November 2020

U.S Elections

The US elections are (finally) (somewhat) over but our struggle for smarter consumer policies is far from done. While the role of social media played a crucial part in the election and was highly debated, I penned an article making the case for how NOT to respond to actions social networks must take to safeguard information.

I called it “How Not to Respond to Alarming Social Media Censorship” — does that catch your attention? 

Election Analysis on Consumer Choice Radio on Big Talker 106.7FM

Me on ANews to discuss Elections aftermath

Agriculture

Not to be outdone, Fred spoke at the annual meeting of Euroseeds on why consumers deserve to have access to modern agriculture and new breeding techniques such as Gene Editing. You can catch a clip of that speech here.

And always quick with the wit, our colleague Bill Wirtz slammed the EU’s “Farm-to-Fork” strategy, calling it “too much of a political utopia”. Ouch.

How to feed 11 billion people?

You can also find Fred’s piece on how to feed 11 billion people by 2070 in the Parliament Magazine

More Webinars!

Our last webinar on Illicit Trade had over 2,000 viewers — w00t!

Our next webinar will be on November 19th with MEP Liesje Schreinemacher, discussing market place safety in the European Union. Head on over to YouTube to click the “reminder” button when it goes live!

Illicit Trade

Though she can’t travel outside of Europe at the moment, Maria wrote in an article in far-off South Asia in the Sunday Daily Malaysia on how to fight black markets and on Euractiv on the same topic.

Canadian Plastics Ban Would Be A Travesty

And this newsletter wouldn’t be complete without a little bit of our own David Clement, this time in the Toronto Sun newspaper articulating why Prime Minister Trudeau should steer clear of banning plastic — especially in the midst of a pandemic when plastic has become vital to fighting the virus!

How vaping is a gateway out of smoking?

Just to pique your interest a bit more, Maria partnered up with Michael Landl of the World Vapers Alliance to write this study on how vaping is a gateway out of smoking. Several media outlets across the world picked up their paper and we expect to see a lot more action in the coming weeks.

They call it the “Vaping and the Gateway Myth” — LOVE it!

Why the VAT on medicines should be reduced

Bill made the case in English, German, and Indonesian media outlets why the VAT on medicines should be reduced to 0%. It’s vital for patients who need access to life-saving drugs.

Europe Digital Market

Our colleague Maria isn’t done — she wrote an article on why Europe needs to reform its Digital Markets and had it published in Parliament Magazine. You WON’T want to miss.

Legal Reform

Oh yes, and I figured I wouldn’t let you go without a final article on LEGAL REFORM, this time on the public nuisance cases that are bloating our courts and costing consumers. It was featured in the Miami Herald in the days after the election — you’ll even see that some of my predictions came true!