU/WTO:AGREEMENT DEFERRED UNTIL JULY.(World Trade Organisation contracts with European union)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Key World Trade Organisation (WTO) players officially confirmed on 21 April that there will be no ministerial meeting at the end of April in Geneva since there is no hope of securing an agreement on cuts in duties on agricultural and industrial...

AGRICULTURAL SERVICES : FARMING ENTREPRENEURS TO INTRODUCE CERTIFICATION SYSTEM.(rural development services)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Entrepreneurs in the farming industry who provide mechanised and rural development services, operating and commune consultancies, etc. intend to implement a 'reference system', that is, a set of Community standards to respect in order to obtain...

BIOFUELS : HOW TO RAISE MARKET SHARE FROM 1 TO 25% IN 25 YEARS?(environmental aspects of biomass energy)
May 5, 2006... Atthe end of April, the aEuropean Commissiona wrapped up a public consultation on biofuels as a source of energy for the future and having another think as to how to give renewable energy like this a higher profile and boost its share of the...

EU/WTO : MANDELSON READY TO IMPROVE EU OFFER ON AGRICULTURE.(rules for agricultural industry)
May 5, 2006... With the deadline for a Doha Round agreement on agriculture and industry pushed back from April to July, Peter Mandelson has called on the EU's partners to make more concessions, alluding in return to an improvement in the offer on agriculture...

TSE : MEPS APPROVE REGULATION ON TSES.(transmissible spongiform encephalopathies)
May 5, 2006... A new EU Regulation should soon be introduced,aconsolidating and updating existing legislation on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) - and in particular mad cow disease (BSE, Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy). The European...

MOLDOVA WINE WORRY.(health aspects of wine)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Estonian Socialist MEP Marianne Mikko has expressed concern about a Russian ban on Moldovan wine imports saying it is a political move calculated to deprive Moldova of much-needed export revenues. The MEP, who chairs the European Parliament's...

CIVIL PROTECTION : NATURAL DISASTERS: SOMETHING CAN BE DONE, SAY MEPS.(influence of natural disasters)
May 5, 2006... With a number of East European countries against facing serious flooding, the European Parliament has rejected the notion that nothing can be done. In three reports adopted on 25 April by the European Parliament's Committees on the Environment,...

MARINE ENVIRONMENT : NORTH SEA COUNTRIES SEARCH FOR MORE SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT.(conferences)
May 5, 2006... Oceans have been severely affected over recent decades by water and air pollution and by fishing practices threatening ecosystems. The North Sea is far from being an exception and, in spite of protection measures introduced over the course of...

NATURE PROTECTION : OWNERSHIP TRANSFER FOR NATURA 2000 SITES IN GERMANY.(rules for forestry)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... German plans to create new nature protection areas, mainly as part of the EU Natura 2000 network, will not be held back by EU state aid rules, the European Commission revealed on 26 April. 32,000 hectares of farm land and woodlands in parts...

WATER : PARLIAMENT HARDENS TONE ON GROUNDWATER.(management of ground water)
May 5, 2006... Without imposing single standards for all countries, expect on nitrates and pesticides, the European Parliament's Environment Committee adopted a recommendation on 25 April on the proposal for a Directive on the protection of groundwater aiming...

COMPANY LAW : PARMALAT SUBSIDIARY'S INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS STAY IN IRELAND.(cases)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The European Court of Justice on 2 May gave the Irish High Court jurisdiction over the insolvency proceedings of Dublin-based company Eurofood, sister company of Italian food giant Parmalat, which went into receivership last December with...

GENETIC ENGINEERING : POLAND KEEN TO BE GM-FREE.(rules for genetically-modified organisms)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Poland's Parliament has adopted legislation aiming to ban the marketing of all genetically-modified organisms (GMOs) regardless of whether they are prohibited or authorised in Europe. The measure, which has still to be ratified by President...

EU/RUSSIA : RUSSIA BLOCKS POULTRY IMPORTS.(production management)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Despite the establishment of a regular dialogue between the European Union and Russia, Moscow decided unilaterally on 27 April to block poultry imports regardless of their source, on health grounds. EU Health and Consumer Protection...

SOLIDARITY FUNDS FOR ROMANIA, BULGARIA & AUSTRIA.(approval Amending Budget)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... An Amending Budget was approved by the European Parliament on 27 April, meaning that financial resources allocated from the European Solidarity Fund in order to help Bulgaria, Romania and Austria will be entered into the 2006 EU budget. The...

SWINE FEVER IN GERMANY.(risk factors of swine fever)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... The transport towards other member states of pigs originating from most German regions for immediate slaughter or for breeding purposes can resume, albeit under certain coditions. The EU's Standing Committee on Animal Health and the Food Chain...

MEAT : TONE HARDENS BETWEEN FRENCH BEEF FARMERS AND BRUSSELS.(prices and rates of beef industry)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Fined 16.7 million for an illegal agreement on the beef and veal market in April 2003, French farmers are seeking to shift the case into the political arena. Sanctioned for manipulating prices and restricting imports during the mad cow crisis,...

UK OWNERS FOR SPANISH PIZZA CHAINS.(Tele Pizza S.A acquired by Foodco pastries)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Two well known Spanish fast food restaurant chains are to be bought jointly by UK and Spanish investors after the European Commission gave the green light to the deal on 24 April. The Telepizza and Pizza World franchises are at present both...

WINE : WINE-GROWING REGIONS SET OUT THEIR STALL ON REFORM OF EU REGIME.(economic aspects of wine)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... As EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel prepares to table a proposal to overhaula the common market organisation forawine in June, the Assembly of European Wine Regions (AEWR) maintains that the industry should be excluded from some...

WTO MEMBERS URGED TO REDOUBLE EFFORTS.(world trade organizations)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has urged member countries to redouble their efforts to break the deadlock in Doha Round negotiations. The 149 member countries failed to meet the April 30 deadline they themselves set for securing an agreement...

Timber : WWF publishes alarming report on Europe's illegal timber trade.(World Wide Fund For Nature)(Brief article)
May 5, 2006... Not one of the twenty-three European countries (including Switzerland) covered in a review of their measures taken to combat illegal timber trade provided acceptable results, revealed a damning report published by the World Wide Fund For Nature...

AFRICAN COTTON PRODUCERS' APPEAL.(rules for cotton trade)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The President of the African Association of Cotton Producers, Burkina Faso's Francois Traore, brought up the question of the Doha Round of World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations at a press conference in Brussels on 11 May, demanding a...

PLANT HEALTH : AUTHORISATION OF PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS TO BE REGIONALISED.(marketing of plant health products)
May 19, 2006... The European Commission is due next month, in theory on 7 June, to adopt a new Regulation replacing the 1991 Directive on the marketing of plant health products. The proposal, drafted by Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos...

Civil protection : Barnier proposes European crisis-management force.
May 19, 2006... With the institutional debate gathering pace in anticipation of the 15-16 June EU summit dedicated to the future of Europe, former European Commissioner Michel Barnier has outlined a series of proposals for improving the EU's crisis response...

BIODIVERSITY PAPER DELAYED.(approval of Communication on biodiversity)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Commission has decided to defer approval of its Communication on biodiversity. Initially scheduled for 16 May, it has now been postponed until 22 May in order to coincide with World Biodiversity Day and to drive home the message...

BEER : BREWING INDUSTRY GOES ON THE OFFENSIVE.(production processes of beer)
May 19, 2006... Prior to the European Commission presenting its strategy for combating excessive alcohol consumption, the European beer industry lobby has embarked on its own strategy to try and limit new constraints being imposed on the sector. Its greatest...

WINE : COMMISSION TO PROPOSE OVERHAUL OF WINE SUPPORT REGIME.(production processes of wine)
May 19, 2006... European Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel is planning a "fundamental reform" of the rules currently governing the European wine market and measures to force the industry to restructure in order to survive fierce competition from...

SWEETENERS : EFSA CONCLUDES THAT ASPARTAME IS NOT CARCINOGENIC.(health aspects of low-calorie foods)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Food Safety Authority reported on 5 May that aspartame (the most widely used sweetener) is not carcinogenic. 'There is no reason to review the current recommended daily intake of aspartame', according to Iona Pratt, who chaired...

PACKAGING : EU ALLOWS FURTHER CONCENTRATION IN SWEDISH PACKAGING SECTOR.(contracts and approval of paper industry)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Commission said on 15 May it had approved the proposed acquisition of AD Cartonboard by Korsnas, a deal that links up the second and the third largest Swedish producers of liquid packaging board with business interests worldwide...

EU/UNITED STATES : EURO-AMERICAN PLATFORM LAUNCHED TO TACKLE OBESITY.(benefits of eating fish in preventing cancer)
May 19, 2006... The EU and the United States launched a joint discussion platform on Friday 12 May aimed at combating the obesity epidemic. This first meeting between European Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner Markos Kyprianou and Deputy US Health...

AVIAN INFLUENZA : EUROPE MUST NOT DROP ITS GUARD ON AVIAN INFLUENZA.(control of avian influenza)
May 19, 2006... World Health Organisation (WHO) and EU experts gathering for three days in Uppsala, Sweden, called on 15 May on European countries not to drop their guard on avian influenza and to continue preparing for a possible pandemic. The frequency of...

Caviar : EU tightens up rules on trade in caviar.
May 19, 2006... All tins of caviar imported, exported or marketed in the European Union will be required to bear a specific label certifying that it is legally-sourced caviar, under the terms of a new Regulation adopted by the European Commission on 15 May....

Farmers against EU/US free trade area.(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... An EU-US free trade area would lead to European and American farmers losing their influence and would strengthen the hand of a few major agri-industry companies in decisions concerning agriculture. That, at least, is the view expressed by the...

FOOD : FISH MEAL TO RETURN TO THE FOOD CHAIN.(rules for meat and bone meal)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The EU is preparing to gradually bring fish meal back into the food chain for ruminants. Under the terms of a compromise hammered out by member states, the ban on animal and bone meal will remain in place, but fish meal may be reintroduced in...

GENETIC ENGINEERING : GMO TRACEABILITY METHOD IS HURTING BUSINESS, SAY TRADING PARTNERS.(marketing)
May 19, 2006... The EU's rules for labelling and tracing the origins of genetically-modified organisms in food, animal feed and other products on the market are under examination, with a report assessing existing measures adopted by the European Commission on...

MAGIC MUSHROOMS.(laws for hallucinogenic drugs)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... National laws on use of hallucinogenic or magic' mushrooms vary considerably across the EU, a study from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCCDA) shows. In most countries, including Belgium, Denmark, Estonia and...

FOOD LAW : MEPS GIVE GO-AHEAD TO HEALTH CLAIMS COMPROMISE.(nutritional aspects of cereals)
May 19, 2006... After three long years of negotiations, the compromise on the draft Regulation aimed at harmonising health and nutritional claims, put together by the political groups of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission was finally...

NEWCASTLE DISEASE IN BULGARIA.(laws for poultry meat )(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Commission announced on 11 May that it had decided to widen a regionalised import ban on Bulgarian poultry, poultry meat and meat products, ratites, game and hatching eggs, due to an outbreak of Newcastle Disease. The ban, which is...

EU/MOROCCO : NEW FISHERIES AGREEMENT GETS EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT'S APPROVAL.(European Parliament approved the Fisheries)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Parliament approved the Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and Morocco on 16 May, despite some MEPs' reservations about its international legal ramifications regarding Western Sahara. The new pacta covers 119...

PACKAGING WASTE : NEW GERMAN RECYCLING SCHEME STARTS UP AMID LEGAL ROW.(waste management)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Ombudsman, Nikiforos Diamandouros, has criticised the European Commission for having failed to ensure that the Court of Justice's keyarulings on a German decree governing the prevention and recycling of non-reusable packaging (e.g....

FOOD LAW : PARLIAMENT ENDORSES REGULATION ON VITAMINS AND MINERAL ADDITIVES.(management of food industry)
May 19, 2006... The report by Karin Scheele (PES, Austria) on the addition of vitamins, minerals and certain other substances to foods did not pose any problems for MEPs who voted by an absolute majority on 16 May in second reading to adopt the compromise...

MAIZE : POLAND ALLOWED TO BAN 16 VARIETIES OF UNSUITABLE' GM MAIZE.(varieties of genetically-modified maize)
May 19, 2006... The European Commission announced on 8 May that it has decided to authorise a Polish ban on the use of 16 varieties of genetically-modified (GM) maize and around 700 varieties of non-GM maize, throughout the whole country. These maize varieties...

BIRD FLU : REPRIEVE ON THE EUROPEAN FRONT.(prevention for avian influenza )(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... Preventive measures in place to prevent an outbreak of avian influenza in protection and surveillance zones are to be extended until 31 December 2006, the EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health decided on 4 May. This...

SAIWA LOSES BARILLA TM APPEAL.(cases)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... The European Court of First Instance rejected an appeal on 5 April by pasta manufacturer Saiwa against its competitor Barilla (case T-344/03). The Genoa-based company argued that by registering the Selezione Oro Barilla trade mark, its Venetian...

SHARE CONCERNS ON OBESITY.(health aspects of adults)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... Officials from the EU and the United States met in Brussels on 11 and 12 May to discuss appropriate solutions to the 'obesity crises' affecting both sides of the Atlantic. The meeting clearly focus on advertising and industrial practices and...

SWINE FEVER IN GERMANY.(disease prevention)(Brief article)
May 19, 2006... Following a new outbreak of classical swine fever on a farm in the municipality of Borken, the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health backed a Commission proposalaon 5 May to suspend the movement of all pigs and impose...

MARINE ENVIRONMENT : TOWARDS A BETTER NORTH SEA ENVIRONMENT.(influence of fisheries)
May 19, 2006... Reducing the impact of the fisheries and shipping industries on the marine environment was the dominant focus of the meeting of Environment Ministers from eight North Sea countries and the European Commission (represented by Stavros Dimas,...

GENETIC ENGINEERING : TRACEABILITY AND LABELLING RULES PLAYING A "POSITIVE ROLE".(rules for animal feeds)
May 19, 2006... The overwhelming majority of member states believe labelling and traceability requirements introduced two years ago under EU legislation "have played a positive role in terms of informing consumer choice and providing useful information and...