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Business Standard
18 hours ago
- Business
- Business Standard
India to raise agri, fisheries, investment facilitation issues at WTO meet
India will flag its concerns on issues pertaining to agriculture, fisheries agreement, China-led proposal on investment facilitation and dysfunctional appellate body of the WTO during an informal meeting of about 25 trade ministers in Paris on June 3, an official said. The mini-ministerial meeting will be held on the margins of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will participate in this meeting. He is on a five-day visit to France and Italy from June 1. The official said that India will raise its concerns on all key issues of the WTO including agriculture (finding permanent solution to the public stock holding); fisheries agreement, investment facilitation proposal, reforms in the WTO and dysfunctional appellate body of the Geneva-based forum. India is against the move led by countries such as China to push a proposal on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization (WTO). A China-led group of 128 countries is pushing for the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) proposal. Since 2009, WTO's dispute settlement mechanism is not functioning properly as the US has stalled appointments of members in the appellate body. Meanwhile, a commerce ministry statement said that during his stay in Paris, Goyal will participate in the informal gathering of trade ministers from countries including the US, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, and Israel. "At this crucial forum, he will engage with global counterparts on key multilateral trade issues and articulate the perspectives and priorities of India," the ministry said. Goyal is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with French ministers, including Eric Lombard, Minister of Economy, and Laurent Saint-Martin, French Trade Minister. The discussions will focus on strengthening the Indo-French economic partnership and exploring new avenues for enhancing trade and investment cooperation. He will also meet top leadership of major French companies such as Vicat, Total Energies, L'Oreal, Renault, Valeo, EDF and ATR, besides attending the India-France Business Round Table and the India-France CEO Forum. As part of the visit, the minister will hold a series of high-level bilateral meetings with key international partners. These include the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds; Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong; and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kasabi. Goyal will also engage with Israel's Minister for Trade and Investment Nir Barkat; Nigeria's Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment Jumoke Oduwole OON; Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Marcos Sefcovic; and Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Luis Iecker Vieira. "These dialogues are aimed at advancing strategic economic cooperation and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships across regions. They will also provide significant impetus to India-EU FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations," it said. India and the EU are looking at concluding an early harvest trade agreement by July. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
19 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
WTO meet on June 3 in Paris: India to raise issues on agri, fisheries, investment facilitation
India will flag its concerns on issues pertaining to agriculture, fisheries agreement, China-led proposal on investment facilitation and dysfunctional appellate body of the WTO during an informal meeting of about 25 trade ministers in Paris on June 3, an official said. The mini-ministerial meeting will be held on the margins of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will participate in this meeting. He is on a five-day visit to France and Italy from June 1. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Descentralizado, evento gera mais empregos e amplia renda do estado Estúdio Folha Leia mais Undo Also Read: Doubling tariff on steel, aluminium by US to disrupt India's metal exports: Experts The official said that India will raise its concerns on all key issues of the WTO including agriculture (finding permanent solution to the public stock holding); fisheries agreement, investment facilitation proposal, reforms in the WTO and dysfunctional appellate body of the Geneva-based forum. Live Events India is against the move led by countries such as China to push a proposal on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization (WTO). A China-led group of 128 countries is pushing for the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) proposal. Since 2009, WTO's dispute settlement mechanism is not functioning properly as the US has stalled appointments of members in the appellate body. Meanwhile, a commerce ministry statement said that during his stay in Paris, Goyal will participate in the informal gathering of trade ministers from countries including the US, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, and Israel. "At this crucial forum, he will engage with global counterparts on key multilateral trade issues and articulate the perspectives and priorities of India," the ministry said. Goyal is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with French ministers, including Eric Lombard, Minister of Economy, and Laurent Saint-Martin, French Trade Minister. The discussions will focus on strengthening the Indo-French economic partnership and exploring new avenues for enhancing trade and investment cooperation. He will also meet top leadership of major French companies such as Vicat, Total Energies, L'Oreal, Renault, Valeo, EDF and ATR, besides attending the India-France Business Round Table and the India-France CEO Forum. As part of the visit, the minister will hold a series of high-level bilateral meetings with key international partners. These include the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds; Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong; and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kasabi. Goyal will also engage with Israel's Minister for Trade and Investment Nir Barkat; Nigeria's Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment Jumoke Oduwole OON; Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Marcos Sefcovic; and Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Luis Iecker Vieira. "These dialogues are aimed at advancing strategic economic cooperation and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships across regions. They will also provide significant impetus to India-EU FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations," it said. India and the EU are looking at concluding an early harvest trade agreement by July. PTI
Mint
19 hours ago
- Business
- Mint
WTO meet on Jun 3 in Paris: India to raise issues on agri, fisheries, investment facilitation
New Delhi, Jun 1 (PTI) India will flag its concerns on issues pertaining to agriculture, fisheries agreement, China-led proposal on investment facilitation and dysfunctional appellate body of the WTO during an informal meeting of about 25 trade ministers in Paris on June 3, an official said. The mini-ministerial meeting will be held on the margins of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Ministerial Council Meeting in Paris. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal will participate in this meeting. He is on a five-day visit to France and Italy from June 1. The official said that India will raise its concerns on all key issues of the WTO including agriculture (finding permanent solution to the public stock holding); fisheries agreement, investment facilitation proposal, reforms in the WTO and dysfunctional appellate body of the Geneva-based forum. India is against the move led by countries such as China to push a proposal on investment facilitation at the World Trade Organization (WTO). A China-led group of 128 countries is pushing for the Investment Facilitation for Development (IFD) proposal. Since 2009, WTO's dispute settlement mechanism is not functioning properly as the US has stalled appointments of members in the appellate body. Meanwhile, a commerce ministry statement said that during his stay in Paris, Goyal will participate in the informal gathering of trade ministers from countries including the US, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Nigeria, Brazil, and Israel. "At this crucial forum, he will engage with global counterparts on key multilateral trade issues and articulate the perspectives and priorities of India," the ministry said. Goyal is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with French ministers, including Eric Lombard, Minister of Economy, and Laurent Saint-Martin, French Trade Minister. The discussions will focus on strengthening the Indo-French economic partnership and exploring new avenues for enhancing trade and investment cooperation. He will also meet top leadership of major French companies such as Vicat, Total Energies, L'Oreal, Renault, Valeo, EDF and ATR, besides attending the India-France Business Round Table and the India-France CEO Forum. As part of the visit, the minister will hold a series of high-level bilateral meetings with key international partners. These include the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds; Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong; and Saudi Arabia's Minister of Commerce, Majid bin Abdullah Al-Kasabi. Goyal will also engage with Israel's Minister for Trade and Investment Nir Barkat; Nigeria's Minister for Trade, Industry and Investment Jumoke Oduwole OON; Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Marcos Sefcovic; and Brazil's Foreign Minister Mauro Luis Iecker Vieira. "These dialogues are aimed at advancing strategic economic cooperation and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships across regions. They will also provide significant impetus to India-EU FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations," it said. India and the EU are looking at concluding an early harvest trade agreement by July.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Want to understand CalRecycle's chemical recycling rules? You'll need to pay
Sacramento — Want to know what constitutes an acceptable form of recycling in California under CalRecycle's new draft guidelines for the state's landmark plastic waste law? It'll cost you roughly $187, and even then you may not find your answer. The issue arose this week when CalRecycle held a Sacramento workshop on its proposed regulations to implement Senate Bill 54, the 2022 law designed to reduce California's single-use plastic waste. In the regulations' latest iteration, the agency declared that it will only consider recycling technologies that follow standards issued by the International Organization for Standardization, or ISO, the Geneva-based group that sets standards for a variety of industries, including healthcare and transportation. According to the draft regulations: 'A facility's use of a technology that is not a mechanical recycling technology ... shall not be considered recycling unless the facility operates in a manner consistent with ISO 59014:2024.' To access ISO 59014:2024, one must purchase the report for about $187. That's not fair, said Nick Lapis, director of advocacy for Californians Against Waste. 'Copies of those ISO standards should be publicly available,' he said. Lapis and others also noted that the law, as written, expressly prohibits chemical and nonmechanical forms of recycling. Officials at CalRecycle, also known as the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, didn't respond to the criticism or to questions from The Times. ISO 59014:2024 turns out to be a 38-page report titled 'Environmental management and circular economy — Sustainability and traceability of the recovery of secondary materials — Principles, requirements and guidance.' A copy of the report reviewed by The Times offered no specifics on recycling technologies, or information about the operation of a recycling plant. The word 'recycling' is only used five times in the 'Annex,' a 13-page supplementary section of the report. And there it is mentioned only in the context of establishing definitions or examples of 'organizations engaged in the recovery of secondary materials' or 'collection system types.' For instance, 'Commercial waste and recycling companies' are listed as examples of a type of organization that collects waste. Other waste collectors, according to the report, include municipalities, retailers and reuse organizations such as nonprofit reuse operators. 'The draft calls on aligning facilities with this ISO standard,' said Monica Wilson, senior director of global programs at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. 'That ISO standard is not about recycling. It's not about chemical recycling, it's just not an appropriate comparison for us to be referring to.' Lapis also found the report hard to decipher. 'Maybe I should go back and look at it again, but it'd be helpful if you're citing ISO standards ... that you identify what parts' are being cited, he said. Karen Kayfetz, chief of CalRecycle's Product Stewardship branch, didn't respond to questions or concerns about the inclusion of a report that is not freely available to the public to review. During this week's workshop, she said the agency's use of the ISO standard 'is not meant ... to be a measure of whether you are recycling, but rather just one of multiple criteria that an entity needs to be measured against.' She said the SB 54 statute requires that CalRecycle exclude recycling technologies that produce significant amounts of hazardous waste and tasks the agency with considering environmental and public health impacts of these technologies. 'The ISO standard for the operation of facilities does address some of the best practices that would help to ameliorate and measure those impacts. ... It is meant to be one of multiple criteria that can be utilized as a measure and to help set a floor but not a ceiling,' she said. Ana Ferreira, a spokeswoman for the Wine Institute, which represents more than 1,000 wineries and affiliates across the state, was among those with no complaints about the proposed new regulations. 'We believe it incorporates common-sense changes that would reduce costs and ensure that products are appropriately recycled,' Ferreira said. Tina Andolina, the chief of staff for state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), SB 54's author, said the inclusion of the report and other items in the draft regulations suggests that CalRecycle is considering how to manage these polluting technologies — instead of forbidding them, as the law requires. 'The regulations unlawfully shift the standard from the production of hazardous waste as required by the statute to its management,' she said, reading from a letter Allen had written to the staff. Anja Brandon, director of plastic policy at the Ocean Conservancy, added that along with not being freely available, the ISO standard 'does not satisfy SB 54's requirements to exclude the most hazardous technologies and to minimize the generation of hazardous waste and environmental, environmental justice and public health impacts.' SB 54, which was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022, requires that by 2032, 100% of single-use packaging and plastic food ware produced or sold in the state must be recyclable or compostable, that 65% of it can be recycled, and that the total volume is reduced by 25%. The law was written to address the mounting issue of plastic pollution in the environment and the growing number of studies showing the ubiquity of microplastic pollution in the human body — such as in the brain, blood, heart tissue, testicles, lungs and various other organs. Last March, after nearly three years of negotiations among various corporate, environmental, waste, recycling and health stakeholders, CalRecycle drafted a set of finalized regulations designed to implement the single-use plastic producer responsibility program under SB 54. But as the deadline for implementation approached, industries that would be affected by the regulations including plastic producers and packaging companies — represented by the California Chamber of Commerce and the Circular Action Alliance — began lobbying the governor, complaining that the regulations were poorly developed and might ultimately increase costs for California allowed the regulations to expire and told CalRecycle that it needed to start the process over. These new draft regulations are the agency's latest attempt at issuing guidelines by which the law can be implemented.
The Intercept
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Intercept
The Rising Death Toll of the U.S.–Israel Aid Distribution Plan in Gaza
Support Us © THE INTERCEPT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Palestinians carry boxes containing food and humanitarian aid packages delivered by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on May 27, 2025. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP When the Trump administration unveiled its plan to put a fledgling nonprofit with no humanitarian track record in charge of distributing aid to Palestinians in Gaza earlier this month, the outcry among aid groups was widespread. Under the plan, which has the backing of the U.S. and Israeli governments, civilians would be concentrated into southern Gaza in so-called 'sterile zones' controlled by the Israeli military. The new nonprofit, led by a former U.S. Marine, would be the sole distributor of aid from a handful of locations. American contractors would provide security, including one group run by a former senior CIA officer. The humanitarian community worried the Israeli government would use the new aid plan as a weapon against Palestinians, who are currently facing mass starvation under Israel's 11-week blockade. Some aid experts likened the zones to a 'concentration camp' or an 'internment camp,' saying the plan would further displace Palestinians. Some Israeli officials said they hoped the plan would permanently expel Palestinians from Gaza. Such fears proved prescient Tuesday, when the aid plan, led by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, went forward in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood of Al-Mawasi, Rafah. Thousands of Palestinians were forced to walk miles to the site, where the large crowds packed into fenced-off corridors as private American security contractors, armed with assault rifles, guarded boxes of aid. During the distribution, guards initially subjected recipients to intense searches but later loosened security, two sources monitoring the distribution told The Intercept. At that point, the crowd began to storm the distribution site, attempting to receive the aid. Gunfire rang out at the site, prompting crowds to flee. At least three people were killed and 47 others were injured amid the gunfire and overcrowding conditions, according to reports citing Gaza officials. An additional six people were killed and 15 others were wounded by gunfire on Wednesday while attempting to receive aid at a site north of Rafah, according to officials. Elsewhere in the strip, in the Qizan Rashwan area, airstrikes killed six who were headed further south to receive aid, officials also said on Wednesday. Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor confirmed on Tuesday the death of one individual and said the 47 injured were wounded by bullets fired by both Israeli military and the U.S.-based private security firms. The group said Israeli military soldiers had entered the site to fire on the crowd. The monitor relied on its field researchers who confirmed the wounded had been seen at Al-Najjar Hospital and a Red Cross hospital. The group also received reports from three families who said their loved ones had left to get aid at the distribution hub but never returned. 'Aid is being used as a weapon, not a lifeline.' Videos posted to social media showed thousands of people rushing toward the distribution site. The crowds scrambled away for safety along dirt trenches and downed fences as gunfire rang out, footage shows. In one video, a man dragging a box of aid behind him said he had walked more than six miles to the distribution site, where he watched a young man killed in front of him. 'This is what happens when you try to replace the humanitarian system with a political agenda,' said Abdalwahab Hamad, Gaza office manager for the Palestinian humanitarian group Juhoud. 'Those thousands of Palestinians, starving and desperate, stormed the distribution center, not because they're violent, not because that people are hungry, but because aid is being used as a weapon, not a lifeline.' In a statement to The Intercept, the Israeli military disputed field reports and downplayed any mention of violence, saying its soldiers had 'fired warning shots in the area outside the compound' before gaining control of the site. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation did not immediately respond to The Intercept's requests for comment. The foundation told other outlets its armed security did not fire on the crowd but 'fell back' when the crowd ran toward the aid before returning to the site. Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for Israel's foreign ministry, minimized Tuesday's chaos, claiming the foundation had delivered 8,000 packages of aid to Palestinians, posting images of cardboard boxes filled with flour, pasta, and oil. 'Humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, not to Hamas,' he captioned the photo posted on social media. The pretext for this new aid distribution regime is the theory, espoused by Israel and the American government, that Hamas has been stealing aid to enrich itself and control the people of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated the unsubstantiated claim on Tuesday during the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Conference, saying that he needed to move Gaza's population to the south 'for its own protection' from Hamas. Neither Israel nor the U.S. has provided evidence to support such claims. Israel, however, has weaponized access to aid throughout the current war on Gaza, and the practice stretches back to at least the 1990s, but intensified in 2007 once Hamas was elected to control the Strip. The practice continued throughout Israel's latest invasion into the Strip after Hamas's October 7 attacks. Since Israel imposed its latest total blockade on Gaza on March 2, famine risk has spread across the region, with 1 in 5 Palestinians in Gaza facing starvation. More than 9,000 children have already been treated for acute malnutrition this year. Over the past week, 29 children and elderly people have suffered starvation-related deaths, Gaza health officials said. During the first week of Israel's latest offensive, code-named Operation Gideon's Chariots, more than 180,000 Palestinians have been displaced, the United Nations said. More than 600 Palestinians have also been killed in ongoing Israeli airstrikes. Just as the new assault launched, Netanyahu announced the government would allow 'minimal' or a 'basic amount' of aid into Gaza to avoid further international backlash. After U.N.-led groups were able to deliver small amounts of aid to Palestinians, some World Food Programme bakeries in southern Gaza reopened last week, only to close again after three days due to a shortage of flour. Ramy Abdu, chair of Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the watchdog that has tracked and opposed Israel's targeting of civilians in Gaza, said the recent restrictions on aid evoked a 2008 Israeli military study which calculated the precise minimum number of calories a Palestinian needed to avoid malnutrition, which critics said was proof the government had been illegally limiting aid into the territory. 'We are talking about starvation or hunger management and/or hunger engineering,' Abdu said, 'which in the end serves the Israeli agenda and purposes.' Read our complete coverage Israel's aid plan sidesteps the United Nations, which has a staff of more than 13,000 workers in Gaza and has been largely responsible for delivering supplies to Palestinians throughout Israel's war in Gaza. Aid groups criticized the plan, saying they did not want to be complicit in the displacement of thousands of Palestinians. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, had been headed by a former U.S. Marine sniper Jake Wood, who led aid missions to Haiti and other disaster sites around the world with his other organization, Team Rubicon. Wood resigned earlier this week before the new plan went into effect, saying the foundation would not be able to adhere 'to the humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence, which I will not abandon.' GHF, which is operating on $100 million in funding, pressed forward on Monday without Wood, loading up its aid hubs for distribution on Tuesday. Armed contractors with private security firms, Safe Reach Solutions, based in Wyoming, and UG Solutions, based in North Carolina, manned the aid sites. Safe Reach Solutions is led by Philip F. Reilly, a former CIA officer who trained right-wing Contras in Nicaragua in the 1980s and deployed early to Afghanistan in 2001, eventually becoming station chief in Kabul before moving to the private sector, according to a New York Times investigation. 'You cannot replace a humanitarian system with a checkpoint and expect peace.' Hamad called Tuesday's incident 'a punishment dressed as a charity' and called on the Israeli government to allow the U.N. to retake control of the aid distribution process. 'Aid in Gaza should not be political, it should not be conditional. It only works when it is protected, when it is neutral, and is being led by organizations such as the United Nations,' Hamad said, adding that Palestinians in Gaza have built trust with U.N.-backed groups and that the U.N. already has the infrastructure to clearly identify and address needs. 'You cannot replace a humanitarian system with a checkpoint and expect peace,' he said, 'because this is a military-controlled charity, and people have been there just out of desperation.' Join The Conversation
