October 2002 Edition
ACCESS
As part of the negotiations under the General Agreement on Services (GATS), Canada has submitted initial requests for market access in services to more than 40 WTO members, none of which is a least developed country. The requests seek openings in 12 sectors of key interest to Canada including: computer and related services, telecommunication services and R&D services, financial, tourism and transport services.
PLASTIC
Mexico is going to change its 20 peso bill, worth about US$2.00, from paper to a form of plastic. Besides being difficult to counterfeit, the plastic bills last up to four times longer than paper, although they cost 50 per cent more to produce. There are 130 million 20 peso bills in circulation. Mexico chose the 20 peso note to start because it gets the most use in Mexico. Australia began using plastic money in 1988. Some 20 countries, including New Zealand, Brazil, Thailand and Northern Ireland, have followed its lead.
AWAY
Work absenteeism rates in Canada rose significantly in 2001, according to data from the Labour Force Survey. An estimated 700,000 full time employees, or about 7.0 per cent of the total, were absent from work for all or part of any given week because of personal reasons, such as illness or disability, or personal or family responsibilities, excluding maternity leave. This was up considerably from 6.3 per cent in 2000, and 5.5 per cent in 1997.
UNITED NATIONS
After nearly two hundred years of neutrality, Switzerland has become the 190th member of the United Nations. The role of Switzerland is considered crucial on issues of development, international law and human rights. In a recent Swiss referendum, 55 per cent voted in favour of U.N. membership. Switzerland was already an active member of specialized UN agencies such as the International Labour Organization and the World Health Organization.
PORTS
Russia's largest oil companies have agreed to study the feasibility of constructing a big new port at the northern city of Murmansk. If built, it could eventually deliver enough oil to cover five per cent of current U.S. consumption. A new export terminal in Murmansk, and a 1,500-kilometre pipeline running up to it, would cost about US$1.5 billion and could be ready by 2005.
AFFILIATES
Foreign affiliates of Canadian companies had total sales abroad of just over $300 billion in 1999, and employed about 772,000 people. Service providers accounted for about 40 per cent of both sales and employment. About two thirds of total sales were in the United States. Four industrial sectors accounted for 63 per cent of reported sales for service providers in 1999: information and cultural activities; finance; insurance; and transportation and warehousing.
MEMORY
Researchers have created a computer memory chip using new molecular technology that takes miniaturization further than ever before. Scientists have created a 64-bit memory unit that fits inside a square micron--a micron is one millionth of a meter. Some thousands of these memory units could fit on the end of a single strand of hair. Its capacity is too low to be useful yet but it is a key advance in what is called nanotechnology, manipulating molecules and atoms.
PERFORMING
Canadian performing arts companies' revenues declined 1.7 per cent in 2000 to C$894.4 million. Salaries and wages accounted for just over one third of the industry's total expenses. The spectator sports industry, which includes professional and semi professional sports clubs and teams, continued to report losses in 2000. The amusement and recreation services industry generated revenues of C$5.0 billion in 2000. This includes the ski industry which saw its profit margin fall to 10.4 per cent in 2000. This was the result of a 14.9 per cent rise in expenses that far exceeded the industry's 1.5 per cent increase in revenues.
ALLERGIES
Six to eight per cent of children and one to two percent of adults suffer from food allergies, mostly from soybeans, milk, eggs, peanuts, nuts, fish and wheat. U.S. Agriculture Department scientists are now developing a new type of soybean that could prevent allergic reactions. The new genetically altered soybean could mean that soy-sensitive consumers will be able to eat cereals, baby formula, snack foods, and other foods that contain soybeans.
TREES
A fungus that has devastated California's mighty oak trees is branching out to affect Douglas firs and redwood trees. The majestic Douglas fir dominates the Pacific Northwest and is the backbone of the multi-billion dollar forestry industry on the West Coast. California redwoods can reach heights of over 100 metres and live to be 2,000 years old. Redwoods are also valued for their timber and their bark is sold for landscaping.
HELP
For clumsy people incapable of doing-it-themselves, scientists have created the ultimate furniture kit. It talks you through the assembly process making it impossible, supposedly, to assemble it wrongly. The wardrobe has sensors that allow it to talk the customer through the job, transmitting instructions, tips and warnings to a computer screen.
DRIVE THROUGH
KFC, the fried chicken giant that introduced U.S.-style fast food to China, has opened the country's first drive-through in Beijing. Encouraged by China's rising middle-class, and the swelling ranks of car owners, KFC plans to open drive-throughs in three other Chinese cities. In Beijing, 12 per cent of the population now own automobiles.
WASTE
British industry fears that a fresh set of ultra-green recycling rules approved by Euro-MPs will cost firms an extra billion pounds and encourage illegal dumping of waste in the countryside. The latest directive covers every form of packaging from chocolate boxes to yogurt pots, ceramic containers and plastic bags. Britain is obliged to raise the level of recycling from the current level of 48 per cent to 65 per cent by 2006. It is predicted that these rules will affect 14,000 British firms.
MILK
Eager to win back youngsters who have abandoned milk for soft drinks, the U.S. dairy industry has rolled out nearly 300 new products in the past three years. Packaged in single-serving bottles, brightly coloured and flavoured, many are finding favour with adolescents and with those concerned about children's calcium intake.
TAGS
Radio frequency identification tags, otherwise known as smart tags, will be in place on some five billion packages, crates and shipping containers within a few years. Currently in place on only a million or so items in pilot tests, RFID tags can hold a great deal of information about a single item, from what's in it to when it was produced to where it is at a given time. Packaged goods manufacturers estimate widespread use of the tags hinges on getting the price down to five cents or less.
BREAD
In Britain, loaves of bread are going on sale that cost over $23.00. Weighing four pounds each, the hand-kneaded Poilane sourdough loaves are more than twice the size of ordinary loaves. They are baked in an oak-burning oven in a six-hour process.
HOURS
Chipping away at the legacy of its Socialist predecessor, the new centre-right government of France is planning to ease rules governing France's 35- hour workweek. Current regulations restrict employees on the 35-hour week to 130 hours of overtime a year.
TIME
One second: a healthy person's heartbeat lasts this long, the Earth travels 30 kilometres around the Sun and the Sun zips 274 kilometres on its way through the galaxy. One minute: the time it takes for an average person to speak 150 words or read 250 words. One century: the anticipated lifespan of a compact disc, baby boomers have a one-in-26 chance of surviving this long.
SUBSIDIES
The World Bank reports that industrialized countries spend $350 billion a year on agricultural subsidies, seven times their budgets on aid and roughly equal to the total GNP for all of sub-Saharan Africa. Tariffs on meat, fruit and vegetables often exceed 100 per cent in the developed world. The Bank argues that ending agricultural subsidies is one of the most effective things that rich countries could do to help the poor.
SURGERY
Plastic surgery, once limited to the middle aged, is now in great demand among people in the U.S. over 65. The number of cosmetic surgeries for U.S. senior citizens jumped from 121,000 in 1997 to 425,000 last year.
TRENDS
After blanketing every conceivable surface with logos and brand names, the advertising industry has come up with its most infantile marketing idea yet, ads on baby carriages. A Danish company is offering free baby buggies to parents--but there's a catch; The carriages are emblazoned with ads for a bank, TV station or other corporate sponsor. Hundreds of Danish parents are lining up for the chance to turn their newborns into rolling, gurgling billboards. Advertisers pay $750 to put their name on a carriage for up to 2 1\2 years.
MEXICO
For years, Mexico slumbered while Hollywood scoured the rest of the world, particularly Canada, for inexpensive places to shoot, seeking low-cost labour and government handouts. After watching U.S. studios spend an estimated US$10-billion a year filming abroad, Mexico is getting some of the business. So far Mexico has landed everything from $100,000 commercials to $135 million blockbusters. As many as 395 foreign film, TV and video projects were registered in Mexico last year, compared to 58 in 1995.
GECKOS
The gecko's climbing ability has inspired engineers to make a new dry adhesive which works under water and in outer space. The lizard can race up a polished glass wall and support their entire weight with a single toe. Scientists have now unlocked their sticky molecular secrets and opened the door for engineers to make synthetic gecko adhesive.
DRUGS
Counterfeit drugs range from 5 to 7 per cent of medicines worldwide and may be as high as 25 per cent in Latin America and 60 per cent in Africa.
ONLINE
The US Commerce Department reports that sales at US online retailers grew by 3.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2002 to $10.24-billion. However, online retailing still makes up only a tiny fraction of overall retail sales. The figures are based on a survey of 11,000 retailers but does not include common online services like airline and concert tickets.
TRIVIA
Lithuania has launched a novel program to deal with a shortage of traffic police. It has cut new ones out of cardboard and propped them up on the side of streets to scare motorists into slowing down. About 300 of the cardboard police have been placed at road crossings near 90 schools. Lithuania registers among the highest road fatality rates in Europe.
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