The European Volcanic Ash Crisis: Between International and European Law
Introduction
Introduction
Introduction
A new swine influenza virus is causing outbreaks in humans in Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and the virus has possibly spread to other countries. This outbreak has alarmed public health officials because of its epidemiological characteristics, which indicate that the virus may be able to cause a pandemic.
The Bali Roadmap marks a milestone in the process of international consensus building, setting forth a multilateral legal framework to address climate change. Delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali (Dec. 3-15 2007) launched a two-year process with a comprehensive agenda and 2009 deadline to complete negotiations for a post-2012 agreement.
In February 2007, international media reported that Indonesia had decided not to continue to share with the World Health Organization (WHO) samples of avian influenza A (H5N1) strains appearing in Indonesia. Instead, Indonesia decided to pursue a commercial arrangement with a pharmaceutical company, which would use the samples to develop an avian influenza vaccine for Indonesia.
One year ago, a previous Insight (David Fidler, ?Indian Ocean Tsunami and International Law,? January 2005) acknowledged the existence of a rarely discussed framework of international laws, rules and principles concerning international disaster response operations, but noted that there are significant gaps in both its scope and implementation.