August 2003 Edition
BISON
It is estimated that when conservation began, there were as few as 800 bison, or buffalo, in North America, now there are close to half a million. About 200,000 of those animals exist on farms and ranches in Canada. About 1,000 ranchers in Alberta are raising bison on some or all of their land. Collectively they own 95,000 animals and last year processed 15,544 head with a wholesale value of C$20-million. Bison contains under two per cent fat, compared with pork (around 5 per cent) and beef (nearly 11 per cent fat).
TECHNOLOGY
According to a new study, food processing plants that adopted high technology by the end of the 1990s generally enjoyed a far superior growth in productivity than the companies that did not. The study also found a strong link between growth in productivity and market share. Plants that adopted high technology enjoyed higher productivity and, as a result, recorded gains in market share throughout the decade. Food processing is Canada's third largest manufacturing industry, consisting of more than 3,000 establishments. In 1998, the industry employed nearly 230,000 people and boasted output of C$15-billion.
RESEARCH
Canadian industry spent $712 million on research and development in biotechnology in 2000, up 8.0 per cent from 1999, according to the Survey on Research and Development in Canadian Industry.
BUSES
According to Statistics Canada, the urban bus industry earned revenues of $4.3 billion in 2001. The 1.5 billion passenger trips made on urban transit buses in 2001 accounted for just under half of the industry's total annual revenues. Bus companies generated about $70 million by providing services to people with disabilities and seniors. This is the first time data has been available for para transit services. In 2001, the industry employed about 90,000 people. The average salary for all employees regardless of the type of bus company was $36,000.
SALAMI
The Foods Standards Agency of Great Britain is launching an investigation into salami, chorizo, pastrami and other exotic sausages after it was found that one in eight salamis tested contained undeclared horse or donkey meat. Two were from Belgium and one from Italy. The investigation will look at sausages bought in supermarkets, delicatessens and through catering suppliers.
CORKS
A group of wine experts recently announced that screw-cap bottles are superior to their cork-stoppered counterparts. In a blind taste test, they concluded that screw-tops are better because they are more accessible, can easily be resealed and eliminate any possibility of cork taint which imparts musty, mouldy characteristics to the wine.
SICK-TIME
Canadians lost more than 92 million work days last year due to illness, injury and personal reasons with each full-time employee missing an average of nine days in 2002, up a full day from eight days in 2001. Full-time public servants booked off an average of 11.7 days in 2002, compared with an average of 8.2 days in the private sector. Employees in the professional, scientific and technical fields recorded the lowest time-lost averages--six days in 2002--and that managers only booked off an average of 5.7 days last year.
ENERGY
Russia's largest oil producer has signed two landmark long-term agreements to supply China with US$150-billion of oil over many years, a move that promises to accelerate Russia's incursion into China's energy market. The deal will require the company to begin shipping 20 million tons of oil a year, or 400,000 barrels a day by pipeline in 2005, In 2010, volumes jump to 600,000 barrels daily until 2030. Another six million tons of crude will be transported by rail.
GREEN
Ten of the world's leading banks acceded to the demands of protesters and agreed to abide by the World Bank's voluntary code of environmental standards when making loans for infrastructure projects, particularly in poor countries. The banks will follow strict rules for lending on dams, oil pipelines and the like, that threaten nature or locals. Inevitably, some green groups complained that the rules are too soft.
NAFTA
In a recent Canadian poll, 70 per cent of respondents said they support NAFTA, though a bare majority, 51 per cent, believe the deal has benefited Canada. Regionally, British Columbians, who have been the hardest hit by U.S. trade action against softwood lumber, are the least supportive of the NAFTA. Fifty-six per cent of B.C. residents support the deal, while thirty-seven per cent oppose it.
GAMES
According to Jupiter Research, American households earning less than $35,000 a year spend 50 per cent more time playing video games than those with incomes above $74.000.
SHOPPING
A full-time professional mystery shopper can earn up to US$40,000 a year. Professional mystery shopping, which tests a company's operations from the consumer's point of view, is a growth industry. There are 750 mystery shopping/market research firms in the U.S.
DRUGS
The state of Florida has moved to clamp down on the growth of small shops selling cheaper prescription drugs from Canada by declaring them illegal pharmacies. The move by the Florida Department of Health marks the latest attempt by U.S. regulators to stop the flow of Canadian drugs into the U.S. where popular prescription drugs can cost as much as 50 per cent more than north of the border.
JOBS
A powerful U.S. union is quietly pushing for tough new legislation that could have a devastating effect on Canada's growing call centre industry. The Communications Workers Union is calling on all 50 states to pass a bill aimed at halting the flow of jobs to countries outside the U.S. Under the proposed bill, workers in outside call centres would have to identify what country they are located in and then offer to redirect them to a U.S. call centre. It is possible that this could violate NAFTA and WTO agreements.
HOURS
German consumers have at last been granted the privilege of shopping after four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, after trading laws introduced in the 1950s to protect small retailers were relaxed. Until 1996, shops were forced to shut at 2pm. Predictably, trade unions and churches complained. Main shopping districts reported that sales were up by 40 per cent on the first day after the law changed.
TEA
Used to be that a cup of tea was a potent symbol of Britishness. Now, herbal alternatives such as echinacea and raspberry are usurping the traditional brew. Five years ago Britons bought 127-million kilos of traditional tea bags a year, this has now dropped to 114-million kilos, allowing Turkey to overtake Britain as the most enthusiastic consumers. Herbal teas are largely responsible for the downfall of the normal cup of tea with sales of fruit infusions up 50 per cent over the last five years.
HEALTH
Obesity is costing not only American lives, but dollars too. A study tallies that US$93-billion per year goes to treat health problems of people who are overweight. Overall, spending attributed to excessive weight made up nine per cent of all medical spending in 1998.
LANGUAGE
Linguists estimate that there are 6,809 "living" languages in the world today, but 90 per cent of them are spoken by fewer than 100,000 people, and some languages are even rarer. 46 are known to have just one native speaker, and there are 357 languages with under 50 speakers. Over the past 500 years, about 4.5 per cent of the total languages have disappeared. Colonisation has had the strongest influence. Of the 176 languages spoken by the tribes of North America 52 have become extinct since 1600. Of the 235 languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians, 31 have disappeared.
CHINA
To help its suffering tourism industry, China will open its doors early to foreign travel agents. China's tourism industry has been devastated by the outbreak of SARS. The government will lift its longstanding ban on foreign-owned or controlled travel agencies setting up business in China. The opening up of China's tourism industry was originally expected to come into effect at the beginning of 2007 as part of its entry into the WTO.
FLOWERS
American flower retailers are increasingly turning to supermarkets as they seek to grow their business. Between 1995 and 2000 there was a 25 per cent increase in flower sales and the numbers have sprouted an increase in flower production. With increased production and new technologies, there is an abundance in supply. As a result, large retailers and supermarkets have been expanding their floral sections and moving them to more visible parts of the stores. About 80 per cent of new supermarket construction includes extensive floral departments.
ANTARCTIC
Growing numbers of tourists arriving to practise adventure sports, look at wildlife and follow in the footsteps of Scott, Shackleton and other explorers, are posing an ecological threat to the Antarctic. With the number of tourists doubling every three to four years--17,000 arrived last summer, members of the Antarctic Treaty system want their number legally curbed to avoid an ecological disaster. 5,000 tourists visited annually in the early 1990s.
CROPS
A Canadian farm survey indicates that farmers intend to put slightly less acreage into fruit production this year, however, the survey also shows that planting intentions for vegetables have increased, particularly for two major crops, sweet corn and carrots. Growers intend to cultivate 244,000 acres in fruit, down slightly from 2002. Vegetable growers expect to plant 291,000 acres in various crops, a five per cent increase
INTERNET
Forrester Research forecasts that US$6.8-trillion will be spent on global e-commerce by 2004 and that global Internet commerce sales will hit an estimated $3.2-trillion in 2003, equal to five per cent of all global sales. 4-million U.S households use the Internet to shop online, generating revenues of $108-billion. Over 36.1-million domains are registered worldwide.
PACKAGING
Wild Oats Markets Inc. has become the first grocery store in the U.S. to roll out a new type of "green" packaging that looks like plastic but turns into compost after disposal. the clear packaging is made from corn rather than petroleum. Although the product costs 40 to 50 per cent more than plastic packaging, Wild Oats is not passing the extra cost onto the customer. It expects the price will come down as the product becomes more widespread.
DENTISTS
Some of the amenities offered by "dental spas," the upscale dental treatment centres in the U.S., include: massages, fresh-baked cookies, warmed neck-pillows, video games and scented nitrous oxide.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
It is estimated that when conservation began, there were as few as 800 bison, or buffalo, in North America, now there are close to half a million. About 200,000 of those animals exist on farms and ranches in Canada. About 1,000 ranchers in Alberta are raising bison on some or all of their land. Collectively they own 95,000 animals and last year processed 15,544 head with a wholesale value of C$20-million. Bison contains under two per cent fat, compared with pork (around 5 per cent) and beef (nearly 11 per cent fat).
TECHNOLOGY
According to a new study, food processing plants that adopted high technology by the end of the 1990s generally enjoyed a far superior growth in productivity than the companies that did not. The study also found a strong link between growth in productivity and market share. Plants that adopted high technology enjoyed higher productivity and, as a result, recorded gains in market share throughout the decade. Food processing is Canada's third largest manufacturing industry, consisting of more than 3,000 establishments. In 1998, the industry employed nearly 230,000 people and boasted output of C$15-billion.
RESEARCH
Canadian industry spent $712 million on research and development in biotechnology in 2000, up 8.0 per cent from 1999, according to the Survey on Research and Development in Canadian Industry.
BUSES
According to Statistics Canada, the urban bus industry earned revenues of $4.3 billion in 2001. The 1.5 billion passenger trips made on urban transit buses in 2001 accounted for just under half of the industry's total annual revenues. Bus companies generated about $70 million by providing services to people with disabilities and seniors. This is the first time data has been available for para transit services. In 2001, the industry employed about 90,000 people. The average salary for all employees regardless of the type of bus company was $36,000.
SALAMI
The Foods Standards Agency of Great Britain is launching an investigation into salami, chorizo, pastrami and other exotic sausages after it was found that one in eight salamis tested contained undeclared horse or donkey meat. Two were from Belgium and one from Italy. The investigation will look at sausages bought in supermarkets, delicatessens and through catering suppliers.
CORKS
A group of wine experts recently announced that screw-cap bottles are superior to their cork-stoppered counterparts. In a blind taste test, they concluded that screw-tops are better because they are more accessible, can easily be resealed and eliminate any possibility of cork taint which imparts musty, mouldy characteristics to the wine.
SICK-TIME
Canadians lost more than 92 million work days last year due to illness, injury and personal reasons with each full-time employee missing an average of nine days in 2002, up a full day from eight days in 2001. Full-time public servants booked off an average of 11.7 days in 2002, compared with an average of 8.2 days in the private sector. Employees in the professional, scientific and technical fields recorded the lowest time-lost averages--six days in 2002--and that managers only booked off an average of 5.7 days last year.
ENERGY
Russia's largest oil producer has signed two landmark long-term agreements to supply China with US$150-billion of oil over many years, a move that promises to accelerate Russia's incursion into China's energy market. The deal will require the company to begin shipping 20 million tons of oil a year, or 400,000 barrels a day by pipeline in 2005, In 2010, volumes jump to 600,000 barrels daily until 2030. Another six million tons of crude will be transported by rail.
GREEN
Ten of the world's leading banks acceded to the demands of protesters and agreed to abide by the World Bank's voluntary code of environmental standards when making loans for infrastructure projects, particularly in poor countries. The banks will follow strict rules for lending on dams, oil pipelines and the like, that threaten nature or locals. Inevitably, some green groups complained that the rules are too soft.
NAFTA
In a recent Canadian poll, 70 per cent of respondents said they support NAFTA, though a bare majority, 51 per cent, believe the deal has benefited Canada. Regionally, British Columbians, who have been the hardest hit by U.S. trade action against softwood lumber, are the least supportive of the NAFTA. Fifty-six per cent of B.C. residents support the deal, while thirty-seven per cent oppose it.
GAMES
According to Jupiter Research, American households earning less than $35,000 a year spend 50 per cent more time playing video games than those with incomes above $74.000.
SHOPPING
A full-time professional mystery shopper can earn up to US$40,000 a year. Professional mystery shopping, which tests a company's operations from the consumer's point of view, is a growth industry. There are 750 mystery shopping/market research firms in the U.S.
DRUGS
The state of Florida has moved to clamp down on the growth of small shops selling cheaper prescription drugs from Canada by declaring them illegal pharmacies. The move by the Florida Department of Health marks the latest attempt by U.S. regulators to stop the flow of Canadian drugs into the U.S. where popular prescription drugs can cost as much as 50 per cent more than north of the border.
JOBS
A powerful U.S. union is quietly pushing for tough new legislation that could have a devastating effect on Canada's growing call centre industry. The Communications Workers Union is calling on all 50 states to pass a bill aimed at halting the flow of jobs to countries outside the U.S. Under the proposed bill, workers in outside call centres would have to identify what country they are located in and then offer to redirect them to a U.S. call centre. It is possible that this could violate NAFTA and WTO agreements.
HOURS
German consumers have at last been granted the privilege of shopping after four o'clock on Saturday afternoon, after trading laws introduced in the 1950s to protect small retailers were relaxed. Until 1996, shops were forced to shut at 2pm. Predictably, trade unions and churches complained. Main shopping districts reported that sales were up by 40 per cent on the first day after the law changed.
TEA
Used to be that a cup of tea was a potent symbol of Britishness. Now, herbal alternatives such as echinacea and raspberry are usurping the traditional brew. Five years ago Britons bought 127-million kilos of traditional tea bags a year, this has now dropped to 114-million kilos, allowing Turkey to overtake Britain as the most enthusiastic consumers. Herbal teas are largely responsible for the downfall of the normal cup of tea with sales of fruit infusions up 50 per cent over the last five years.
HEALTH
Obesity is costing not only American lives, but dollars too. A study tallies that US$93-billion per year goes to treat health problems of people who are overweight. Overall, spending attributed to excessive weight made up nine per cent of all medical spending in 1998.
LANGUAGE
Linguists estimate that there are 6,809 "living" languages in the world today, but 90 per cent of them are spoken by fewer than 100,000 people, and some languages are even rarer. 46 are known to have just one native speaker, and there are 357 languages with under 50 speakers. Over the past 500 years, about 4.5 per cent of the total languages have disappeared. Colonisation has had the strongest influence. Of the 176 languages spoken by the tribes of North America 52 have become extinct since 1600. Of the 235 languages spoken by Aboriginal Australians, 31 have disappeared.
CHINA
To help its suffering tourism industry, China will open its doors early to foreign travel agents. China's tourism industry has been devastated by the outbreak of SARS. The government will lift its longstanding ban on foreign-owned or controlled travel agencies setting up business in China. The opening up of China's tourism industry was originally expected to come into effect at the beginning of 2007 as part of its entry into the WTO.
FLOWERS
American flower retailers are increasingly turning to supermarkets as they seek to grow their business. Between 1995 and 2000 there was a 25 per cent increase in flower sales and the numbers have sprouted an increase in flower production. With increased production and new technologies, there is an abundance in supply. As a result, large retailers and supermarkets have been expanding their floral sections and moving them to more visible parts of the stores. About 80 per cent of new supermarket construction includes extensive floral departments.
ANTARCTIC
Growing numbers of tourists arriving to practise adventure sports, look at wildlife and follow in the footsteps of Scott, Shackleton and other explorers, are posing an ecological threat to the Antarctic. With the number of tourists doubling every three to four years--17,000 arrived last summer, members of the Antarctic Treaty system want their number legally curbed to avoid an ecological disaster. 5,000 tourists visited annually in the early 1990s.
CROPS
A Canadian farm survey indicates that farmers intend to put slightly less acreage into fruit production this year, however, the survey also shows that planting intentions for vegetables have increased, particularly for two major crops, sweet corn and carrots. Growers intend to cultivate 244,000 acres in fruit, down slightly from 2002. Vegetable growers expect to plant 291,000 acres in various crops, a five per cent increase
INTERNET
Forrester Research forecasts that US$6.8-trillion will be spent on global e-commerce by 2004 and that global Internet commerce sales will hit an estimated $3.2-trillion in 2003, equal to five per cent of all global sales. 4-million U.S households use the Internet to shop online, generating revenues of $108-billion. Over 36.1-million domains are registered worldwide.
PACKAGING
Wild Oats Markets Inc. has become the first grocery store in the U.S. to roll out a new type of "green" packaging that looks like plastic but turns into compost after disposal. the clear packaging is made from corn rather than petroleum. Although the product costs 40 to 50 per cent more than plastic packaging, Wild Oats is not passing the extra cost onto the customer. It expects the price will come down as the product becomes more widespread.
DENTISTS
Some of the amenities offered by "dental spas," the upscale dental treatment centres in the U.S., include: massages, fresh-baked cookies, warmed neck-pillows, video games and scented nitrous oxide.
Thank you for reading the A & A Economic News Digest. For more information visit our website www.aacb.com or contact A & A Contract Customs Brokers Ltd. at strehler@aacb.com.
Past issues of the A&A Economic News Digest can be found at http://www.aacb.com/publications/ed/index.asp
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