Press release - June 17, 2013
Luxembourg - European governments today issued a mandate for the European Commission to negotiate a transatlantic trade and investment agreement (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States.
Commenting on the TTIP mandate, Jürgen Knirsch, Greenpeace sustainable consumption expert, said: "U.S. exporters of corn, soy, pork or chicken don’t only want to sell their genetically modified crops, chlorinated chicken and hormone meat on the European market. They are also keen to knock down the pillars of European consumer protection. In particular, they want to undermine European methods of risk assessment and the precautionary approach, which is fundamental to protect the environment and the health of Europeans. The more stringent EU limits for pesticides are also in their line of fire".
Existing EU standards for consumer protection must be safeguarded in the negotiations. A trade partnership agreement should ensure that high standards are applied on both sides of the Atlantic. Greenpeace is calling on the European Commission and the European Parliament to ensure that necessary consumer protection is not sacrificed to free trade.