From TUC RISKs 15.3.14 Global: Chemical industry manipulating EU-US trade talks A leaked document from the December 2013 round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations exposes the extent of chemical industry influence over secretive ongoing US-EU trade negotiations, independent researchers have found. Their report says chemical industry proposals to TTIP would have a ‘chilling effect’ on the regulatory environment, slowing down the implementation of precautionary decisions on toxic chemicals, undermining democratic decision-making and stifling the innovation of safer alternatives. The report published this week by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and ClientEarth says the leaked proposal from two chemical industry lobby groups, the American Chemistry Council and the European Chemical Industry Council, would damage future protective legislation on toxic chemicals. “This proposal illustrates two huge and interrelated problems with TTIP,” said Baskut Tuncak, staff attorney for the CIEL, “the privileged position of industry to craft language in the trade agreement without public input, and the unlimited potential of TTIP to affect the ability of countries to regulate on toxic chemicals, energy and climate change, food and agriculture, and other critical issues.” ClientEarth lawyer Vito Buonsante warned: “The overriding theme of the proposals is secrecy. The industry wants to restrict the transparency of information, which is essential if people are to make choices about what they expose themselves to. They also want to undermine the democratic process by putting decision making in the hands of industry dominated committees.” The report says the leaked chemical industry proposals would have a particularly damaging effect on legislation concerning chemicals that interfere with hormonal systems, such as endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Ÿ Toxic partnership: A critique of the ACC-CEFIC proposal for trans-Atlantic cooperation on chemicals, ClientEarth/CIEL’s joint report, March 2014. Ÿ Leaked document from the December 2013 round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations. Ÿ TUC Touchstone blog. Ÿ The Guardian.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Mar 2014 20:10:02 +0000
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