Canada
Launches Global Partnership
Canada is launching a five-year,
$20 million partnership program to collaborate with
countries like Brazil, India, China and Israel on
key areas of scientific research and development.
The program will cover medical research, the environment,
energy, information and communications.
"Biotechnology is truly borderless," International
Trade Minister Jim Peterson said in a statement. "International
collaboration is critical in making new discoveries.
Expanding these global partnerships is key to the future
success of our bioscience industry."
Peterson also stated that creating links with other
countries is the only way to acclerate progress on
developing new drugs and other products. The program,
starting this fall, will support projects between Canada
and other countries that are starting to have a big
impact on the world economy. Proposals will be accepted
from companies and universities.
Many of Canada's biotechnology companies are focused
on agriculture development. Other areas include aquaculture,
defence against bioterrorism, medicinal devices, pharmaceuticals,
clinical trials and stem cell research.
Pesticides
in food down but public still wary
Pesticide residue on fruits and
vegetables in Canada is down, despite a public perception
to the contrary, a new study using federal data says.
The study by Croplife Canada, a pesticide industry
lobby group, used data collected by the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency.
About 80 per cent of all fresh food items inspected
in 2003-04 showed no detectable traces of pesticides,
Croplife reported. For processed foods, more than 90
per cent had no detectable amounts.
Less than one per cent of foods exceeded Health Canada
guidelines for residues, Croplife said, down from about
1.6 per cent in 1997-98.
A spokesman for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
said the numbers were accurate and had been taken from
the agency's annual reports.
However, environmentalists said concerns continue
to be warranted.
"It is still too high. Finding residues in 20
per cent of the food we eat ... that is too high," said
Julia Langer of World Wildlife Fund Canada.
Other studies have found that farmers use less pesticide
these days. The Ontario Ministry of Health found the
active ingredients in pesticides declined by 52 per
cent over the past 20 years.
U.S. may ask for Canadian
domestic passenger lists.
It is already mandatory that
any plane flying in or out of the United States
must provide authorities with a passenger list.
Now the U.S. is considering including planes
that fly through U.S. airspace.
The American proposal demands that any flight
passing through U.S. airspace, even if it doesn't
land, must first submit its passengers names,
citizenship, birthdays and possibly their addresses
and credit card details.
Since many east-west flights in Canada briefly
enter U.S. airspace, under the plan, Canadian
airlines would have to provide details on their
domestic passengers.
It's a move seen by critics as a loss of sovereignty.
But international law allows it.
The proposal could lead to longer delays at airports
as the lists must be compiled prior to take-off.
While the rule is only a proposal it has already been
put into practice, when earlier this year, a KLM plane
flying to Mexico was turned back before it reached
U.S. airspace, even though it had no plans to land
in the United States. The decision was made because
two passengers were on the U.S. secret “no-fly
list.”
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