Zespri seeks changes in High Court proceedings

Zespri seeks changes in High Court proceedings
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/zespri-seeks-changes-high-court-proceedings-122104
Liam Baldwin | Tuesday April 27, 2010 - 12:12pm

Fresh produce company Turners & Growers and kiwifruit exporter Zespri face off in the High Court today in an attempt to split up proceedings set down for a hearing in November.

In July last year, Turners & Growers lodged a statement of claim against Zespri, claiming regulations that provide the kiwifruit exporter with a near monopoly were unlawful.

In addition, it was claimed Zespri abused its dominant position for the purpose of preserving its monopoly and that Zespri discriminated among suppliers of kiwifruit by paying more to those who signed an exclusivity agreement.

In the High Court today, Zespri is attempting to split the issues and is asking the court whether the kiwifruit export regulations are unlawful and whether it actually has power to determine if the company was acting in breach of the regulations.

The substantive hearing between the two horticultural giants is set down for five weeks from November 1.

Turners & Growers has been locked in battle with Zespri for nearly a year and has attempted to convince kiwifruit growers with a series of publications that the company was not providing them with the best returns.

Turners & Growers has developed a range of kiwifruit cultivars and wants the ability to export them. Current kiwifruit regulations prevent the company from exporting the fruit from New Zealand on its own.

Mexico acknowledges migrant abuse, pledges changes

Mexico acknowledges migrant abuse, pledges changes

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100429/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_migrants_1


MEXICO CITY – Amnesty International called the abuse of migrants in Mexico a major human rights crisis Wednesday, and accused some officials of turning a blind eye or even participating in the kidnapping, rape and murder of migrants.

The group's report comes at a sensitive time for Mexico, which is protesting the passage of a law in Arizona that criminalizes undocumented migrants.

The Interior Department acknowledged in a statement that the mainly Central American migrants who pass through Mexico on their way to the United States suffer abuses, but attributed the problem to criminal gangs branching out into kidnapping and extortion of migrants.

Rupert Knox, Amnesty's Mexico researcher, said in the report that the failure by authorities to tackle abuses against migrants has made their trip through Mexico one of the most dangerous in the world.

"Migrants in Mexico are facing a major human rights crisis leaving them with virtually no access to justice, fearing reprisals and deportation if they complain of abuses," Knox said.

Central American migrants are frequently pulled off trains, kidnapped en masse, held at gang hideouts and forced to call relatives in the U.S. to pay off the kidnappers. Such kidnappings affect thousands of migrants each year in Mexico, the report says.

Many are beaten, raped or killed in the process.

One of the main issues, Amnesty says, is that migrants fear they will be deported if they complain to Mexican authorities about abuses.

At present, Article 67 of Mexico's Population Law says, "Authorities, whether federal, state or municipal ... are required to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country, before attending to any issues."

The Interior Department said the government has taken some steps to combat abuses and Mexico's legislature is working to repeal Article 67 "so that no one can deny or restrict foreigners' access to justice and human rights, whatever their migratory status."

The Amnesty report said one female migrant told researchers that Mexican federal police had forced her group off a train and stolen their belongings. Forced to walk, she said, she was subsequently attacked by a gang and raped.

The Interior Department said it shares Amnesty's concern, and called the report "a valuable contribution."

Mexico has long been offended by mistreatment of its own migrants in the United States.

The Arizona law — slated to take effect in late July or early August — makes it a state crime to be in the U.S. illegally and allows police to question anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Mexico has complained that the law would lend itself to racial profiling and discrimination.