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Current Issues
"Misconceived restrictions on the development of land have led to unaffordable housing,” according to Roger Kerr, executive director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. For the full story, click here.
According to the U.K. Management-Issues web site: Despite the well-known discontent of British firms over 'red tape,' it turns out that American firms are even more concerned about taxation, legislation and regulation as a constraint on their ability to innovate. For the full story, click here.
Was the long-awaited WTO decision on biotechnology applied to agricultural products a resounding victory for Canada and the U.S. over Europe, as some suggest, or a more circumspect result? For the full TCS Daily analysis, click here.
Environmental activists hail estimates published by the European Commission that its forthcoming chemical regulatory framework could produce environmental benefits worth up to €95 billion over 25 years. For more, click here.
Might regulation resolve Google's human rights difficulties in China? For the full Slate story, click here.
The Fraser Institute has released a report that aims to reform the bodies that regulate the North American auditing industry while maintaining investor confidence in the capital markets. For the full CBC story, click here.
As video increasingly is delivered through the Internet instead of cable or over- the-air broadcasts, the question arises whether laws that regulate traditional delivery methods should apply to the broadband world as well, according to a telecommunications panel. For the full story, click here.
China defended its restrictions on Internet content one day after four representatives from major technology companies appeared before the U.S. Congress to testify about their cooperation with the government. For more, click here.
Irving Oil has laid off six administrative workers in Newfoundland and Labrador, and cites the province's fuel regulator as a cause. For the full CBC story, click here.
Do the events at the Sago mine in West Virgina suggest a deterioration of mining safety regulation under the Bush administration? For the full story, click here.
The Irish Hospital Consultants' Association has said that the Irish government’s plans to appoint a majority of lay members onto the Medical Council would spell the end of self-regulation for the profession. For the Irish Medical News story, click here.
Amid growing evidence that some of the tiniest materials ever engineered pose big environmental, health and safety risks, momentum is building in the U.S. Congress, environmental circles and in the industry itself to beef up federal oversight of nanotechnology -- which is already showing up in dozens of consumer products. For more, click here.
A U.S. federal advisory committee met Wednesday for a presentation set up by IBM about quantum computers, to determine when the technology might be ready to be considered for government regulation. For more, click here or here.
The Australian Consumer Affairs Commissioner says consultation forums will be held throughout the country's Northern Territory to discuss ways of tightening regulations on the practice of book-up. For the full story, click here.
The European Commission adopts new EU rules on the quality and safety of blood and blood derivatives, such as plasma, used in medical treatment. For more, click here.
The Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC), an arm's-length agency of the Government of Ontario, will hold Public Consultations on the possible regulation of psychotherapy in various locations across Ontario, September 27 - October 14. For more, click here.
A charter signed between the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and that state's scrap recyclers and builders is believed to be the first such cooperative compliance agreement in the United States. For the full Milwauke Journal Sentinel story, click here.
The European Commission withdraws around 70 legislative proposals as part of its “better regulation” strategy. Some business circles find the proposed list insufficient, others claim it is "deregulation" instead of "better regulation." For more, click here.
The UK government is aiming for an agreement between EU member states on a program for the regulation of chemicals in the union by the end of November. For the full Forbes story, click here.
The burden of regulatory change (as distinct from regulation per se) on companies in Europe has become almost too great, according to Robert Koethner, Vice President for Accounting, Planning and Reporting at DaimlerChrysler, interviewed in a new report from the professional services firm KPMG. For more, click here.
Californian consumers, angry in 2000 and 2001 over disastrous electricity deregulation that caused blackouts and major price increases, will have a chance to turn back the clock at least partway this fall, thanks to a relatively unpublicized re-regulation initiative. For the full story, click here.
Prospects for sick children and their families could improve following the European Parliament's vote to approve a new regulation aiming to stimulate research into and development of medicines for children. For the full PharmaLive article, click here.
Key telecommunications industry groups are frustrated with the federal government's failure to set guidelines for the fledgling VOIP industry in Australia. For the full story, click here.
The burden of regulatory change (as distinct from regulation per se) on companies in Europe has become almost too great, according to Robert Koethner, Vice President for Accounting, Planning and Reporting at DaimlerChrysler, interviewed in a new report from the professional services firm KPMG. For more, click here.
Californian consumers, angry in 2000 and 2001 over disastrous electricity deregulation that caused blackouts and major price increases, will have a chance to turn back the clock at least partway this fall, thanks to a relatively unpublicized re-regulation initiative. For the full story, click here.
Prospects for sick children and their families could improve following the European Parliament's vote to approve a new regulation aiming to stimulate research into and development of medicines for children. For the full PharmaLive article, click here.
Key telecommunications industry groups are frustrated with the federal government's failure to set guidelines for the fledgling VOIP industry in Australia. For the full story, click here.
Emergency regulations have been prepared, in Germany, under which poultry farmers could be ordered to keep their flocks in pens to prevent contact with wild birds migrating from central Asia where bird flu has been discovered. For the full Reuters story, click here.
The committee of European Securities Regulators launches a database giving authorities around the world information on securities regulatory decisions made within the European Union, to encourage harmonisation. For the full Accountancy Age story, click here.
An international evaluation of New Zealand's financial sector has confirmed that planned regulation announced early this year is needed to fully safeguard against money laundering and terrorist financing. For more, click here.
The U.S. EPA spearheads moves to voluntarily regulation in the introduction of nanoscale materials in a variety of applications, including the cosmetics and toiletries market. For the full Cosmetics Design story, click here.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for telecommunications, and infoDev, a multi-donor programme focusing on information and communication technologies (ICT) for development, launch a new online Regulation Toolkit. For more, click here.
On the U.K.'s new legislation to create a risk-based approach to inspection that shifts resources away from routine inspection for businesses in safer areas with a proven track record, towards businesses in higher risk areas, please click here.
U.S. health officials need a better system for tracking the safety of medical devices after approval, especially ones used to treat children, said an Institute of Medicine committee report. For the full Reuters story, click here.
Twenty-one Canadian environmental groups boycott key advisory panel on chemical-sector regulation, saying they are being marginalized at the expense of business interests. For the full Globe and Mail story, click here.
An analysis by the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) sharply criticizes industry self-regulation of food marketing messages to children, claiming that these failings contribute to "the worsening obesity epidemic and its damaging impact on children." For more, click here.
The European Commission has released five issue papers on its revision of the regulation of audiovisual content, which will replace the Television without Frontiers Directive. The revision will also extend broadcasting regulation to the internet. For the press release, click here.
Roughly 1,700 enforcement cases were brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the past 2 1/2 years, the most since the Great Depression. For the Chicago Tribune story, click here.
Auditors are warning that Europe could bring in onerous US-style section 404 regulation ‘by the back door’ if proposals to be put forward later this year fail to be drafted carefully. For the full AccountancyAge story, click here.
A provincial audit raises new concerns about food safety in eateries and public institutions across much of Ontario. For the full Toronto Star story, click here.
The European Commission has launched a public online consultation to ask enterprises how the business environment in the EU could be improved and administrative burden reduced. For the full IDABC story, click here.
A panel appointed by the Ontario Government begins work on developing a detailed proposal for a common Canadian securities regulator. For more, click here.
The U.S. Federal Election Commission looks at whether Internet bloggers should be regulated around financing disclosure. For the full Fox News story, click here.
A group of more than 500 distinguished economists -- led by Nobel Prize-winner Milton Friedman -- release an open letter to President Bush promoting a regime of marijuana regulation. For more, click here.
Nova Scotia Premier John Hamm rejects the notion of subsidizing rural service stations and takes a swipe at big oil companies as cabinet meets to consider the best method of regulating the gasoline market. For the full Canadian Press story, click here.
Tony Blair is highly critical of Sarbanes-Oxley in the U.S, warning that overzealous attempts to eliminate business risk has undermined corporate competitiveness. For the full Financial Times story, click here.
Regulation in the UK is to move to a 'risk-based' approach rather than blanket inspection, according to the Chancellor Gordon Brown. For the full AccountacyAge story, click here. For an ifaonline editorial, click here.
The Conservative Party of Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs critic Jim Prentice says the so-called streamlined regulatory process for the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline in the Northwest Territories is too complicated and onerous. For the full CBC story, click here.
Is it possible that over-regulation could kill off volunterism? To see the story, click here.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has announced "streamlined procedures" that could reduce red tape and regulatory paperwork required by telephone companies. For the full CBC story, click here.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the Irish food and drink industry is how to innovate to provide better consumer choice, despite operating in one of the strictest regulatory environments in the world, “Rosemary Garth, director of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation's Food and Drink Industry Ireland tells its annual conference. For more, click here.
Cable companies worried about a regulatory clampdown on their industry meet the new Federal Communications Commission chairman and are told that he prefers "markets and competition to regulation whenever possible." For the full Washington Post story, click here.
A Bush administration proposal for reducing mercury emissions would give more than half of Michigan's coal-fired electricity generation units a free pass, environmental activists claim. For more, click here.
Health Canada considers review of direct-to-consumer drug advertisement regulation. For the full CBC story, click here.
Regulation of the pharmaceutical industry is inadequate, leaving powerful drug companies free to promote "a pill for every ill", according to an influential British parliamentary committee. For the Reuters story, click here.
European finance ministers have endorsed proposals that will end the self-regulation of auditors. For the details, click here.
The European Commission is planning to warn eight European Union member states to bring their regulatory regimes for electronic communications into line with common standards or face legal action in the Court of Justice. For the full IT World.com story, click here.
U.K. firms resist the Sarbanes-Oxley regulation regime. For details, click here.
Does U.S. food and drug regulation need to be rethought? For the Newsday story, click here.
In Australia, the housing industry wants a year-long moratorium on red tape it says is clogging small business. For the full story, click here.
High levels of labour regulation my explain South Africa's high levels of unemployment. For details, click here.
Some of Europe's leading financial and economic institutions say that bribes and government interference are blocking the creation of strong regulatory systems in many east European and Balkan countries. For the full International Herald Tribune story, click here.
In the UK, a number of measures to help make the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) and the pharmaceutical industry operate more openly and transparently are announced by Health Minister, Lord Warner. For more, click here. Also, see here.
In a boon for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) bars states from imposing telecommunications regulations on Internet phone providers. For the full E-Commerce Times story, click here.
A new set of rules for protecting personal health information will have broad implications for employers and companies that do business in Ontario. For the full Globe and Mail story, click here.
A new EU regulation, implementing the WTO access to medicines agreement, would allow producers of generic medicines to make patent-protected drugs available for export to poor countries without sufficient manufacturing capacity. For more, click here.
Health Canada’s Pest Management Regulatory Agency (PMRA) announces the development of the world’s first web-based service for conducting pesticide regulatory transactions. For more, see their web site, click here.
The Canadian federal government's Policy Research Initiative examines the prospects for some harmonization with U.S. regulatory requirements so as to improve the benefits of NAFTA. For more, see the PRI web site, click here.
The E.U. Commission adopts a new proposal for decentralization of regulation for certain agriculture products. Simplified management arrangements will allow for speedier adaptation of support measures and will improve their attuning to the specific, changing needs of the outermost regions. For the full story, click here.
More electronic waste will be diverted from landfill sites and recycled under a proposed regulation, according to Ontario Environment Minister Leona Dombrowsky. For the full story, click here.
The public see government action over gambling, smoking and drinking as proper regulation rather than as "nanny state" meddling, according to the results of this month's Guardian/ICM poll. For the story, click here.
Red tape is costing British businesses more than £100 billion a year, according to a body set up by the U.K. Government to tackle the issue. For the full story, click here. See also, the Task Force's web site, click here.
In a statement Tuesday, U.S. FCC chairman Michael Powell pledged to "step forward" with a motion to bring VoIP under clear federal jurisdiction, an action the commission has been widely criticized for not taking sooner. For more, click here. Also, see this related PC World story, click here.
Nine years after abandoning "command and control" micro-regulation for a new collaborative regulatory model, Bavarian leaders say they will never go back. For the full story, click here.
ZIMBABWE'S troubled non-governmental sector, jittery over a restrictive law the government has tabled in parliament to monitor its operations, crafts a code of ethics as an eleventh-hour attempt to avert the impending control with a regime of self-regulation. For the full story, click here.
Is Kerry the pro-regulation presidential candidate in the U.S. election? For the Newsday.com story, click here.
Action must be taken at European, national and local levels to reduce the regulatory burden on individuals and companies if the EU is to achieve its Lisbon goals, the Dutch Ministers for Finance and Foreign Trade tell an Amsterdam conference on better regulation. For the full story, click here.
The young, fast-growing Islamic finance industry -- often criticized for the lack of well-defined regulatory, accounting and Sharia law standards, mainly because of different, sometimes conflicting interpretations of Islamic texts -- manages over half a trillion dollars, but must be aggressive and have more defined regulations in order to survive and compete, experts say. For the full story, 0click here.
Ontario, home to Canada's main stock exchange, won't join the other provinces signing an agreement aimed at harmonizing securities regulation in the country, because the agreement falls short of a single national regulator. For the full Bloomsberg story, click here. See also a related story, click here.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner questions whether exchanges can effectively self-regulate. For the full Washington Times story, click here.
The U.K. government has responded to growing concerns over the regulatory burden on business by pledging to publish the reviews of all new regulations after they have been enacted. For the full Telegraph story, click here.
Is regulation the right response to record levels of marijuana use in the U.S.? See the full Chicago Sun-Times story, click here.
A former founding chair of ICANN claims that the United Nations' approach to Internet regulation is neither SMART nor democratic. For the story, click here.
A lawsuit filed in Louisville is aimed at forcing federal regulators to impose standards to protect Kentucky waterways from pollution. For the story, click here.
Is transparency at peril in India's securities and exchange regulator? For the details, click here. The chief U.S. financial regulator has hit back at critics of "over-regulation" and accused many U.S. bosses of failing to provide "ethical" leadership for their companies. For the full story, click here.
For an overview of the regulatory landscape for VoIP in Canada, see this story.
The California Performance Review's report recommends that inspections by environmental agencies be based on the risk that an activity poses to the community or the environment. For the story, click here.
Traffic and pollution sensitive regulation raises burden on the poor of Angola through inhibition of effective public transit. See the story, click here.
Rising health care costs and shrinking coverage have prompted a significant majority of Americans to support government regulation according to a survey, which was issued by Results for America, a division of the Civil Society Institute, a Newtown, Mass.-based think tank. For details, click here.
A new national advocacy group is calling for a fresh, market-oriented approach to utility regulation. For the details, click here.
Anti-smoking advocates dispute merits of pending U.S. Congress bill to enhance tobacco regulation. For the full story, click here. See this story also.
New regulations, proposed by the Department of Health and Human Services, are characterized by critices as inducing U.S. hospitals and doctors to act an border guards. For $1 billion over four years, they'd be required to compile information about the immigration status of uninsured emergency-room patients. For more, click here.
The World Bank says that poor countries will have to follow the lead of rich nations in knocking down regulations facing businesses if they want to make their economies grow. For details, click here.
In the U.S., controversy surrounds the FCC's regulation of free speech in the interest of decency. For the full story, click here.
Government regulation is blamed for inhibiting the growth of small businesses in Scotland according to the Federation of Small Businesses, on the basis of a commissioned report by the London School of Economics. For details, click here.
A new regulation on mutual administrative assistance proposed by the European Commission provides the Member States with an improved legal basis for their common fight against fraud and fosters EC-wide cooperation with and coordination by the Commission and the European Anti-Fraud Office. For details, click here.
Major Canadian oil companies would have to sell their gas stations in Nova Scotia if a drastic and controversial regulatory recommendation put forward by a legislative committee is adopted by the province. For the full story, click here.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves more stringent disclosure rules for U.S. mutual funds. For the full Herald-Tribune story, click here.
Companies will be able to sue for compensation over heavy-handed implementation of European business directives, under plans unveiled by the British Conservative party today. For the full Guardian story, click here.
The Ontario government begins public hearings this week to consider the recommendations of a sweeping report on securities regulation in the province. For the full Globe and Mail story, click here. Also related to this story, click here.
The Data Quality Act is a little-known piece of legislation that, under the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in President Bush's Office of Management and Budget, has become a potent tool for companies seeking to beat back regulation. For the full MSNBC story, click here.
According to Bloomsberg News columnist Mark Gilbert, the easy ride enjoyed by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's is ending, as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission consider ways to regulate the credit-ratings business. For the details, click here.
Democrats in the Michigan House said Monday they will hold eight meetings across the state over the next month to boost support for legislation that would regulate large-scale water diversions from the Great Lakes. For the full Detroit News story, click here.
Ontario's Industrial Pollution Action Team releases its final report calling for more stringent as well as more creative and flexible approaches to the regulation of chemical spills and pollution. For the full Toronto Star story, click here. For the full report, click here.
European Union regulation of tradtional medicines has had a significant trade impact on Chinese exports. For the full China Daily story, click here.
Democratic presidental candidate, John Kerry, is said to be in favour of a more rigorous regulatory regime at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. For the details, click here.
A U.S. federal judge orders the OSHA to disclose the names of the companies with the highest rates of injury and illness. For the full Globe and Mail story, click here.
Exceptions in Treasury Board rules allows former top nuclear safety regulator to take position at Canada's biggest nuclear generating company. For the full Toronto Star story, click here.
Controversy in Scotland over the establishment of an idependent regulator for the legal profession. For the details, click here.
The President's Council on Bioethics says that infertility treatment, a $4 (U.S.) billion-a-year business, that uses controversial drugs and experimental techniques, yet is virtually unregulated, requires much stricter controls. For the details, click here.
In a recent report, British scientists have emphasized the need for more rigorous regulation of nanotechnology. For the full Reuters story, click here.
A prominent Canadian lawyer defends the federal government's controversial firearms regulations. For the full Gobe and Mail opinion piece, click here.
Regulation of genetically modified foods in India stirs controversy. For the full Financial Express story, click here.
A national coalition of environmental groups files a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its latest cooling water intake regulation. The suit charges that the new EPA rule fails to minimize power plant fish kills as required by the Clean Water Act. For details, click here.
The Canadian regulator of radio and television confronts protest from across the political spectrum. For one Globe and Mail commentator's defense of the regulator, click here.
The U.S. Senate's Science and Transportation Committee approves a bill that would exempt voice-over-IP (VoIP) service from state taxes and regulations, and defines it for U.S. government regulators as a lightly regulated information service. For the full Computerworld story, click here.
The Canadian federal government announces new regulations to prevent animal parts linked to mad cow disease being fed to chickens, pigs and other animals. For the full CBC story, click here.
British Columbia fish farmers object to new U.S. food labelling regulation requirng farmed salmon to be distinguished
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