Info and News

ACTA Adopts New Labeling Requirements

The Administrative Council for Terminal Attachments (ACTA) has announced that it will adopt revised labeling requirements for terminal equipment, effective January 1^st, 2004.

According to a recent public notice, ACTA will adopt the labeling requirements contained in the Telecommunications Industry Association standard, “Telecommunications--Telephone Terminal Equipment--Labeling Requirements, TSB-168-A.”  The revised labeling requirements reportedly include the removal of some equipment codes from the pool of valid codes, changes in the definitions associated with some codes, and reclassification of some codes from “Terminal Devices” to “Digital Equipment.”  The revised requirements also include editorial corrections and clarifications. 

The revised requirements will apply to terminal equipment intended for connection to the public telephone network that has been approved by an accredited telecommunications certification body (TCB) or a Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity (SDoC) in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) Part 68.  Terminal equipment which has received approval prior to the January 1^st date for the new labeling requirements will continue to fall under the labeling requirements in place at the time of its original approval.    

Readers can find additional information about the changes to the labeling requirements at the ACTA web site, www.part68.org.

EU Moves Further To Protect Famous Food Names

The European Union (EU) now says that it wants the names of 41 different wines, cheeses and other food products that are linked to specific geographic regions protected in international talks taking place as we go to press.

The final list of 41 names, which was arrived at late this past summer and only after months of debate between EU member states is, according to some reports, the EU’s bargaining chip in global trade negotiations with the United States and other countries over EU agricultural subsidies.   

The EU’s list of famous food names includes Champagne, Bordeaux, Beaujolais, Chablis, Liebfraumilch and Ouzo, Roquefort, Parmesan and  Feta cheese, Mortadella sausage and Parma ham, and La Mancha saffron.

The EU’s efforts to protect what are seen by many as generic names are likely to face stiff opposition from the United States, Canada, Australia and other agricultural producers where European names are widely used in the marketing of foods.

Critics of the EU’s food name protection efforts argue that many of the names for which the EU is seeking protection are, in fact, being used on products introduced by European immigrants in other countries long ago, and would potentially require food producers around the world to adopt new names at a huge expense.

But, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal, the EU’s tactic may backfire when other countries around the world seek protection for their own geographic identities.  According to the Journal report, apart from the U.S. threat to protect names such as Florida orange juice and Idaho potatoes, India is eager to protect the name of Darjeeling tea, while Guatemala may seek protection for its Antigua coffee.

From the “You Couldn’t Make This Up” Department

The Commission of the European Union (EU) can now be credited with the coining of a new alternative phrase for references to potentially harmful electromagnetic fields (EMFs).  In response to a question regarding the EU’s efforts to limit the public’s exposure to non-ionizing radiation, a spokesperson for the Commission referred to EMFs as “electro-smog.”  The question, and the Commission’s response, was published in a recent issue of the Official Journal of the European Union.

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