Suchergebnisse

Non-tariff technical barriers to trade in agriculture are one of the numerous issues addressed by the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement. A non-tariff barrier to trade may be "any law, regulation, policy, or practice of a government, other than an import duty, that has a restrictive effect on trade," and may include health standards if they inhibit the importation of foods that do not meet designated standards. article 708 of the FTA addresses itself to reducing barriers resulting from technical regulations, by committing both nations to work toward harmonizing – a term which is defined in the Agreement as "making identical" – their technical regulations, taking into account appropriate international standards or, where harmonization is not feasible, to make equivalent their respective technical regulatory requirements. The parties additionally agree to work toward the elimination of technical regulations and product standards that are arbitrary, unjustifiable, or disguised barriers to bilateral trade. A most significant aspect of article 708, however, provides that the nations' commitment to work toward harmonization will be consistent with the legitimate need for standards that protect human, animal, and plant life, thus creating an exception for technical standards that are based on legitimate national health and sanitary concerns. As a result, a Canadian or United States requirement that prohibits the use of a given pesticide for health reasons, to use the example that will be taken up in this paper, may be exempted from the objective of harmonizing under the FTA. article 708:2(a), however, which speaks to arbitrary or disguised standards, would oppose a nation's reliance on the human health exception if the standard is unjustifiable. In such a case it would be inconsistent with the objectives of the FTA. How these provisions apply to the Canadian export of lowbush blueberries to the United States, which has been impeded by a United States pesticide regulation, is the focus of the Note and Comment. The state of Canadian-U.S. harmonization of technical regulations, of which the Nova Scotian blueberry issue is just one reflection, is considered throughout.

This paper investigates the basis for a behavioural theory of diversification. A theory of diversification may be required (i) for full analysis of competitive processes, which include innovation and cross‐entry competition, and (ii) to understand the selection of diversification projects in individual firms. Alternative optimising and non‐optimising models are feasible. The choice between these alternatives will be considered after the non‐optimising model has been developed.Section I outlines the basic model and the general predictions which it generates. In section II the predictions are subjected to a coarse test, which is taken to justify further investigation of the model's properties. The model is developed more fully in section III.

Mr. Sutton discusses the newly formed English Law Commission in an effort to present constructive suggestions for the establishment and maintenance of effective law revision programs for other jurisdictions. He examines the structure of the English commission and points out that the qualities of flexibility, independence, and opportunity for early compromise of its proposals with legislators are essential for a successful law revision commission. The author concludes that the major value to be gained from the English commission is its adoption of a new philosophy of law reform--give the commission sufficient latitude to enable it to stimulate advanced legislation.

Evidence concerning the consequences of publication and related biases / Alexander J. Sutton -- Software for publication bias / Michael Borenstein -- Bias in meta-analysis induced by incompletely reported studies / Alexander J. Sutton and Therese D. Pigott -- Assessing the evolution of effect sizes over time / Thomas A. Trikalinos and John P.A. Ioannidis -- Do systematic reviews based on individual patient data offer a means of circumventing biases associated with trial publications? / Lesley Stewart, Jayne Tierney and Sarah Burdett -- Differentiating biases from genuine heterogeneity: distinguishing artifactual from substantive effects / John P.A. Ioannidis -- Beyond conventional publication bias: other determinants of data suppression / Scott D. Halpern and Jesse A. Berlin.

ABSTRACT Although there is increasing demand for syntheses of qualitative research, little is known about papers that aim to report such syntheses. We searched for published reports of attempts to conduct syntheses of qualitative research in health and healthcare. Papers were included if they were published between 1988 and 2004, in the English language, and in a peer-reviewed journal. We identified a modest body of literature (42 papers) reporting syntheses of qualitative research in health and healthcare. We extracted data on the topic of the paper and on reported methods for searching, appraisal, and synthesis. Some papers reported purposive attempts to innovate with, and to adapt, methods for synthesis. Many papers lack explicitness about methods for searching, appraisal, and synthesis, and there is little evidence of emerging consensus on many issues. There was also some evidence of possibly inappropriate use of some techniques. We conclude that continued methodological progress and improved reporting are required.