The U.S.-Canada Beyond the Border agreement is wide-ranging in its impact. Indeed, Prime Minister Harper referred to it Wednesday as "the most significant step forward in Canada-U.S. co-operation since (NAFTA)". This deal promises regulatory alignment (including the food and automotive sectors), quicker border crossings for business or travel (with pre-clearance options), and "screened once, accepted twice" cargo. Perhaps the biggest concern for Canadians however are the changes this agreement could have for their privacy. [more inside]
posted by stinkycheese on Dec 8, 2011 - 130 comments

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today unveiled the nine disturbing health warnings required to appear on every pack of cigarettes sold in the United States and in every cigarette advertisement. (pdf) [more inside]
posted by Obscure Reference on Jun 21, 2011 - 131 comments

'What's a home worth?' 'There are problems in appraisal land that transcend weak housing markets and debt-ridden borrowers, and that are causing home buyers and would-be refinancers to miss out on low rates and dream houses. "There's been a pendulum swing in appraisals comparable to the one we've seen in mortgage credit, from foolishly lax to overly restrictive," said Walt Molony of the National Association of Realtors. He reported that as recently as October, one in 10 member agents said they'd had a contract canceled as a result of a low appraisal, 13 percent said they'd had a contract delayed, and 16 percent said they'd had a contract negotiated to a lower sales price as a result of a low appraisal.'' [more inside]
posted by VikingSword on Dec 14, 2010 - 90 comments

Melamine found in almost half of all Chinese food imports now on the banned list. The Food and Drug Administration is enforcing a new import alert that greatly expands its curtailment of some food ingredients imported from China, authorizing border inspectors to detain ingredients used in everything from noodles to breakfast bars. The FDA has also announced that melamine laced products have found their way into the human consumption cycle via poultry and pork. Interesting to note that the budget for FDA inspections is at it's lowest level ever, and that only 1% of all imports actually get inspected.
posted by dejah420 on May 1, 2007 - 75 comments

An Indonesian TV crew was invited to Malaysia for their Visit Malaysia Year 2007 campaign but encountered many problems. They write up about it - and start a flurry of comments and controversy across the Malaysian government about blogging. [more inside]
posted by divabat on Apr 6, 2007 - 14 comments

SOS or Safegaurd Organic Standards is what the Organic Consumers Association is calling their effort to protect the USDA's National Organic Program's organic food standards adopted in 2002. A rider attached to the 2006 agriculture appropriations bill and sponsored by the Organic Trade Association contains changes to the standards that in their view will make "technical corrections" to the national organic standards. This became necessary in their view after a 73-year-old organic blueberry farmer from Maine named Arthur Harvey won a court appeal against the USDA, arguing that federal regulations guiding organic food standards were less stringent than the original legislation had intended. This issue is splitting the organic standards lobbying community. Or perhaps this has been in the works for sometime as large corporate food producers have moved to take advantage of the rapid growth of the organics market. (more inside)
posted by flummox on Oct 9, 2005 - 14 comments

Nuclear Safety Lapses Won't Be Revealed -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the change in policy during its first public meeting on power plant safety since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. It drew barbs from critics who said the secrecy would erode public confidence in the agency. Until now, the NRC has provided regular public updates on vulnerabilities its inspectors found at the country's 103 nuclear power reactors, such as broken fences or weaknesses in training programs. The NRC's release is here, which also states that they'll be exempt from Freedom of Information Act requests.
posted by amberglow on Aug 4, 2004 - 13 comments

Is the U.S. the last Western country where wild animals can be kept as pets? Why? And why not? Although this is definitely cute and this is even cuter, it's just not the same. When I was young, several of my friends with ranches kept pumas. But no longer - it's now illegal in Argentina. Though I understand all the problems, I fail to see why, in principle, it should be. If hunting them is - aargh! - allowed and promoted, why not owning them? Does anyone know of any resources on the Net about buying and owning wild cats? Or indeed wild animals in general? I couldn't find one to balance this post. Where do people get them? How do they know how to keep them? [Though I did find a very amusing column about ferrets in Jeremy Clarke's column for today's Spectator...]
posted by Carlos Quevedo on Apr 18, 2003 - 10 comments

FDA has ruled that implantable microchips dont need to be regulated. It looks like, the Jacobs family can now have their VeriChips. Does anyone else think that some kind of regulations of these devices is called needed? (via GMSV).
posted by justlooking on Apr 6, 2002 - 19 comments

The Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations. Ah, what would the silent animals do without we oxy-moronic humans looking after their welfare. Pity they taste so good.

Some giblets to chew on: "No person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, any mechanical apparatus to kill any surplus chick unless the apparatus contains rapidly rotating mechanically operated killing blades or projection...any person who slaughters by a religious method any animal which has not been stunned before bleeding shall ensure that each animal is slaughtered by the severance by rapid, uninterrupted movements of a knife, of both its carotid arteries and both its jugular veins...no person shall use, or cause or permit to be used, a water bath stunner to stun any bird unless appropriate measures are taken to ensure that the current passes efficiently, in particular that there are good electrical contacts and the shackle-to-leg contact is kept wet...no person shall bleed any bull, cow, heifer, steer, calf, sheep, goat or pig in a slaughterhouse, knacker's yard or lairage within sight of any other such animal."
posted by fold_and_mutilate on Feb 5, 2002 - 17 comments

Americans want self-regulated Internet - or do they? A Markle Foundation survey out today seems to contain contradictory responses: 60 percent say rules for governing the Net should be developed by non-governmental organizations. But 64 percent also say that government "should develop rules to protect people when they are on the Internet, even if it requires some regulation of the Internet." Um, so which is it?
posted by thescoop on Jul 10, 2001 - 3 comments

I was reading cryptonomicom last night ..and awoke this morning to read this online.. Deja vu, Datahaven! I'm glad they found good use for that antiaircraft deck.
posted by dabitch on Aug 17, 2000 - 2 comments