Changes to UK import controls from 31 January 2024
In August 2023, the UK Government published its Border Target Operating Model which introduced new customs procedures and import controls for live animals; food of animal origin; germinal products; animal by-products; plants; plant products; fruit; vegetables; and horticulture products imported into Great Britain from Ireland and the rest of the European Union.
There are two important changes to take note of:
Export health certificates and phytosanitary certificates will be required for medium-risk animal products, plants and plant products imported to Great Britain, in line with the UK risk categories.
Your Great Britain importer or Great Britain based agent will need to pre-notify each consignment on the UK’s food and feed sanitary and phytosanitary import system (IPAFFS)
These new UK requirements will be in addition to the existing formalities that apply when exporting goods from Ireland and the EU.
https://www.fsai.ie/news-and-alerts/latest-news/changes-to-uk-import-controls-from-31-january-2024
El Prado Museum pushes for more inclusive and respectful language
- A total of 1,800 cartouches have been revised, but in addition to the galleries, there was also a lot of work to be done on the website which has some 27,000 files.
- Words and terms such as 'dwarfism,' 'handicapped,' 'the wife of' and 'obesity' have been removed to use more inclusive and less sexist language.
- Victor Cageao has led the conservatorship department to look for examples of wording that - in the present time - could be seen as discriminatory or insulting.
Monaco goes to the polls: explore the principality's unique political system
- Second smallest state in the world, Monaco, will go to the polls on Sunday to choose new lawmakers.
- The Monegasques are going to vote this Sunday 5 February 2023, to renew their Parliament called the NationalIn Monaco, legislative power is jointly exercised by Prince Albert II and the National Council
- It is currently chaired by Brigitte Boccone-Pagès.
Liechtenstein election: Just 23 ballots separate two biggest parties that will now form coalition
- The country’s election on Monday was seen - as it has always been - as a two-horse race, with only marginal differences, policy-wise, between the horses.
- The two parties that share power at the head of Liechtenstein will now be called upon to form a new coalition.
- Each won 35.9% of around 20,000 votes in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, according to the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS.
- The local parliament, the Landtag, which has 25 deputies, must now appoint the government, headed either by Daniel Risch, (VU) or Sabine Monauni (FBP), who would be the first woman to lead the country where women were only granted the right to vote in 1984.
Romania, Bulgaria to partially enter Schengen after striking deal with Austria
- Romania and Bulgaria have struck an agreement with Austria to partially join Europe's borderless Schengen travel zone by March 2024, Bucharest and Sofia have confirmed.
- The political agreement will allow Romania and Bulgaria to join the Schengen zone by air and sea only, with further negotiations to follow on land borders, the Romanian interior ministry said Wednesday.
- Austria had been blocking both countries' accession to Schengen over concerns it could lead to an influx in irregular migrant arrivals in Europe via the Turkish and Western Balkan routes.
Andorra summit: Latin American leaders call for better distribution of coronavirus vaccines
- The region has been disproportionately hit by the pandemic, accounting for nearly 30% of the world's COVID-19 deaths.
- Representatives of 22 countries from Latin America and Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, in their first, mostly virtual meeting since the pandemic started, called for more equitable access to coronavirus vaccines and flexible funding for their economic recovery.
- U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said he was alarmed by the unequal distribution of vaccines.
- “If this dangerous trend of vaccine nationalism and parallel deals continues, vaccination in developing countries could take years, delaying, even more, the world's recovery,” Guterres told the leaders. “The vaccination campaign is the main moral challenge of our times.”
Europe Faces a Measles Outbreak
When vaccinations begin to lag, as they did during the pandemic, measles is often the first disease to resurge. “It’s the canary in the coal mine,” one expert said.
In Europe, reported measles cases rose more than 40-fold last year compared with 2022, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Read Ahead at:https://nyti.ms/3UbFsqW
Pashinyan: Armenia-Belgium close cooperation contributes to development of Armenia-EU interaction
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the new ambassador of Belgium to Armenia, Eric De Muynck, the PM’s office informs.
Pashinyan emphasized the importance of Belgium's decision to open an embassy in Armenia, and expressed confidence that as a result, cooperation between the two countries will expand in all domains.
Read ahead at:https://news.am/eng/news/803567.html
Belgium Becomes Latest Signatory to the Artemis Accords
Belgium has become the latest country to append its signature to the Artemis Accords, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, and the Secretary of State for Science Policy, Thomas Dermine, signing the accords yesterday, 23rd of January 2024.
As a State participating in and contributing to European and international space exploration programs, in particular the Artemis program, Belgium considers the Artemis Agreements to be an important political instrument.
Read ahead at:
https://spacewatch.global/2024/01/belgium-becomes-latest-signatory-to-the-artemis-accords/
Macro Intelligence: nuclear power's new dawn, uranium market hits 16-year high
Uranium, a highly dense metal found in most rocks, is primarily used as fuel in nuclear power plants. The price of uranium has skyrocketed to US$106 per pound, reaching a 16-year high.
This increase is the highest since November 2007, driven by supply concerns and renewed interest in nuclear power. Notably, 22 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, and France, have committed to tripling their nuclear capacity by 2050.
Read ahead at:
Switzerland to remove air border controls with Bulgaria and Romania
Passport checks for people flying to and from Bulgaria and Romania will be abolished at Swiss airports.
The Swiss government on Wednesday agreed to follow a recent European Union decision to lift internal border controls at air and maritime borders with Bulgaria and Romania.
Read ahead at: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/switzerland-to-remove-air-border-controls-with-bulgaria-and-romania/49153852
Switzerland, India reach deal on FTA
Switzerland and India have reached consensus on a free-trade agreement after 16 years of negotiations, Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin said.
Parmelin traveled to India directly after the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to meet with counterpart Piyush Goyal, according to a post by the Swiss minister on the platform X, formerly Twitter, late Saturday. The outline of a deal was agreed, and officials are working to finalize the details, he said.
Read ahead at: https://www.deccanherald.com/business/switzerland-india-reach-deal-on-fta-2858267
Colombia boosts trade with the Netherlands, emerging as a significant export partner
As per the latest DANE report updated to October 2023, Colombia is strengthening its commercial bonds with the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean.
Colombian exports to these regions have reached a noteworthy $1.738 billion, making the Netherlands Colombia's sixth major export destination. This places Colombia ahead of countries like India, Mexico, and Brazil.
Hazardous goods violations lead to fines and parliamentary questions in the Netherlands
The wagons were filled with the hazardous substance Methyl-tert-butyl ether (MBTE), a highly flammable liquid mainly used as an additive in fuel. Upon discovery of the violations, ILT immediately halted the transport due to environmental risks, in particular risk of fire.
The train was supposed to cover large distances in Europe and pass densely populated areas in the Netherlands, exposing large populations to environmental hazards. The train was escorted back to the site where the wagons were loaded from a location near Amsterdam.
Read ahead at:
Cabinet approves Memorandum of Intent (MoI) between India and Netherlands on cooperation in the field of Medical products Regulation
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi was apprised of a Memorandum of Intent (MoI) signed between the Central Drugs standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Kingdom of the Netherlands on behalf of Medicines Evaluation Board, Health and Youth Care Inspectorate, Central Committee on research Involving Human Subjects “on cooperation in the field of Medical products Regulation”.
The MoI seeks to establish a framework for fruitful cooperation and exchange of information between the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Kingdom of the Netherlands on behalf of Medicines Evaluation Board, Health and Youth Care Inspectorate.
Read ahead at
Farmers’ protests sweep France, seizing agenda before EU elections
The far right is going after Macron’s record on agriculture and EU regulation in an attempt to bank on farmer discontent.
French farmers will protest “for as long as necessary,” the leader of the biggest farming union warned on Monday, as rural discontent hits the campaign agenda ahead of June's European election.
Read ahead at:
https://www.politico.eu/article/farmers-protests-france-unofficially-kicks-off-eu-elections-macron/
India-France Partnering in the Indo-Pacific: Positioning Japan
Countries in the Indo-Pacific region are realigning their foreign policy outlooks and national security plans due to changes in power diffusion and transition. China’s unreserved power projection and push for unipolarity present the main obstacle to the Indo-Pacific region’s quest for multipolarity.
France is one of India’s closest allies and a strategic partner in Europe along with being the second-largest arms supplier to India.
Read ahead at:
https://capsindia.org/india-france-partnering-in-the-indo-pacific-positioning-japan/
France logged record number of asylum requests in 2023, 8% higher
Around 142,500 people applied in total -- including 123,400 for the first time -- and around a third of all requests for protection were accepted, the French Office for the Protection of Refugee and Stateless Persons (OFPRA) said in provisional figures.
Just 131,000 people had applied in 2022, with a slightly lower proportion of 29 percent receiving a positive response."This increase is not specific to France, but comes within a European context," OFPRA director Julien Boucher told AFP.
Egypt eyes cooperation in specific sectors with Bulgaria, Luxembourg: FM
Minister of Foreign Affairs met Monday with his Bulgarian and Luxembourger counterparts in Brussels on the sidelines of the Association Council of the European Union and Egypt.
Minister Shokry stressed to Minister Mariya Gabriel the necessity of devising a joint vision on making Egypt a center for Bulgarian firms to enter the markets of the Middle East and Africa.
Read ahead at:
