United Kingdom Food

Trade (2003 est.): Exports of goods and services--$304.5 billion: manufactured goods, fuels, chemicals; food, beverages, tobacco. Major markets--U.S., European Union. Imports of goods and services--$363.6 billion: manufactured goods, machinery, fuels, foodstuffs. Major suppliers--U.S., European Union, Japan. ...

Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled Health Information for International Travel (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800. ... [Read More]

United Kingdom and Gibraltar (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland)

Information on vaccinations and other health precautions, such as safe food and water precautions and insect bite protection, may be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s hotline for international travelers at 1-877-FYI-TRIP (1-877-394-8747); fax 1-888-CDC-FAXX (1-888-232-3299), or via the CDC’s Internet site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel.  For information about outbreaks of infectious diseases abroad consult the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website at http://www.who.int/en.  Further health information for travelers is available at http://www.who.int/ith. ... [Read More]

Food Biotechnology in the United States: Science, Regulation, and Issues

Source: J,H, Maryanski.'TDA's Policy For Foods Developed By Biotechnology." Genetically Modifted Foods: Safety Issues (Ed.s, Engel, Takcoka and Teranishi). American Chemical Society, Symposium Series 605, Ch. 2, 1995 pp. 12-22; "Biotechnology of food." FDA Backgrounder. May 1994. [www.fda.gov/opacom/backgrounders/ biotech.html.]; M. Schechtman, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA. "Assurance of Environmental Biosafety for Agricultural Products Derived through Modem Biotechnology: The Case Study of a Delayed Ripening Tomato." The Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development Environment Monograph No. 107, Report of The OECD Workshop on The Commercialization of Agricultural Products Derived Through Modem Biotechnology. [w,~v,.v.oocd.org/ehs/mnl07se.htrn.]; M. Groves. "The Cutting Edge." Los Angeles Times, August 18, 1997; S, Lehrman, "Biotech Tomato Bruised." San Francisco Examiner, January 10, 1993. [Read More]

Media Note: United States and United Kingdom Work Together on Energy Partnerships

Steve Mee, Press Office, U.K. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, ...

United States Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs Paula Dobriansky and United Kingdom Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Margaret Beckett today announced a partnership to work together to alleviate poverty and increase access to modern, cleaner and more affordable energy services in developing countries. The United States and the United Kingdom will work together under the U.S.-sponsored Clean Energy Initiative and the U.K.-originated Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership, two programs established at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development to further the energy sector’s contribution to economic, social and environmental development. The announcement was made at the 12th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development in New York. ... [Read More]

UN Oil-for-Food Program

Judging the success or failure of the Iraq sanctions depends on the view of their objectives. Clearly they failed to force the regime of Saddam Hussein to comply with its international obligations. But they did succeed in limiting Iraqi efforts to rebuild their military capabilities after the Gulf War. As regards the Oil- for-Food Program, similar considerations apply. The major shortcomings of the program have been widely documented in recent months, but the Oil-for-Food Program did succeed in its humanitarian objective of ensuring that the Iraqi people were adequately fed, thus limiting the impact of sanctions on them. ... [Read More]

Food Safety Assessments for Bio-Engineered Crops in U.S. Food Aid Donations

In addition to the product-specific food safety assessments that are conducted by U.S. regulatory agencies prior to the commercialization of bio-engineered crops, a committee of the National Research Council, a private nonprofit institute operating under a congressional charter, has reviewed the broad food safety risks and concluded that it "..is not aware of any evidence that foods on the market are unsafe to eat as a result of genetic modification." The Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration is confident that foods derived from bio-engineered crops for which food safety reviews have been completed are as safe as their conventional counterparts. ... [Read More]

International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State, Economic Perspectives, October 1999 -- Biotechnology: Food Security and Safety -- Thomas Hoban, "Public Perceptions and Understanding of Agricultural Biotechnology"

The most challenging issues surrounding agricultural biotechnology involve labeling. European consumers have generally been encouraged by consumer activists to demand labels identifying foods that have been developed through biotechnology. Several food retailers (especially in the United Kingdom) have tried to exploit the public concern as a marketing tool. Europe has labeling policies in place, but they have not yet been able to establish workable regulations or procedures. They are now grappling with difficult technical issues such as which methods to use to identify traces of biotechnology-derived ingredients. They also are trying to determine what percent of ingredients in processed foods can be derived from biotechnology and still allow the food to qualify as "biotechnology-free." ... [Read More]

V. Country Narratives -- Countries Q through Z

Sudan is a source country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation. Sudanese boys are trafficked to the Middle East, particularly the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, for use as camel jockeys. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, continued to abduct children in war-torn northern Uganda for use as cooks, porters, sex slaves, and combat soldiers. Although Ugandan military offensives during the year significantly reduced LRA numbers, the group continued to conduct operations involving forced child soldiers from camps in southern Sudan. The vast majority of the trafficking within Sudan, however, has involved abductions of largely women in the western and southern regions of the country, territories outside the central government’s complete control because of ongoing political, cultural, and civil conflict. In the Sudanese context, inter-tri ... [Read More]

United Kingdom

In September, the Prison Ombudsman began reviewing claims by some former detainees at Yarl's Wood that they were denied food for 3 days and were seriously injured by guards in the aftermath of the riot in February 2002. Several detainees also filed a civil case alleging abuse by the private firm responsible for security at the center. Decisions were pending at year's end. ... [Read More]

U.K. Study Finds Benefits in Biotech Crops, USDA Reports - US Department of State

The four year Botanical and Rotational Implications of the Management of Herbicide Tolerance (BRIGHT) project, sponsored by the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), looked at the implications of growing GMHT crops both for agriculture and the environment by simulating different rotational scenarios, at a number of sites around the UK. ... [Read More]