Bhattacharjea, Ajit (author / Director, Press Institute of India)
Format:
Report
Publication Date:
2002-04-11
Published:
India
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 149 Document Number: C23925
Notes:
Via The Hoot, Media Foundation, New Delhi, India. Extracted from the Indian Express, New Delhi. 2 pages., Access to information reveals that funds for rural development projects in Rajasthan were mis-appropriated by local officials.
International: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 30 Document Number: D10565
Notes:
4 pages., via website, The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy., As Congress and the public debate the pros and cons of the United States-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA), or New NAFTA, behind the scenes and in the shadows transnational
corporations are doubling down on their plans to weaken and eliminate public protections
through a related entity, the secretive Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC). This littleknown council has the mission of promoting trade by “reducing, eliminating or preventing
unnecessary regulatory differences” between Canada and the United States. Since the RCC’s
inception, agribusiness—including factory-farmed livestock producers, the feed industry, and
chemical and pesticide manufacturers and linked transportation businesses—has had a seat at
the regulatory cooperation table. Their focus, without exception, has been advocating the
scaling back and even elimination of important safety protections in both countries. In the U.S.,
recommendations made by the RCC feed directly into regulations enacted (or eliminated) by
the Department of Agriculture, Food and Drug Administration and Environmental Protection
Agency, among others
Online from Capital Press. 2 pages., "Several agricultural organizations have gotten language included in the pending fiscal year 2017 House Agricultural Appropriations Bill asking USDA to exempt research and promotion boards funded by grower checkoff fees from federal public records law." The language argues the change is needed to focus producers' resources on research and promotion, rather than records services.
Via web site. 2 pages., "At odds over the question of trade secrets versus the public's right to know, a biopesticide manufacturer and the Monterey County Weekly have sued each other. A third case brought by environmentalists is schedule to be heard Oct. 18."
4 pages., Online via publication website., Author addresses a Parks Canada policy that prevented employees from speaking with the media without approval. This follows up on an earlier article, "Parks in the dark," published in The Narwhal and shining "a bright light on how Parks Canada's media relations' practices hinder press freedom."
Online by open access., Reports on increasing push by the agriculture industry in various states to restrict free speech and access to information in terms of farm protection laws (also known as "ag-gag" laws).
