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EU trade chief, France clash on WTO proposals
Reuters: [2008-05-26 12:37:00]
BRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - France said on Monday the latest proposals for a world trade liberalisation deal were neither balanced nor ambitious, but the EU's trade chief said he had overwhelming support to pursue the talks.
Anne-Marie Idrac, France's junior trade minister, told a news conference the compromise texts put forward by senior trade diplomats in the World Trade Organisation last week were "less ambitious and balanced than ever".
But Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said after briefing EU foreign ministers on the plans: "The overwhelming majority of member states are in favour of remaining engaged and taking forward the negotiation... The view expressed that the conditions do not exist for the round to be concluded successfully was a very small minority view." (Reporting by Ingrid Melander and William Schomberg, writing by Paul Taylor) ((ingrid.melander@reuters.com; +32 2 287 6832; Reuters Messaging: ingrid.melander.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: EU TRADE/
Australia links organised crime to illegal fishing
Reuters: [2008-05-26 07:53:00]
By James Grubel
CANBERRA, May 26 (Reuters) - Organised crime groups around the world and even motorcycle gangs are becoming involved in illegal fishing, lured mainly by demand from China for prized fish species, a study by Australian crime experts said.
The groups from China, Australia, Russia, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Japan have all been linked to illegal fishing, with fish stocks either sold illegally or used to launder money, the Australian Institute of Criminology said.
The institute's report on illegal fishing called for greater international cooperation to fight the black market, and said criminal groups targeted prized species in demand in Asia, such as abalone, shark fins and beche-de-mer, or sea cucumber.
"It is clear that overseas illicit markets in seafood products such as abalone, beche-de-mer and shark fin are flourishing, due in part to a steadily increasing demand from mainland China," the institute said.
The Australian-government funded institute said profits from illegal fishing could be high, with the rich in China willing to pay up to $5,000 for meals with top quality abalone, and with demand for shark fin growing an estimated five percent a year.
It said in New Zealand, several coastal abalone fishing areas have been closed, with the official catch of 1,057 tonnes a year estimated to be matched by 1,000 of poached abalone.
The report said as crime groups increased their interest in illegal fishing, there was evidence of growing cooperation between crime groups and motorcycle gangs in different countries.
It said the illegal fish trade could be used to pay off other criminal activities, such as drugs and arms sales, people smuggling and sex slavery.
"A wide range of criminal activities may be associated with the illegal trade, including the concealment of financial transactions and profits," the report said.
"These crimes include violence, corruption, fraud and money laundering, with the transfer of the proceeds of crime across networks and national borders."
It said Australian abalone, shark fin and seahorses were attractive to international poachers, while abalone, lobster, mud crabs, snapper and reef fish were vulnerable to poaching for the domestic market.
Australia's exclusive fishing zone covers 11 million square kilometres (4.2 million square miles), with the commercial fishing harvest worth about A$2.3 billion ($2.2 billion) a year, with about A$1.85 billion worth of seafood exports. ($1=A$1.04) (Editing by Michael Perry and Sanjeev Miglani) ((james.grubel@reuters.com; +612 6273 2730; Reuters Messaging: james.grubel.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: CRIME FISHING/GANGS
Potato king J.R. Simplot, U.S. fry innovator, dies
Reuters: [2008-05-26 05:48:00]
By Shea Anderson
BOISE, Idaho, May 25 (Reuters) - J.R. Simplot, the billionaire founder of the Boise, Idaho-based agriculture business that bears his name and who helped make French fries a staple of the American diet and waistline, died on Sunday at the age of 99, officials said.
After pioneering the first commercial frozen French fry in the late 1940s, Simplot eventually became a major supplier of Idaho potatoes to McDonald's <MCD.N>, Burger King <BKC.N> and Wendy's <WEN.N>. His privately held company, where he was chairman emeritus, reported $3.3 billion in sales in 2006.
An official at the Ada County Coroner's office said Simplot died at home on Sunday morning of natural causes.
Born John Richard Simplot in Dubuque, Iowa in 1909, he left school at the age of 14 to work in the agriculture storage and distribution business. He started his first produce company in 1929, and eventually became a major supplier of dehydrated potatoes to the U.S. military during World War II.
In the late 1940s, Simplot's researchers began experimenting with frozen potato products. His company began producing frozen French fries in Idaho in 1946 and the business thrived with the spread of freezers into American homes.
Simplot's most well-known business venture began with a handshake. In 1967, Simplot and McDonald's founder Ray Kroc shook hands and agreed the Simplot Company would provide frozen French fries to the expanding fast-food chain.
The company expanded to several potato processing plants in Idaho, Oregon and Washington, and eventually Australia and China. It now grows and processes many other vegetables.
The postwar spread of processed American fast food has had a significant impact on the nation's health, with the popularity of such food contributing to an obesity epidemic.
The Simplot company also operates a feedlot business, with operations in Idaho and Washington turning out about 400,000 head of cattle per year.
The company owns and operates fertilizer manufacturing plants in Idaho, and a Simplot company called Grower Solutions has about 70 stores selling agricultural products in the West.
In 2001, the plain-spoken businessman told Esquire Magazine luck had nothing to do with his success. "Work honestly and build, build, build. That's all I can tell you," he said.
In 1973 Simplot retired from his company, but remained chairman of the board. He stepped down from that post in 1994 after his children Gay, Don and Scott were named to the board of directors, but retained the title of chairman emeritus.
In 1980, he provided seed money to a small Boise-based computer chip manufacturer, Micron Technology <MU.N>. Micron is now one of Idaho's largest publicly traded companies.
A well-known figure in Boise, Simplot was often seen driving through town in a Lincoln Town Car with license plates that read "MR SPUD."
In an interview for the company in 1992, Simplot said he didn't care how he would be remembered. "Oh hell, I don't care what they say about me," Simplot said. "I'm not a publicity hound."
(Editing by Todd Eastham)
((Writing by Adam Tanner; Reuters Messaging: adam.tanner.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail adam.tanner@reuters.com, 415-677-2541, fax 415-986-5147)) Keywords: SIMPLOT/DEATH
CORRECTED-UPDATE 2-Argentine gov't, farmers show strength in rallies
Reuters: [2008-05-25 21:33:00]
(Corrects last name in paragraph 7)
(Recasts with president's speech, quote)
By Nicolas Misculin
BUENOS AIRES, May 25 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers and the government held huge separate rallies on Sunday in shows of strength ahead of talks this week aimed at resolving a three-month conflict over the president's unpopular soy tax.
Argentina is one of the world's major suppliers of wheat, soy, corn and beef, and the farmers' rally in the country's No. 2 city Rosario was the biggest assembly by growers since they began a tax revolt in mid-March.
Talks between farmers and the government on Thursday did not bring a solution to the conflict, which has hurt Argentina's bond prices, sparked a demand for dollars and damaged the popularity of President Cristina Fernandez.
"We want all Argentines to recognize what farmers give to the country," a woman at the rally in Rosario told TN television. She did not give her name, but said she produces corn, wheat, soy and beef.
The government said some 250,000 people heard Fernandez speak in the northern provincial capital Salta on Sunday, which was Revolution Day, one of Argentina's most important national holidays.
Fernandez, who succeeded her husband ex-President Nestor Kirchner, did not specifically mention the soy tax but said her policies aimed to redistribute wealth to all Argentines. She did not announce new policies or relaunch any initiatives as some had anticipated.
"The interests of the homeland, of the country, come before those of a sector or an individual," Fernandez said.
DRIVING TRACTORS
Organizers of the farm rally estimated close to 300,000 people from all over the country's vast agricultural heartland were at the gathering in Rosario, a key grain port 140 miles (300 km) north of Buenos Aires.
Since March 11, when the government announced a new sliding-scale tax on soy exports, farmers have held two major protests -- one lasting three weeks and one lasting two weeks. In the protests, growers held back grains and cattle from markets.
Many farmers drove tractors and harvesters to Sunday's event, which took place near the banks of the wide Parana river, a major artery for ships that load in Rosario and head to the Atlantic Ocean carrying Argentine soy all over the world.
One of the most radical farm leaders, Alfredo De Angeli, said farmers would start blocking highways again, as they did in March, if Monday's talks did not bear fruit.
But the presidents of Argentina's four major farm groups were less confrontational in their speeches at the rally. Banks and businesses hurt by the protests have urged farmers to reach an agreement with the government, and the Catholic Church has also called for resolution.
"We need another farm policy," farm leader Eduardo Buzzi said at the rally.
"We didn't come with posters. And we weren't paid to come," said farm leader Mario Llambias, referring to official rallies where pro-government community groups traditionally receive government funding to make banners, to bus people to the event and to feed them.
High global prices for farm products have benefited Argentine growers and many farmers have switched to high-profit soy, which accounted for $13.5 million in export income last year.
But the country has been torn apart as farmers and the government disagree on how to manage the soy windfall.
Farmers say the new soy tax is unfair. They also resent other government policies setting price caps on domestic beef and wheat prices and limiting exports of beef and wheat.
The government has strongly defended its policies, saying it cannot allow all of Argentina's farmland to be taken over by soy or farmers to export wheat and beef unless domestic supplies are guaranteed and unless farmers follow rules about keeping prices down on products sold at home. (Additional reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
((buenosaires.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: nicolas.misculin.reuters.com@reuters.net; telephone: +54 11 4510-2519)) Keywords: ARGENTINA FARMERS/
UPDATE 2-Argentine gov't, farmers show strength in rallies
Reuters: [2008-05-25 21:21:00]
(Recasts with president's speech, quote)
By Nicolas Misculin
BUENOS AIRES, May 25 (Reuters) - Argentine farmers and the government held huge separate rallies on Sunday in shows of strength ahead of talks this week aimed at resolving a three-month conflict over the president's unpopular soy tax.
Argentina is one of the world's major suppliers of wheat, soy, corn and beef, and the farmers' rally in the country's No. 2 city Rosario was the biggest assembly by growers since they began a tax revolt in mid-March.
Talks between farmers and the government on Thursday did not bring a solution to the conflict, which has hurt Argentina's bond prices, sparked a demand for dollars and damaged the popularity of President Cristina Fernandez.
"We want all Argentines to recognize what farmers give to the country," a woman at the rally in Rosario told TN television. She did not give her name, but said she produces corn, wheat, soy and beef.
The government said some 250,000 people heard Fernandez speak in the northern provincial capital Salta on Sunday, which was Revolution Day, one of Argentina's most important national holidays.
Fernandez, who succeeded her husband ex-President Nestor Kirchner, did not specifically mention the soy tax but said her policies aimed to redistribute wealth to all Argentines. She did not announce new policies or relaunch any initiatives as some had anticipated.
"The interests of the homeland, of the country, come before those of a sector or an individual," Kirchner said.
DRIVING TRACTORS
Organizers of the farm rally estimated close to 300,000 people from all over the country's vast agricultural heartland were at the gathering in Rosario, a key grain port 140 miles (300 km) north of Buenos Aires.
Since March 11, when the government announced a new sliding-scale tax on soy exports, farmers have held two major protests -- one lasting three weeks and one lasting two weeks. In the protests, growers held back grains and cattle from markets.
Many farmers drove tractors and harvesters to Sunday's event, which took place near the banks of the wide Parana river, a major artery for ships that load in Rosario and head to the Atlantic Ocean carrying Argentine soy all over the world.
One of the most radical farm leaders, Alfredo De Angeli, said farmers would start blocking highways again, as they did in March, if Monday's talks did not bear fruit.
But the presidents of Argentina's four major farm groups were less confrontational in their speeches at the rally. Banks and businesses hurt by the protests have urged farmers to reach an agreement with the government, and the Catholic Church has also called for resolution.
"We need another farm policy," farm leader Eduardo Buzzi said at the rally.
"We didn't come with posters. And we weren't paid to come," said farm leader Mario Llambias, referring to official rallies where pro-government community groups traditionally receive government funding to make banners, to bus people to the event and to feed them.
High global prices for farm products have benefited Argentine growers and many farmers have switched to high-profit soy, which accounted for $13.5 million in export income last year.
But the country has been torn apart as farmers and the government disagree on how to manage the soy windfall.
Farmers say the new soy tax is unfair. They also resent other government policies setting price caps on domestic beef and wheat prices and limiting exports of beef and wheat.
The government has strongly defended its policies, saying it cannot allow all of Argentina's farmland to be taken over by soy or farmers to export wheat and beef unless domestic supplies are guaranteed and unless farmers follow rules about keeping prices down on products sold at home. (Additional reporting by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
((buenosaires.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: nicolas.misculin.reuters.com@reuters.net; telephone: +54 11 4510-2519)) Keywords: ARGENTINA FARMERS/
Next: UPDATE 1-Argentine gov't, farmers show strength in rallies