遺伝子組み換えトウモロコシ 影響把握へ試験栽培 畜産草地研

遺伝子組み換えトウモロコシ　影響把握へ試験栽培　畜産草地研
(6月11日 05:00)

　今月末にも遺伝子組み換えトウモロコシの隔離圃場試験を始める農業・食品産業技術総合研究機構畜産草地研究所（那須塩原市千本松）は10日、所内で報道機関や地元関係者らを対象に説明会を開いた。

　試験は米ダウ・アグロサイエンス社が開発した除草剤に耐性のある遺伝子組み換えトウモロコシの安全性評価が目的。栽培の過程で周辺野生生物の減少・消失など、生物多様性に影響を与える有害物質が発生しないかなど７項目の観点から、来年３月までの栽培、実験を行う。

　同研究所で遺伝子組み換えトウモロコシについて同様の試験が行われるのは、２００３年以降６件目。農水、環境の両大臣から承認され次第、試験に着手する。

　同研究所飼料作物育種工学研究チームの高溝正チーム長は「交雑防止には万全の措置を取る。除草剤への耐性があると、伸びたトウモロコシの上から除草剤を散布して雑草防除ができるなど、作業上の利点がある」と説明している。

--------------------------
Email claims Japanese GM concerns

Posted June 7, 2009 11:25:00
Updated June 7, 2009 12:05:00
Canola crop

There is concern about the State Government's views on GM crops. (User supplied)

Email correspondence has revealed W-A's trade commissioner to Japan has serious concerns about the production and sale of genetically modified crops to Japan.

The emails, obtained under freedom of information laws, were written in January and discuss the Premier's visit to Japan in February.

One of the emails, written by Craig Peacock, the W-A trade commissioner to Japan says, there is a strong concern the new government is ignoring the concerns of a major customer base.

It goes on to say the concerns will eventually have a negative impact on all facets of Japan-WA agribusiness.

The State Opposition's Mark McGowan says the government needs to re-instate the moratorium on GM crops.

"Japan is our number one trading partner in terms of agricultural and fisheries products, more than $840 million a year of trade that we send to Japan," he said.

But the Agriculture Minister Terry Redman rejects the concerns, saying that Japan already imports a large amount of GM canola.

-----------------------
Tasmania extends anti-GM ban

Tuesday, 26/05/2009

The Tasmanian Parliament has passed a bill to ban the release of genetically modified organisms for at least another five years.

The ban includes a zero-tolerance standard for non-GM seed coming into the state.

But Tasmanian canola growers say they're now unable to find seed suppliers that guarantee their non-GM seed meets Tasmania's strict zero tolerance standard on genetically modified material.

Roberts Ltd agronomist, Terry Horan, says all states except Tasmania have a 0.1 per cent allowance for GM material in planting seed and his company is urging the Tasmanian Government to fall in line.

"The companies such as Pioneer and other companies are happy to send seed out to any other state in Australia, with their minimum tolerance levels for gm adventitious presence, but nil is something they don't think they can meet."

-----------------------
Liechtenstein Submits Law On Mutual Cooperation In Tax Matters With US, by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels
Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Liechtenstein government has recently adopted a report and proposal pertaining both to its Tax and Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) with the US, signed on December 8, 2008, and to a law on mutual cooperation in tax matters with the US. An amendment to Article 102 of its constitution has also been approved.

The key issue surrounding Liechtenstein’s TIEA with the US, which is based on the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) standard, is the element of mutual support provided by an exchange of information, imperative for the application and enforcement of the respective domestic tax laws.

According to Liechtenstein’s government, providing for an exchange of information enables mutual cooperation to take place between tax authorities, allowing them to work together. Nevertheless, the government has also confirmed that this exchange of information will not be granted automatically, only upon specific request.

Liechtenstein’s TIEA with the US reflects its recent commitment to adhering to and implementing the OECD’s standards regarding transparency and information exchange in tax matters, expressed in its declaration on March 12.

However, in order to execute the TIEA, Liechtenstein must first adopt a new national law. As a result, the government presented to parliament a law on mutual cooperation in tax matters with the US. This law sets out the precise conditions and procedures required for granting mutual assistance, as stipulated in the TIEA. Designed to ensure that assistance is provided swiftly and efficiently, the law also provides for the necessary legal protection.

Both the TIEA and the law on mutual cooperation in tax matters are due to enter into force on January 1, 2010.

------------------------

Britain to review legal basis of relations with Bermuda over Guantánamo row

Foreign Office tells island's prime minister he had no right to agree to take Uighur inmates without consulting London

Britain is to review the legal basis of its relations with Bermuda following a transatlantic row over the resettlement of Guantánamo detainees on the Caribbean island.

The US transfer to Bermuda of four Chinese Muslims, known as Uighurs, represents an acute embarrassment for the British government, which is supposed to oversee the foreign and security policy of the British overseas territory.

In angry telephone exchanges with Bermuda's prime minister, Ewart Brown, UK officials have contested his right to negotiate the transfer of the four Uighurs from US custody without consulting Britain.

Barack Obama has said he wants to close Guantánamo Bay detention camp by the end of the year, but is encountering serious problems in deciding what to do with the remaining 240 inmates. The Washington Post reported today that the administration had "all but abandoned" plans to resettle them on US soil in the face of determined bipartisan resistance.

Last year a US court order the Uighurs' release on the grounds that there was no evidence that they had acted against the US. Another 13 Uighurs are awaiting transfer to the Pacific archipelago of Palau, where there is considerable public resistance to the government's agreement to take them.

Under a 1968 understanding known as the general entrustment, Bermuda has the right to conduct external relations "on behalf of" Britain, on condition that London is consulted before agreements with other states are entered. At issue is whether the prison transfer represented such a formal agreement, or simply a local immigration matter. The Foreign Office insisted the matter was "a security issue for which the Bermuda government does not have delegated responsibility."

British officials said there would now be talks with Bermuda on the interpretation of the general entrustment. But by this evening they were playing down a suggestion made earlier in the day that the understanding would be suspended. Meanwhile, a Foreign Office official said Britain would help Bermuda carry out a thorough security assessment of the four Chinese Muslim separatists.

Taken by surprise by news of the Uighurs arrival, Britain's foreign secretary, David Miliband, is understood to have had an uneasy telephone conversation with the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, about why London was not told. Clinton reportedly said the US had assumed that Bermuda had agreed the move with Britain before agreeing to host the Uighurs.

Ian Kelly, the US state department spokesman, said Washington was confident that it could "work these things through" with the British government.

The Bermudan prime minister said he agreed to host the Uighurs because it was "the right thing to do", but conceded he had had a tense conversation with the island's British governor, Richard Gozney.

"He is seeking to further assess the ramifications of this move before allowing the government of Bermuda to fully implement this action," Brown said. "Our colonial relationship with the United Kingdom certainly gives him licence to do so."

However, a senior Labour MP accused the US of "riding roughshod" over British legal rights in pursuit of its own interests.

"The proper authority here is the British government and the US should have consulted with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office before they did anything of this kind," Mike Gapes, the chairman of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told BBC Radio 4's The World at One.

"I wonder what promises have been given to the Bermudans, potentially about going a bit soft on the tax haven status or something else as a quid pro quo."

The Chinese government yesterday demanded that all 17 men, who have been cleared of terrorism allegations, be returned to China.

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Qin Gang, said the US should "stop handing over terrorist suspects to any third country, so as to expatriate them to China at an early date". He did not say if China would take any action.

------------------------
Britain warns its own tax havens
FELICITY LAWRENCE IN LONDON
13/04/2009 12:18:51 AM

THE Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has put British overseas tax havens under renewed pressure to end their culture of secrecy within six months or face sanctions.

Mr Brown has written to all British Crown dependencies and overseas territories, setting them a September deadline to sign agreements to share tax information with the authorities.

Leaders at the recent G20 summit in London pledged to crack down on the tax abuse and shadow banking through offshore jurisdictions that was central to the global financial crisis.

The new move by Downing Street puts Britain in the unusual position of threatening punitive action against its own dependencies.

Mr Brown has also signalled in the correspondence that he wants to tackle not just illegal tax evasion through personal offshore bank accounts, but also tax haven companies used for tax avoidance by corporations and super-rich individuals.

Seven British territories were named by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development when it published, to coincide with the G20 summit, a list of havens that had either not agreed to, or not yet implemented, its international tax standards.

Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos were all placed on the OECD's "grey list" for failing to deliver on promises to be more transparent, despite signing up to do so, in some cases, several years ago.

Mr Brown has also written to the Crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, telling them that he expects rapid further progress to end tax and banking secrecy.

All three are on the OECD's "white list" of jurisdictions that have already implemented a number of bilateral agreements to share tax information with other authorities, but they are still used by companies engaged in tax avoidance.

Four countries placed on the OECD "black list" because they had not even agreed to share tax information have already changed their positions under the global political pressure.

Costa Rica, Malaysia, the Philippines and Uruguay have been moved to the grey list, having promised to reform.

--------------------------
Bermuda Signs Tax Info-Exchange Agreement With Netherlands

Mon, Jun 8 2009, 15:27 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu

Bermuda Signs Tax Info-Exchange Agreement With Netherlands

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The Bermudan government said Monday that it has signed a tax information-exchange agreement with the Netherlands which allows it to meet international standards on tax-haven transparency.

The move is expected to allow Bermuda to compete for financial services business more effectively against offshore jurisdictions which have already met these standards, such as the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey.

Bermuda said the tax information-exchange agreement between Bermuda and the Netherlands is the 12th such pact signed with a foreign state by the British overseas territory.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has said that tax havens must sign 12 such agreements with other nations to demonstrate they are committed to operating in a transparent manner and to meet its internationally-agreed tax standard.

The tax agreements are designed to allow countries to request information from other financial centers, including those viewed as tax havens, which allows them to levy the right amount of domestic tax on their citizens.

Many offshore financial centers believe investors are more willing to invest in an offshore center which has met international standards of operation than those which haven't.

Bermuda said it expects to sign several more new agreements in coming months.

"Bermuda has concluded negotiations with Germany, Mexico and Canada," said Paula Cox, Bermuda's minister of finance. "Signing dates are being arranged with Germany and Mexico for the very near future and it is anticipated that the signing with Canada will take place later in the year after Canada concludes its ratification process."

-----------------------
WTO tries to make sense of Russia’s rethink

By Catherine Belton and Isabel Gorst in Moscow

Published: June 13 2009 02:46 | Last updated: June 13 2009 02:46

When Vladimir Putin announced this week that Russia was to drop its bid to join the World Trade Organisation after 16 years of negotiations and would instead enter as a customs union with Kazakhstan and Belarus, many western and even Russian officials were taken aback.

To some western officials, the switch looked like a pressure tactic to force Russia’s western negotiating partners to lift conditions blocking its immediate entry into the 153-member global trade bloc or face another set of protracted negotiations.

But many Russian commentators and officials say the turnround is part of a shift in Russia’s priorities as it focuses on expanding its sphere of influence in the former Soviet Union.

The switch comes amid intensifying frustration at tough conditions requested of Russia for entry into global structures such as the WTO – and the ever more widespread view in Moscow, especially after the financial crisis, that the importance of regional power blocs is poised to increase as US might wanes.

“For Russia, the most important strategic task is now to create an independent centre of power, its own economic bloc. One’s own club is now more important than the global club,” says Dmitry Trenin, a senior analyst at the Moscow Carnegie centre.

Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, says: “The only chance for Russia to build its position is to create its own regional centre of influence,” as the strength of other powers such as China increases. “This is the multi-polar world Putin has been speaking of for so long.”

But others say this policy is a big mistake. “This is not [only] fragmentation, it is [also] plain stupid to align yourself with countries that don’t fulfil the minimum requirements for WTO entry,” said one senior western banker. Belarus and Kazakhstan have been severely affected by the crisis and are behind Russia in accession talks.

“It’s a prelude [to] what’s going to happen: Russia will revive the union of CIS states. But everyone is getting just a little bit cocky. If you are going to play the big muscle man, you need to deal with your own problems first. If you look at Russia’s infrastructure, it is a debacle.”

Russia’s leaders face strong domestic opposition to WTO accession, especially since the economic crisis. Domestic industry has been arguing it could be badly affected by foreign competition.

Many people argue Russia does not need the WTO at all, Mr Trenin says, while the customs union would strengthen its position as a trade player as it seeks to build a common economic space within the former Soviet Union (FSU).

Since the economic crisis hit the FSU, Moscow has been using its position as the strongest economy in the region, doling out billions of dollars in aid to boost its influence.

“This is all part of the reset,” Mr Trenin says, “[It is] the renewal of Russia’s relations with the western world.”

Mr Putin made the announcement on scrapping Russia’s unilateral bid as he signed a trilateral agreement with the prime ministers of Kazakhstan and Belarus to form a customs union between the three countries by January 1 2010, finally concluding the deal after years of stop- start negotiations.

Analysts said Russia had made a concerted push to get it through, piling pressure on Belarus as it launched a mini “milk war” at the weekend banning Belarusan milk product imports into Russia in a move that could have cost Minsk up to $1bn (€713m) in revenues. Kazakhstan, weakened by the crisis, wants to strengthen ties with Russia, they said. A Kazakh economist told the FT he believed Kazakhstan had “surrendered its independent trade policy” by joining the union.

EU sources say it is unclear whether Russia could continue talks on unilateral accession while conducting talks on entry for the customs union. Negotiations for entry as a customs union could delay Russia’s entry, they say.

Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the international affairs committee in Russia’s parliament, said Moscow was forced to choose between prioritising WTO entry or forming the union. “This decision is very logical. Russia has been trying to enter the WTO since 1993 without success,” he said. “They keep forwarding new conditions. This has [limited] our economic integration with our partners [in the FSU] ... If we entered the WTO first we would have to delay [formation] of the customs zone further.”

----------------------
Ahmadi-Nejad wins landslide in Iran

By Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Anna Fifield in Tehran

Published: June 13 2009 10:47 | Last updated: June 13 2009 15:22

The government of Iran on Saturday announced that incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad had won a landslide victory in the presidential election, amid claims from opposition leaders that the results in the historic contest had been “staged”.

Opposition supporters were shocked at the results and Mir-Hosssein Moussavi, the moderate former prime minister who was challenging Mr Ahmadi-Nejad, vowed to fight what he saw as an unacceptable result.

But Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, made it clear that the contest was over.

“More than 80 per cent turnout and more than 20m votes for the president-elect is a real cause for celebration,” the supreme leader said in a statement on Saturday afternoon, calling the election “a startling and unique event”.

Mr Khamenei called on other candidates to help the president and asked the supporters of both sides to avoid “provocative words and deeds”.

He advised all people, especially the youth, to be aware of the “enemy’s plots”.

With about 82 per cent of the votes counted, the interior ministry said that Mr Ahmadi-Nejad had won 64.7 per cent of the vote, easily passing the 50 per cent threshold needed to win outright in the first round.

Mr Moussavi had taken only 32.2 per cent of the vote, the ministry said, while the two marginal candidates, reformist Mehdi Karroubi and fundamentalist Mohsen Rezaei, won 0.8 per cent and 2.07 per cent respectively.

The interior ministry released the results with record speed, without giving details of which constituencies had been counted.

Turnout was a record 85 per cent, according to the Guardian Council, exceeding the previous high of 79 per cent recorded when Mohammad Khatami, a reformist, won the election in 1997.

The results appear to be at odds with the huge groundswell of support that formed around Mr Moussavi in the final week of the campaign, and with the history of high turnout favouring reformists over conservatives.

“I warn that I will not succumb to this staged arrangement,” Mr Moussavi said in a statement on Saturday. “We witnessed the performance of dishonest officials, resulting in nothing except shaking the foundations of the holy Islamic republic of Iran and giving sovereignty to lies and dictatorship.”

Iranians knew vote rigging had taken place on a massive scale, Mr Moussavi said. “People who formed long queues and know who they have voted for, are watching in absolute astonishment the magical claims of officials and the statements on TV and radio,” he said.

Other reformists also lashed out. “It’s absolutely clear that the results have been engineered,” said one reformist close to Mr Karroubi. “From now on, those who were motivated to participate in elections and make changes won’t do so anymore.”

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s office did not make any comment on Saturday about the allegations of electoral fraud. But Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi, the head of Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s election headquarters, suggested that reformists could not accept the fact that most Iranian people did not want Mr Moussavi as their president.

“Everyone should obey people’s votes and those who thought they should rely on people to reach their personal plans and interests are wrong,” Mr Samareh-Hashemi said on Saturday, according to Fars news agency.

“Those who do not abide by people’s votes are in fact showing that what matters to them is their own power,” he said.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s supporters are planning are huge celebration in Azadi Square in western Tehran on Sunday evening.

With the race between Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and Mr Moussavi tight and both men enjoying significant amounts of support most analysts expected a run-off next Friday to decide the winner.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad still enjoys significant support in rural areas and among religious radicals, largely thanks to his generous handouts and revolutionary zeal. However, he has alienated large segments of society, including the middle class, youth and the business community.

Several hundred protesters gathered in front of the interior ministry and at Mr Moussavi and Mr Karroubi’s campaign headquarters on Friday night, and again at Mr Moussavi’s office on Saturday morning, but all were dispersed by police.

Security was tightened around these areas on Saturday morning, with road blocks set up on the thoroughfares around the interior ministry.

But there were reports emerging on Saturday that police had attacked a group Mr Moussavi’s supporters with batons outside the interior ministry, which announced the result of Friday’s election.

“Everyone is shocked,” said a reformist leader from the north-eastern city of Mashhad, but he added that there were no security problems.

Authorities in one town near Mashhad said Mr Moussavi won in that district but when the results were announced by the provincial governor, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad was victorious.

In Israel, a senior official said Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s victory was “a very worrying development”.

“Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the most militant of the candidates, and it can only lead his country into a confrontation with the western world,” the official said, according to Agence France Presse.

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad has sharply heightened tensions with Israel, once pledging to “wipe” the country off the map.

Before the results were released, President Barack Obama had hinted he was hopeful of a change in Iran hard on the heels of the defeat of Hizbollah, which is backed by Tehran, in last week’s Lebanese election.

“Just as has been true in Lebanon, what can be true in Iran as well...you’re seeing people looking at new possibilities,” Mr Obama told reporters, adding that he was excited by the “robust debate” in Iran.

------------------------
日本政府、「メコン・インド経済回廊」具体化を支援

　日本政府はメコン川流域とインドをインド洋を介して結ぶ「メコン・インド経済回廊構想」の具体化を支援する。構想の中核となるベトナム―カンボジア―タイを結ぶ高速道路を実現するため、中核国のタイと共同で７月、研究会を設立。民間資金を導入したインフラ整備を進めるための金融・法制面の枠組みづくりを支援し、日本の政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）との組み合わせで構想の実現を狙う。

　高速道路はベトナム南部の都市ホーチミンからカンボジアの首都プノンペン、タイの首都バンコクを経てタイ南部でインド洋に面するラノン、パンガ、パクバラに至る。日本政府は麻生太郎首相が４月に提唱した、670億ドル（約６兆6000億円）の資金援助でアジアの経済規模を倍増させる「アジア経済倍増構想」の柱として推進する。(16:39)

-----------------------
マグロの漁獲量、段階制限で合意　東太平洋、09年から

　水産庁は13日、東太平洋のマグロを管理する全米熱帯まぐろ類委員会（ＩＡＴＴＣ）が米国で開いていた年次会合で、メバチ・キハダマグロの漁獲量制限で合意したと発表した。2009年から11年まで段階的に制限する。日本に影響のあるはえ縄漁では、09年の漁獲枠を07年比で９％減らすことになったが、日本の漁獲実績からすると余裕があり、水産庁は「影響は大きくない」としている。

　ＩＡＴＴＣの漁獲量削減を巡る交渉では、巻き網漁の禁漁期間の延長などで合意できず、08年は正式な漁獲制限がないままだった。今回の会合では巻き網漁でも禁漁期間の拡大で合意。07年の42日間から73日間に延長された。

--------------------------
日立復活へ100日プラン　「脱・総合電機」でグループ再編

　日立製作所が「脱・総合電機」にかじを切る。重電、情報通信など得意の社会インフラ事業に経営資源を重点配分するため、1000社を超すグループの構造改革は待ったなしだ。４月１日に就任した会長兼社長の川村隆（69）と３副社長が子会社からの復帰という異例の布陣。時計の針を戻したような経営チームは、グループ再編という古くて新しい課題にどう立ち向かうのか。

　ＪＲ東京駅前の日立本社が入る高層ビル。最上階の27階の役員フロアで開く経営会議は月１～２回が通例だが、川村体制の発足後は何度も臨時招集され、メンバーの副社長陣が議論を闘わせる場面が増えた。「100日プラン」。就任から100日をメドに策定を急ぐ経営計画は、新体制が目指すグループ戦略の羅針盤となる。

----------------------
いばらきコープ、初の赤字　ギョーザ事件響く

　いばらきコープ生活協同組合（茨城県小美玉市、佐藤洋一理事長）が12日発表した2009年３月期決算は、一般企業の最終損益にあたる当期剰余金が10 億6100万円のマイナスと88年の設立以来初の赤字だった。消費低迷に加え、08年１月に起きた中国製冷凍ギョーザ事件の影響で売り上げが伸び悩んだ。他の生協と連携して経費を減らし黒字回復を目指す。

　一般企業の売上高にあたる事業高は344億5500万円と、前の期に比べ4.7％減った。経常利益にあたる経常剰余金は１億6300万円のマイナスだった。減損会計を導入した結果、14億4500万円の特別損失が発生し、最終損益ベースでも赤字になった。

　事業高を部門別に見ると、食品販売・宅配などの供給高が333億円と前の期から2.6％減った。コンサートや公演など利用事業収入は３割増の7600万円だった。

---------------------
光化学スモッグを共同研究へ、日中韓環境相会合
2009.6.14 16:16

　日本と中国、韓国の環境相会合が１４日、北京で開かれ、大陸からの大気汚染物質の影響が指摘される光化学スモッグについて、発生メカニズムの共同研究を推進するなどとした共同コミュニケを採択し、閉幕した。

　会合は１１回目で、斉藤鉄夫環境相のほか、中国の周生賢環境保護相、韓国の李萬儀環境相が参加。光化学スモッグや黄砂対策など１０項目を今後５年間の優先的な協力分野とすることで合意し、これらの成果を８月に中国で開かれる予定の日中韓首脳会談に反映させる。

　光化学スモッグは、工場や自動車から排出される窒素酸化物（ＮＯｘ）などが光化学反応を起こすことで発生。九州などのスモッグでは、中国から流れ込む汚染物質の影響が疑われ、専門家の間で汚染物質の発生源と気象の関係などについて研究を進める。（共同）