[JURIST] In Monday's environmental law news, facing a declining tiger population, India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [official website] has banned gifts of live tigers to foreign dignitaries, established a wildlife crime prevention bureau, and created a taskforce of forest officials, wildlife experts and community leaders to report on the status of the tiger population. There are an estimated 2,000-4,000 tigers left in India, which account for about half of the world's tiger population. There had been over 40,000 tigers in India a century ago, but they have been killed largely for trophies and their supposed medicinal qualities. Reuters has the full story.

In other news,

• Japan has again refused to establish a timetable for the resumption of US beef imports. US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice brought up the issue Saturday during a visit to Tokyo. The ban has been in effect since late 2003, and in October 2004 Japan had agreed to allow beef imports once the technical details were worked out. The Japan Food Safety Commission [official website] hopes to have a final report ready for government approval in May. Reuters has the full story.
  
  
• The European Commission [official website] has demanded that Poland reduce its plans [text PDF] for 2005-2007 CO2 emissions by 16.5 percent. Poland Ministry of Environment [official website] deputy minister, Tomasz Podgajniak, has responded by calling for the development of nuclear power plants. Poland is primarily powered by coal-fired power plants, and had planned to open a nuclear plant by 2022. The EC demand forces Poland to take immediate action to produce a clean energy supply. The Warsaw Business Journal has the full story.