- Industry: Government
- Number of terms: 41534
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
Established in 1989, APEC is a formal institution with a permanent secretariat located in Singapore. Its original 12 members include Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Brunei. In 1991, APEC admitted China, Taiwan (admitted as Chinese Taipei), and Hong Kong. Mexico and Papua New Guinea joined in 1993; Chile joined in 1994; Peru, Russia, and Vietnam joined in 1998. The 21 nation member APEC provides a forum for ministerial level discussion and cooperation on a range of economic issues including trade, investment, technology transfer, and transportation. According to APEC, a key feature that sets it apart from other international organizations is its commitment to business facilitation and the regular involvement of the private sector in a wide range of APEC activities.
Industry:Agriculture
A serious pest of hardwood trees in its native China that by 1998 had been found in 14 states in the United States, where it has no known natural enemies. APHIS is now working to detect and destroy the beetle, which is virtually impossible to eradicate with pesticides because it bores deep inside trees to lay its eggs; the only known suppression method is to remove and destroy infected trees. The agency reports that the beetle, which already has led to the destruction of many trees in parts of New York, could destroy millions of acres of hardwoods—including maples, horse chestnuts, poplars, willows, and elms—if it becomes established in the environment. APHIS believes that the beetle has been entering the United States in solid wood packing materials such as pallets and crates from China. For that reason, in late 1998, it banned all shipments from China containing such packing materials if they have not been treated to kill the pest.
Industry:Agriculture
The mechanical injection of semen into the womb of the female animal with a syringe-like apparatus.
Industry:Agriculture
A federal agency, part of the Department of the Army, which has jurisdiction over the navigable waters of the United States. The Army Corps is responsible for granting §404 permits concerning depositing dredge and fill materials in wetlands under federal jurisdiction (33 U.S.C. §1344).
Industry:Agriculture
A dry climate with an annual precipitation usually less than 10 inches. Not suitable for crop production without irrigation.
Industry:Agriculture
An underground geological formation, or group of formations, containing usable amounts of groundwater that can supply wells or springs for domestic, industrial, and irrigation uses. Removing more groundwater from an aquifer than is naturally replenished is called overdrafting, and can result in a dropping water table, increased pumping costs, land subsidence (which reduces the future recharge capacity), saltwater intrusion, reduced streamflows in interconnected ground- and surface-water systems, and exhaustion of groundwater reserves. Overdrafting groundwater occurs primarily in the Plains States and the West.
Industry:Agriculture
Chemical substances produced by microorganisms or synthetically that inhibit the growth of, or destroy, bacteria. Antibiotics are used at therapeutic levels to fight disease in humans and animals. Since the 1950s they have been used at subtherapeutic levels in animal feeds to enhance growth and prevent disease in livestock and poultry. Rules guiding the use of veterinary drugs and medicated animal feeds, including tolerance levels for drug residues in meats for human consumption, are promulgated by the Center for Veterinary Medicine of the Food and Drug Administration. The Food Safety and Inspection Service enforces the FDA rules through a sampling and testing program that is part of its overall meat and poultry inspection program.
Industry:Agriculture
Before slaughter. As used in the meat and poultry inspection program, the term refers to the examination that USDA meat inspectors are required to conduct of all live animals just before they are killed.
Industry:Agriculture
This Act is P.L. 89-544 (August 24, 1966) which was enacted to curb the theft and mistreatment of dogs and cats for experimental and research purposes. The principal federal animal protection law, it has been amended several times to address specific concerns such as the shipping of pets on public transportation, dog fighting, and using other warm-blooded animals in biomedical experiments. Although administered by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the law has always excluded farm animals from its coverage. Generally, USDA is authorized to "promulgate standards to govern the humane handling, care, treatment, and practices in experimental procedures to ensure that animal pain and distress are minimized...." The law excludes from the definition of animal "...horses not used for research purposes and other farm animals, such as, but not limited to livestock or poultry, used or intended for use as food or fiber, or livestock or poultry used or intended for use for improving animal nutrition, breeding, management, or production efficiency, or for improving the quality of food or fiber." Animal welfare has become more controversial in recent years as certain animal protection groups have argued for more extensive legal protections for animals. Some groups believe that any human uses of animals are inhumane, unethical and/or immoral, and should be prohibited. Among those who accept the premise that humans should and will use animals for food and other necessities, the debate over the meaning of animal welfare revolves around the most appropriate methods for taking care of animals, including farm animals. For example, legislation has been proposed (but not enacted) in recent years that would intervene in animal production operations by regulating confinement facilities; determining the diets of veal calves; specifying how poultry must be slaughtered; and prohibiting dealers from handling nonambulatory (downer) livestock unless they are humanely killed.
Industry:Agriculture
A standard measure, based on feed requirements, used to combine various classes of livestock according to size, weight, age, and use. For federal lands, an animal unit represents one mature cow, bull, steer, heifer, horse, mule, or five sheep, or five goats, all over six months of age.
Industry:Agriculture
