EU dropped pesticide laws due to US pressure over TTIP, documents reveal

[unhappycamper]

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/may/22/eu-dropped-pesticide-laws-due-to-us-pressure-over-ttip-documents-reveal

US trade officials pushed EU to shelve action on endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility to facilitate TTIP free trade deal

EU dropped pesticide laws due to US pressure over TTIP, documents reveal
Arthur Neslen Brussels
Friday 22 May 2015 06.58 EDT

EU moves to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals linked to cancer and male infertility were shelved following pressure from US trade officials over the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) free trade deal, newly released documents show.

Draft EU criteria could have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). But these were dumped amid fears of a trade backlash stoked by an aggressive US lobby push, access to information documents obtained by Pesticides Action Network (PAN) Europe show.

On the morning of 2 July 2013, a high-level delegation from the US Mission to Europe and the American Chambers of Commerce (AmCham) visited EU trade officials to insist that the bloc drop its planned criteria for identifying EDCs in favour of a new impact study. By the end of the day, the EU had done so.

Minutes of the meeting show commission officials pleading that “although they want the TTIP to be successful, they would not like to be seen as lowering the EU standards”.

[djean111]

1. Oh, EU, your "standards" are toast. Shit-smeared toast.

I sort of wish Obama and all the others pushing it would just STFU and ram it through, and stop the damned lies about how wondrous it is for people. That's insulting, really. I feel I now live in the United Corporations, not the United States.

[stillwaiting]

2. Hopefully the people of Europe will rise up against the TTIP even better than we have

in the U.S.

It's not going to be very good for many, many different reasons for average citizens in Europe I have little doubt. Corporate profits and oligopolistic business interests will most likely be beefed up though! Can't have everything I guess.

[JohnyCanuck]

3. K & R n/t