"EMPTY boxes, empty promises", read a sign put up by the Washington Apple Commission, to protest against Japan's "unfair" ban on American apples, at a recent food exhibition in Osaka. The

Indonesia is burdened, in more ways than one, by other nations treating it as a dumping ground for their wastes.

A plan to restrict import of bananas from Latin American countries is being opposed tooth and nail by the Germans.

Proalcohol, the world's biggest project on alternative fuels to run cars is in danger of being wound up.

Proposal by manufacturers to withdraw import concessions on certain pesticides is resented by farmers who fear that it will result in major price hikes.

IN A SHIFT from Japan's traditional eating habits, meat and dairy products have now overshot rice production as the Japanese take to a more westernised diet. The Japanese ministry of agriculture,

Malaysia is gaining support to fight industrialised countries who are pressing for a ban on logging in the tropical rainforests. Its partners in the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Australia is regretting buying a pig in a poke. A large quantity of peat moss it had imported from Russia has been found to be dusted with irradiated caesium (a soft, silver-white element of the