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« Previous Entries Next Entries »Improving Bolivia’s Agricultural Health & Food Safety / Mejorando salud agropecuaria y la seguridad de los alimentos de Bolivia
Thursday, December 4th, 2008From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): Bolivia to improve agricultural health and food safety with IDB support Loans to help Bolivia to improve competitiveness of agricultural production Bolivia will receive a US$10 million loan from the Inter American Development Bank to better control agricultural crops and livestock pests and diseases. The funds will also be […]
Paraná Ratches Up Pressure on Packaging
Monday, November 3rd, 2008I’ve discussed several times here in The Temas Blog the carrot-and-stick approach the environmental authorities of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná (PR) take on different post-consumer waste streams, including electronics, glass packaging, long-neck beer bottles, Tetra Pak aseptic packaging, fluorescent lamps and pesticide packaging. You might notice that most of these categories are packaging […]
Promoting Organic Produce in Developing Countries / Facilitar la agricultura orgánica en los países en desarrollo
Wednesday, October 8th, 2008Temas Note: I have been preparing an upcoming series of posts on organic production in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which is much more complex and multi-layered an issue than you might think. This news is timely and welcome for LAC, since the region has become one of the biggest producers of organic produce […]
Brazilian Resistance to Beer in PET Bottles
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Brazilian brewers wanting to market their beers in PET bottles are not having a good year. First a court ruling that such bottles pose a significant risk to the environment, and therefore require environmental impact studies and licensing. Then a state ban on pigmented PET, and now a looming state ban on PET bottles for […]
Paraná Takes Aim on New Beer Packaging
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008First aseptic cartons, then long-necked beer bottles, now one-liter glass beer bottles. Hmmm, do you think maybe Paraná environment officials are focused on packaging waste issues? Earlier this month Paraná’s Environment Secretary, Rasca Rodrigues, again used the press to get a company to the negotiating table. He publicly attacked the new one-liter beer bottle — […]
An Alcohol Control Bill for Uruguay
Friday, September 12th, 2008Uruguay’s National Drug Board (Junta Nacional de Drogas – JND), Inter-sectoral Coordinator on Alcohol Policies (CIPA) and Ministry of Public Health (MSP) recently presented to the press and public an unusually tough (for a Latin American nation, at least) alcohol control bill that they are sending to the national legislature. A Law, Not a Decree […]
Lei Seca
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008In June I seriously considered blogging about Brazil’s new “Lei Seca” (“Dry Law”). [This is the nickname Brazilians gave to a new law on drinking and driving.] I would note its passage and main provisions*, mention that I warned last year Brazil intended to do something about this issue, and express my misgivings about whether […]
Update on Paraná Showdown with Long-Neck Beer Bottles
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008Synopsis in English: For those of you curious about the outcome of that ultimatum that environment officials in Paraná gave to producers and distributors of long-neck beer bottles to take responsibility for their wastes or else, only two distributors (out of the expected five) and a representative of the glass manufacturers industry association (instead of […]
Brazil: Government & Industry Discuss Changes in Processed Foods
Monday, August 11th, 2008Synopsis in English: Brazil’s Health Minister, José Gomes Temporão, has launched an open and public dialog with Brazil’s food industry about lowering the salt, sugar and trans-fat levels of the processed foods that they offer to the Brazilian market. Temporão revealed that a Ministry study suggests that up to 260,000 Brazilian deaths every year could […]
Argentina Lurches Toward an Obesity Law…
Monday, August 11th, 2008By all accounts, Argentina’s Senate will pass an “obesity law” this coming week. If President Cristina Fernandez signs it, Argentina will become the first Latin American or Caribbean (LAC) country to adopt a national law or regulation directly addressing the issue. [Some Brazilian states have laws on aspects of the issue, and several nations currently […]