Governments issue orders to test or suspend imports As Japan reports radioactive contamination of plant and animal foodstocks in the prefectures nearest the still-to-be-contained nuclear reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, countries around the world are moving to block...
Japan Fall-out
Radiation fears cause shortages of iodine, drive demand for seaweed While the struggle to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plants goes on, reports are coming in from Brooklyn – more than 6,600 miles away from the threat of radiation release – that upscale...
Fishing for Fraud
The FDA goes after short-weighted, water-logged, misbranded seafood by Peter Quinter, guest columnist In 2010, Americans consumed almost six billion pounds of seafood. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring that the nation’s food supply,...
Floor Fight
Some US companies are siding with China in this USITC antidumping case The US International Trade Commission (USITC) is nearing preliminary determinations in its antidumping and countervailing duty investigations into multilayered wood flooring from China, the Wall...
Japan Aftermath
The disaster reminds us of shared vulnerabilities and a need to know what’s going on The world’s third largest economy has been devastated by catastrophe upon catastrophe. Clearly, the repercussions in the global marketplace will be far-reaching, long-lasting and...
Weed Killer App
Glyphosate, the world’s herbicide of choice, may be a victim of its popularity While debate continues over the pros and cons of planting sugar beets genetically modified to be “Roundup Ready” [see A Time to Plant, a Time to Sue], it appears that nature has done some...
A Time to Plant, a Time to Sue
The fate of GMO sugar beets is still being argued in court US growers getting ready to plant this year’s sugar beet crop have, since last year’s harvest, seen official permission to plant GMO [genetically-modified organism] beets challenged in court, rescinded,...
PanaMAX (or mini) Prospects?
A bigger canal still faces competition from the Suez, rail by Bill Armbruster, blog anchor The Panama Canal will become a more viable option for trade between Asia and the eastern U.S. after the waterway’s expansion is completed in 2014, but I question whether it will...
Talking Trade with Colombia
Gauging the odds on an FTA, counting lost-opportunity costs In February, the Obama administration pledged to “intensify” talks with Colombia on the free trade agreement initially negotiated by the US in 2006. Now Senator Max Baucus (D-Montana), who is leading a trade...
China’s Got Juice
The Chinese don’t drink much apple juice, they make it for US The latest issue of Amber Waves, the quarterly from the US Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, spotlights China’s role as the world’s largest supplier of apple juice concentrate and the...