A Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA)

Australia and South Korea have signed a new free trade agreement - the Korea-Australia Free Trade Agreement (KAFTA). Is it a fair trade fairytale? Or is it a dirty deal done dirt cheap? Or somewhere in between? It is hard to tell, given the initial secrecy of the negotiations, and the complexity of the texts of the agreement There has been much debate in Parliament over the transparency of the trade agreement; the scope of market access provided under the deal; the impact of the investment chapter, with its investor-state dispute settlement clause; the intellectual property chapter; the environment chapter; its impact upon public health; and the labor rights chapter. KAFTA provides an indication of the approach of the new Conservative Government in Australia to other trade deals – such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The Trans-Pacific partnership: Brunei, trade, and human rights

The Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott, has said that ‘Australia is Open for Business’. His trade and investment minister, Andrew Robb, has vigorously pursued bilateral trade agreements with neighbours, South Korea, Japan, China, and India — as well as the regional trade agreement, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Such trade activity raises questions about the relationship between trade policy and human rights. If we are open for business, should we be open for business for countries engaged in human rights abuses? Should enter into trade agreements, which could have an adverse upon human rights? The Trans-Pacific Partnership highlights a range of problems with Australia’s treaty-making process. One important issue is the question of the relationship between trade and human rights.

Development of height-weight based equation for assessment of body composition in Sri Lankan children

Objective To develop a height and weight based equation to estimate total body water (TBW) in Sri Lankan children. Methods Cross sectional descriptive study done involving 5–15 year old healthy children. Height and weight were measured. TBW was assessed using isotope dilution method (D2O) and fat free mass (FFM) calculated. Multiple regression analysis was used to develop prediction equation and validated using PRESS statistical technique. Height, weight and sex code (male=1; female=0) were used as prediction variables. Results This study provides height and weight equation for the prediction of TBW in Sri Lankan children. To the best of our knowledge there are no published height weight prediction equations validated on South Asian populations. Conclusion Results of this study need to be affirmed by more studies on other closely related populations by using multicomponent body composition.

Use of Skin-Fold Thickness in Sri Lankan Children: Comparison of Several Prediction Equations

Objective There are many prediction equations available in the literature for the assessment of body composition from skinfold thickness (SFT). This study aims to cross validate some of those prediction equations to determine the suitability of their use on Sri Lankan children. Methods Height, weight and SFT of 5 different sites were measured. Total body water was assessed using the isotope dilution method (D2O). Percentage Fat mass (%FM) was estimated from SFT using prediction equations described by five authors in the literature. Results Five to 15 year old healthy, 282 Sri Lankan children were studied. The equation of Brook gave Ihe lowest bias but limits of agreement were high. Equations described by Deurenberg et al gave slightly higher bias but limits of agreement were narrowest and bias was not influence by extremes of body fat. Although prediction equations did not estimate %FM adequately, the association between %FM and SFT measures, were quite satisfactory. Conclusion We conclude that SFT can be used effectively in the assessment of body composition in children. However, for the assessment of body composition using SFT, either prediction equations should be derived to suit the local populations or existing equations should be cross-validated to determine the suitability before its application.

Defining anthropometric cut-off levels related to metabolic risk in a group of Sri Lankan children

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is widely used as a measure of adiposity. However, currently used cut-off values are not sensitive in diagnosing obesity in South Asian populations. Aim: To define BMI and waist circumference (WC), cut-off values representing percentage fat mass (%FM) associated with adverse health outcomes. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 285 5–14 year old Sri Lankan children (56% boys) was carried out. Fat mass (FM) was assessed using the isotope (D2O) dilution technique based on 2C body composition model. BMI and WC cut-off values were defined based on %FM associated with adverse health outcomes. Results: Sri Lankan children had a low fat free mass index (FFMI) and a high fat mass index (FMI). Individuals with the same BMI had %FM distributed over a wide range. Lean body tissue grew very little with advancing age and weight gain was mainly due to increases in body fat. BMI corresponding to 25% in males and 35% in females at 18 years was 19.2 kg/m2 and 19.7 kg/m2, respectively. WC cut-off values for males and females were 68.4 cm and 70.4 cm, respectively. Conclusion: This chart analysis clearly confirms that Sri Lankan children have a high %FM from a young age. With age, more changes occur in FM than in fat free mass (FFM). Although the newly defined BMI and WC cut-off values appear to be quite low, they are comparable to some recent data obtained in similar populations.

Validity of BMI as a measure of obesity in Australian white Caucasian and Australian Sri Lankan children

Background: Body mass index (BMI) is used to diagnose obesity. However, its ability to predict the percentage fat mass (%FM) reliably is doubtful. Therefore validity of BMI as a diagnostic tool of obesity is questioned. Aim: This study is focused on determining the ability of BMI-based cut-off values in diagnosing obesity among Australian children of white Caucasian and Sri Lankan origin. Subjects and methods: Height and weight was measured and BMI (W/H2) calculated. Total body water was determined by deuterium dilution technique and fat free mass and hence fat mass derived using age- and gender-specific constants. A %FM of 30% for girls and 20% for boys was considered as the criterion cut-off level for obesity. BMI-based obesity cut-offs described by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF), CDC/NCHS centile charts and BMI-Z were validated against the criterion method. Results: There were 96 white Caucasian and 42 Sri Lankan children. Of the white Caucasians, 19 (36%) girls and 29 (66%) boys, and of the Sri Lankans 7 (46%) girls and 16 (63%) boys, were obese based on %FM. The FM and BMI were closely associated in both Caucasians (r = 0.81, P<0.001) and Sri Lankans (r = 0.92, P<0.001). Percentage FM and BMI also had a lower but significant association. Obesity cut-off values recommended by IOTF failed to detect a single case of obesity in either group. However, NCHS and BMI-Z cut-offs detected cases of obesity with low sensitivity. Conclusions: BMI is a poor indicator of percentage fat and the commonly used cut-off values were not sensitive enough to detect cases of childhood obesity in this study. In order to improve the diagnosis of obesity, either BMI cut-off values should be revised to increase the sensitivity or the possibility of using other indirect methods of estimating the %FM should be explored.

Exploring the role of energy, trade and financial development in explaining economic growth in South Africa: A revisit

South Africa is an emerging and industrializing economy which is experiencing remarkable progress. We contend that amidst the developments in the economy, the role of energy, trade openness and financial development are critical. In this article, we revisit the pivotal role of these factors. We use the ARDL bounds [72], the Bayer and Hanck [11] cointegration techniques, and an extended Cobb–Douglas framework, to examine the long-run association with output per worker over the sample period 1971–2011. The results support long-run association between output per worker, capital per worker and the shift parameters. The short-run elasticity coefficients are as follows: energy (0.24), trade (0.07), financial development (−0.03). In the long-run, the elasticity coefficients are: trade openness (0.05), energy (0.29), and financial development (−0.04). In both the short-run and the long-run, we note the post-2000 period has a marginal positive effect on the economy. The Toda and Yamamoto [91] Granger causality results show that a unidirectional causality from capital stock and energy consumption to output; and from capital stock to trade openness; a bidirectional causality between trade openness and output; and absence (neutrality) of any causality between financial development and output thus indicating that these two variables evolve independent of each other.

Resolution of Cryptic Species Complexes of Tephritid Pests to Enhance SIT Application and Facilitate International Trade

Tephritid fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) are considered by far the most important group of horticultural pests worldwide. Female fruit flies lay eggs directly into ripening fruit, where the maggots feed causing fruit loss. Each and every continent is plagued by a number of fruit fly pests, both indigenous as well as invasive ones, causing tremendous economic losses. In addition to the direct losses through damage, they can negatively impact commodity trade through restrictions to market access. The quarantine and regulatory controls put in place to manage them are expensive, while the on-farm control costs and loss of crop affect the general well-being of growers. These constraints can have huge implications on loss in revenues and limitations to developing fruit and vegetable-based agroindustries in developing, emergent and developed nations. Because fruit flies are a global problem, the study of their biology and management requires significant international attention to overcome the hurdles they pose. The Joint Food and Agriculture Organisation / International Atomic Energy Agency (FAO/IAEA) Programme on Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture has been on the foreground in assisting Member States in developing and validating environment-friendly fruit fly suppression systems to support viable fresh fruit and vegetable production and export industries. Such international attention has resulted in the successful development and validation of a Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) package for the Mediterranean fruit fly. Although demands for R&D support with respect to Mediterranean fruit fly are diminishing due to successful integration of this package into sustainable control programmes against this pest in many countries, there were increasing demands from Member States in Africa, Asia and Latin America, to address other major fruit fly pests and a related, but sometimes neglected issue of tephritid species complexes of economic importance. Any research, whether it is basic or applied, requires a taxonomic framework that provides reliable and universally recognized entities and names. Among the currently recognized major fruit fly pests, there are groups of species whose morphology is very similar or identical, but biologically they are distinct species. As such, some insect populations that are grouped taxonomically within the same pest species, display different biological and genetic traits and show reproductive isolation which suggest that they are different species. On the other hand, different species may have been taxonomically described, but there may be doubt as to whether they actually represent distinct biological species or merely geographical variants of the same species. This uncertain taxonomic status has practical implications on the effective development and use of the SIT against such complexes, particularly at the time of determining which species to mass-rear, and significantly affects international movement of fruit and vegetables through the establishment of trade barriers to important agricultural commodities which are hosts to these pest tephritid species...