Category: Issue 422
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New Soft Drink Tax Takes Effect in France
The Constitutional Council of France recently approved a tax on sweetened soft drinks to combat the healthcare-related costs of obesity. Effective January 1, 2012, the tax adds 1 euro cent per can and is expected to generate €120 million ($156 million) in state revenue to fund lower Social Security contributions by farm workers. “Obesity is…
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EU Urged to Limit Livestock Transportation
A petition reportedly signed by more than one million citizens has urged the European Union (EU) to impose stricter rules on the transportation of livestock intended for slaughter. Initiated by World Horse Welfare, the petition challenged current EU regulations allowing transportation times to exceed 24 hours and instead requested an eight-hour maximum on all such…
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EPA Watchdog Recommends Action on Nanomaterials
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Inspector General (IG) has issued a report critical of how effectively the agency “is managing the human health and environmental risks of nanomaterials.” Noting that EPA has the statutory authority to regulate nanomaterials, the IG found that it “currently lacks the environmental and human health exposure and…
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FDA Restricts Use of Cephalosporin in Livestock
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule prohibiting the extra-label use of cephalosporin antimicrobial drugs in livestock. Citing “evidence that certain extralabel uses… will likely cause an adverse event in humans,” the agency has specifically barred using cephalosporins (i) “at unapproved dose levels, frequencies, durations, or routes of administration”; (ii)…