Remove chemicals from the EU-US trade talks

IPEN endorses a new campaign by Participating Organizations Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) that aims to ensure that European Union - United States trade talks do not undermine EU chemicals legislation.
 
The United States and European Union are negotiating a new trade agreement called the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). This agreement is a threat to the EU’s ability to protect people from toxic chemical exposure.
 
EU legislation is currently much more protective than US regulations. If chemicals are included in this trade deal, the EU could see its global leadership in protecting public health through tough laws like REACH watered down. In addition to pesticide legislation, TTIP could halt the EU’s progress on a policy to limit exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals.

The European Parliament has said that toxic chemicals should have no place in the TTIP negotiations. The Campaign agrees and is calling for:

• Chemicals to be excluded from regulatory cooperation because it would provide new channels for private profit to hold power in the drafting or revision of EU laws.
• No elements of the controversial EU policy “Better Regulation” embedded in a legally binding trade agreement.
• No provisions enabling multinationals to sideline the EU courts and sue European states, the so-called Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) or Investment Court System.

 
At the start of the 13th TTIP round, HEAL, CIEL, the European Environmental Bureau and ClientEarth wrote a letter to EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström to ask her to ensure that no elements of the increasingly controversial EU ‘Better Regulation’ agenda are codified in this legally-binding trade agreement.

To view the letter and learn more about the Campaign and TTAP, please see the Campaign website.