Amphibian Commerce as a Likely Source of Pathogen Pollution

Abstract: The commercial trade of wildlife occurs on a global scale. In addition to removing animals from their native populations, this trade may lead to the release and subsequent introduction of nonindigenous species and the pathogens they carry. Emerging infectious diseases, such as chytridiomycosis caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), and ranaviral disease have spread with global trade in amphibians and are linked to amphibian declines and die‐offs worldwide, which suggests that the commercial trade in amphibians may be a source of pathogen pollution. We screened tiger salamanders involved in the bait trade in the western United States for both ranaviruses and Bd with polymerase chain reaction and used oral reports from bait shops and ranavirus DNA sequences from infected bait salamanders to determine how these animals and their pathogens are moved geographically by commerce. In addition, we conducted 2 surveys of anglers to determine how often tiger salamanders are used as bait and how often they are released into fishing waters by anglers, and organized bait‐shop surveys to determine whether tiger salamanders are released back into the wild after being housed in bait shops. Ranaviruses were detected in the tiger salamander bait trade in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, and Bd was detected in Arizona bait shops. Ranaviruses were spread geographically through the bait trade. All tiger salamanders in the bait trade were collected from the wild, and in general they moved east to west and north to south, bringing with them their multiple ranavirus strains. Finally, 26–73% of anglers used tiger salamanders as fishing bait, 26–67% of anglers released tiger salamanders bought as bait into fishing waters, and 4% of bait shops released tiger salamanders back into the wild after they were housed in shops with infected animals. The tiger salamander bait trade in the western United States is a useful model for understanding the consequences of the unregulated anthropogenic movement of amphibians and their pathogens through trade.     

安全成本与国际贸易竞争力关系的经济学分析

分析了职业安全卫生标准一体化和劳工标准对国际贸易产生的现实影响,运用经济学的基本理论对安全保护成本与国际贸易竞争力之间的关系进行深入探讨;推理得出国际贸易中小国的安全保护成本对其国际贸易竞争力影响较大,而大国的影响则较小,如果大国某一出口产品需求价格弹性小于1,其增加安全成本总收入反而增加的结论,因此,大国有增加安全投资的积极性。笔者提出发展中国家应从自身经济、政治利益实际出发,反对不切实际的提高劳工标准,并提出中国的出口企业应该适应目标市场绿色安全生产的发展趋势,实现本质安全型生产。     

我国煤矿安全问题与工会参与研究

中国的煤矿安全问题比较严峻。中国工会一贯高度重视煤矿企业职工的生命健康与安全,在促进煤矿安全生产中扮演着重要的角色,发挥着举足轻重的作用。在煤矿安全生产方面,中国工会主张要抓紧完善《安全生产法》及配套的法规规章;切实把"预防为主"方针放在煤矿安全生产工作的首位;加大对煤矿企业安全生产的资金投入和人员配备;高度重视工人与工会组织在安全生产中的作用;强化对煤矿管理人员和职工的安全培训和教育;加强煤矿行业管理与监督,合理有序开发煤炭资源。     

ISO14000系列环境管理国际标准概述

概述了ISO14000系列环境管理国际标准的内容、分类、特点及其作用。介绍了企业实施该系列标准所应采取的步骤和措施。该系列标准由环境管理体系、环境行为评价、生命周期评估、环境管理、产品标准中的环境因素等系列组成，可指导企业表现正确的环境行为，提升企业的竞争力。     

对完善和落实工伤保险制度的探讨

当前工伤保险制度存在一些不足,导致工伤保险的作用发挥受到很大的限制,因此建立和完善与工伤风险相对应的费率机制和强化工会组织在贯彻落实<工伤保险条例>中的作用势在必行,同时两者系统地结合将促使企业由"重赔偿、轻预防"的模式向事故预防为主的方向转变,有力推进绿色劳动的全面推广.     

A review of WTO and environmental issues

Multiple negotiating rounds of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1947 have conferred economic benefits through liberalized international trade. A growing body of evidence also points to linkages between liberalized trade and damage to the global environment, ecology, and natural resource base. Ironically, the increased economic well-being conferred by trade liberalization ultimately provides the basis for improved environmental protection. It is the interim environmental damage due to trade liberalization that is controversial and needing amelioration. The proposition here is to promote further trade liberalization, but only as long as environmental ethics and sustainability issues are satisfactorily addressed. Trade liberalization should not be permitted at the expense of adequate environmental protection and sustainability. Future WTO rounds need to address both development benefits and environmental ethics issues in a net social welfare maximization setting.     

贸易对环境影响的初步研究

根据环境经济系统的双层结构建立了贸易对环境影响的概念模型 ,即贸易通过环境类、经济类物品和服务的输入输出 ,对环境子系统直接或通过经济子系统间接产生影响 ;对影响环境的贸易 (外部因素 )与环境成本内部化(内部因素 )问题 ,分别进行了分析 ;就贸易对环境影响的研究方法问题 ,运用局域均衡模型 ,为局域贸易环境问题的量化分析提供较为便捷、可靠的模式进行了初步探讨。     

A Review of WTO and Environmental Issues

Multiple negotiating rounds of the GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World TradeOrganization (WTO) since 1947 have conferred economicbenefits through liberalized international trade. Agrowing body of evidence also points to linkagesbetween liberalized trade and damage to the globalenvironment, ecology, and natural resource base.Ironically, the increased economic well-beingconferred by trade liberalization ultimately providesthe basis for improved environmental protection. It isthe interim environmental damage due to tradeliberalization that is controversial and needingamelioration. The proposition here is to promotefurther trade liberalization, but only as long asenvironmental ethics and sustainability issues aresatisfactorily addressed. Trade liberalization shouldnot be permitted at the expense of adequateenvironmental protection and sustainability. FutureWTO rounds need to address both development benefitsand environmental ethics issues in a net socialwelfare maximization setting.     

Trade and recycling of used tyres in Western and Eastern Europe

Truck tyres can cause significant environmental pressure through the life cycle. The main aim of this paper is investigate to what extent international policy measures on foreign trade, international recycling and harmonisation of legislation can contribute in effectively reducing environmental pressure caused in the truck tyre life cycle. A two-region simulation model, representing Western and Eastern Europe, is developed that integrates the complete life cycle, incorporates environmental impacts in its economic analysis, is technically dynamic by accounting for learning-by-doing effects, and allows for variations in trade of new and old truck tyres. In this study the economic, environmental and social effectiveness of harmonisation and trade measures in the European life cycle for truck tyre is tested. Several conclusions can be drawn from the model simulations. First, the environmental effects caused by the trade of used tyres from Western to Eastern Europe are of limited impact on the overall environmental damage caused by truck tyres. The consumption stage is by far the main contributor to environmental damage. Within the marginal analysis of trade, harmonisation of disposal fees illustrated to generate very limited positive results. The private and external costs in the solid waste management (SWM) stage are too limited to have a notable impact on the overall configuration of the European tyre life cycle. The introduction of strict laws on tread depth in Eastern Europe has a much stronger impact on material flows than the harmonisation scenario. This suggests that domestic policy measures should be the primarily focus on interventions in this stage of the life cycle, for instance, by improving the management of tyre pressure. Because trade of used tyres has little impact on the consumption stage, this issue should not get priority in European environmental programs.     

贸易与环境问题

本文在阐述了贸易与环境关系的基础上,对我国如何正确处理贸易与环境问题提出了建议。