March 2002 Edition
DENMARK
The recently elected Danish government has indicated that it is ready to lift its ban on beer and soft drinks sold in cans. In a court case initiated by the EC, Denmark faced charges for breach of the EU's packaging directives. Currently, Denmark allows beer and soft drinks in recyclable bottles. Some speculate that the removal of the ban will make it easier for foreign brewers to enter the Danish beer market, where the Carlsberg brewery currently holds a 70 percent market share.
SAFETY
European Union farm ministers officially passed laws to set up a new European Food Safety Authority. It is designed to bolster declining public confidence in food safety in the wake of alerts such as mad cow disease and dioxin poisoning. The body will employ up to 250 people with a budget of 40 million euros and will provide scientific advice to policy makers and give the public information on potential risks in the food chain.
EMPLOYMENT
Nearly one Canadian worker out of six was self employed in 2000, and most of these individuals became and remained self employed by choice, according to the first results from the Survey of Self employment. According to the survey, nearly 2.3 million individuals were self employed in December 2001. For almost 80 per cent of individuals, the transition to self employment was made voluntarily, The remainder, slightly more than 20 per cent, reported that they became self employed because of a lack of suitable paid employment opportunities.
SMALL
Researchers in Japan have created a thermometer 10 times shorter than the width of a human hair. The "nanothermometer" is the latest application for carbon nanotubes, structures built from a honeycomb pattern of carbon atoms and wrapped into a tube shape that's only 75 billionths of a meter in diameter.
BUILDING
Canadian builders took out an estimated $39.9 billion in building permits in 2001, just shy of the all time high set in 1989. Construction intentions for housing broke an annual record, and non residential permits hit a 12 year peak. The $39.9 billion annual total is an 8.1% increase from 2000, and just short of the best annual performance on record, $40.0 billion. Advances in both the residential and non residential sectors contributed to this strong showing.
ROADKILL
A space-age camera system is to be used on the roads of British Columbia to make them safer for wildlife. A prototype infrared camera is to be installed which will take continuous live video pictures of a stretch of road several kilometres long. The camera can see 25 metres on either side of the road. Before a bear, deer, moose or sheep decides to try its luck against the traffic, the camera will relay the animal's image to a computer that will convey information about the animal to a brightly lit digital sign posted on the highway. Wildlife accidents cost around $19 million in accident costs and highway cleanup costs.
WATER
The Great Lakes are at their lowest point in 35 years and water levels may drop even more because of the warm winter. Without the usual ice cover, millions of gallons of water are evaporating from the lakes. Last year, cargo ships were forced to lighten their loads and many boat ramps became inaccessible as water levels on the Great Lakes fell to their lowest point since 1966. For every inch of water that Lake Michigan loses, a cargo ship must reduce its load by 90 to 115 metric tons which mean losses of between US$22,000 and US$28,000.
LABELS
The US has sharply criticised the European Commission's proposals for labelling and traceability of genetically modified (GM) products which US officials say could cost US companies up to US$ 4 billion a year in export earnings. US officials have described the proposed rules as "trade disruptive and discriminatory". For instance, the regulations would require soybean oil to be labelled as a GM product, while European cheeses and wine made with biotechnology enzymes would not be covered.
CHINA
A study by the U.S. Conference Board concludes that the productivity of state-owned companies in China still lags that of private and foreign-owned Chinese companies by a wide margin. Among Chinese companies with some state ownership, those under local rather than state administration, are noticeably more efficient. However, the study which surveyed 23,000 companies operating in China, reports that as foreign companies venture deeper into the Chinese domestic economy, the advantages they enjoy will dissipate.
CONVENIENCE
The U.S. convenience store industry grew four per cent in 2001, increasing to a record 124,516 stores. This follows a 0.3 per cent increase in 2000 and a 5 per cent increase in 1999. 10 years ago the official industry store count stood at 103,400 and 20 years ago there were 71,400 stores. Overall, 14,385 convenience stores opened in 2001 offsetting the 9,000 stores that closed.
COLLECTIBLES
According to TIAS.com, a leading U.S. online catalogue of antiques and collectibles, the hottest items to collect in 2001 included china, cookie jars, furniture, lamps, books plates, Depression glass and Roseville pottery.
SECURITY
Many businesses that depend on the Internet have a false sense of security about the reliability of their computer systems and their ability to avert trouble, according to an Ernst & Young study. A sampling of 80 large Canadian companies found that computer system failure was sited as one of the biggest risks businesses face. 34 per cent of companies surveyed said it was their biggest risk. However, about one-quarter didn't have a business continuity plan or a computer disaster recovery plan while 41 per cent didn't have an overall management plan for any serious crisis.
BABIES
For the first time since 1971, women in the U.S. are bearing enough children to offset deaths. 4,058,814 births were reported in 2000, up 2.5 per cent from 1999. It was the first time since 1993 that births topped four million. Researchers believe that the roaring economy of the 1990s probably fed the baby craze with parents more comfortable about supporting a family. Teen births dropped 22 per cent in the decade.
CONTAINERS
A Richmond, B.C. company has developed a weapon to counter theft from shipping containers and trucks which costs the insurance industry US$10 billion annually in North America. Now being distributed throughout Canada and the U.S., the system has the backing of a major U.S. insurance broker and a Canadian company that manufacturers satellite tracking equipment. If a container is tampered with, the driver is alerted by pager within 10 seconds. Through GPS, the location of a container can be located to within 30 metres anywhere in North America.
SPORTS FISHING
Some scientists are warning that Canada's sports fishery, worth between $4.4 billion and $7 billion, is collapsing so rapidly it may soon suffer the same fate as the commercial cod and salmon fisheries on the East and West coasts. Virtually all sports fishery stocks are depressed. The situation is worst in the provinces of Alberta, B.C. and Ontario.
COLOUR
Nineteen per cent of North American new-car buyers purchased silver vehicles last year. Silver replaced white as the most popular colour. 16 per cent were white, 15 per cent were red, 11 per cent were blue and 10 per cent were green. Green was the most popular colour between 1994 and 1998 when more than one in five owners chose that colour.
TASTE
Italy's highway robbers have been preying on trucks delivering an unusual luxury product: dried cod. Their passion for the flaky white substance has turned the roads of southern Italy into a no-go area for Norwegian fish trucks, putting at risk trade worth US$180 million a year. Thefts of Arctic cod are so frequent that insurance companies have with- drawn their coverage for trucks hauling cod to Italy.
CANOLA
China's new restrictive regulations against genetically modified crops require all modified crops to be approved by the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture. This may leave Canadian canola farmers without one of their most significant customers next year. The new regulations have caused major problems for U.S. soybean farmers who sell US$1 billion worth of their crop to China--70 per cent of which contains genetically modified organisms. 60 per cent of Canada's canola crop is genetically modified and exports are worth C$2 billion. Some suggest that this is just a non-tariff barrier.
NEW
Food manufacturers are churning out a record number of new products to satisfy every craving imaginable. Roughly 32,000 packaged goods were launched last year in Canada and the U.S., more than half--16,977--were foods or beverages. The number of new food products keeps expanding each year. Last year's total was 23 per cent higher than in 1997 when 13,840 new foods and beverages were introduced.
TRENDS
When fluoride was added to the water supply, the incidence of dental cavities declined. But since so many people began drinking--and giving their children--bottled water, there has been a resurgence of cavities
E-BUSINESS
A study by the E-Commerce Times says that more than 600 million people worldwide will have access to the Web by the end of the year, and they will spend more than $1 trillion shopping online. The study also finds that e-commerce grew to $600 billion in 2001, a 68 per cent increase over 2000. Business-to-business (B2B) makes up by far the largest share of Web sales and is expected to account for 83 per cent of online sales in 2002 and 88 per cent in 2006.
SPRAWL
The world's airports are getting to be as large as cities. Stockholm covers 140 square kilometres; Denver International Airport covers 138 sq.km. Kuala Lumpur International Airport spreads out over 101 sq.km. and the city of Miami 94 sq.km.
DRUGS
Spending on direct-to-consumer drug advertising in the U.S. has more than tripled between 1996 and 2000 as manufacturers of prescription drugs increasingly aimed their sales pitches past doctors to potential consumers. Drug makers spent US$2.5 billion in 2000 to promote their drugs to U.S. consumers, up from US$791 million in 1996.
POWER
A company in Israel has developed a battery that can be printed directly onto paper, plastic or other flexible material. The battery produces electrical energy much like ordinary alkaline batteries. Two electrodes, or terminals, separate an electrolyte--a chemical compound that generates negative ions. Connecting the battery's two terminals--say, with a light bulb or a motor--completes the circuit, allowing the electricity to flow and power whatever is attached.
TRIVIA
Canada produced six billion bottles of beer last year resulting in annual revenue, including taxes, of C$11 billion.
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