EU to end longest running WTO dispute
(Reuters) – The European Union and two groups of developing countries say they have settled a row about the EU’s import regime for bananas.
The issue is the longest-running dispute at the World Trade Organization and could derail the Doha round talks on a new global trade pact.
Latin American producers (including the Philippines) and U.S. distributors have mounted nearly a dozen successful challenges to EU import rules for bananas that favour imports from former European colonies.
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The new deal reportedly involves the EU cutting the tariff to $114 a tonne sometime after 2016. The details have yet to be officially released.
Chinese gov’t approves first GM rice variety
BEIJING, China (Reuters) – China has approved its first strain of genetically modified rice for commercial production, two scientists involved in the approval process said. It potentially eases the way for other major producers to adopt the technology.
The approval of the locally developed rice, as well as China’s first GM corn, shifts the global balance of power in food trade and could prompt other countries to follow suit, experts said.
It will also enable China, the world’s top producer and consumer of rice, to grow more of its staple food amid shrinking land and water resources.
Atrazine’s effects on frogs studied
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The widely used weed killer atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs, raising questions about the effects of its use in the environment, said University of Ottawa researchers.
A study by researchers at the university found that at low levels comparable to those measured in the Canadian environment, fewer tadpoles reached the froglet stage and the ratio of females to males increased.
Atrazine is designed to inhibit weed growth in cornfields.
Syngenta, manufacturer of atrazine, said the chemical is one of the best-studied herbicides available and pointed to previous safety reviews from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the United Nations World Health Organization, among others.
The EPA said in October that it was reviewing the health impacts of the herbicide.
Russians cite hormones in U.S. pork ban
MOSCOW, Russia (Reuters) – Russia’s farm produce watchdog has cited excessive antibiotic levels as the main reason for banning imports from seven U.S. pork plants, including the world’s largest.
Russia’s latest crackdown on meat imports bans deliveries from five plants belonging to Smithfield Foods Inc, a Tyson Foods Inc. plant in Madison, Nebraska, and the Sioux-Preme Packing Co in Sioux Center, Iowa.
