{"id":47230,"date":"2024-09-26T07:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-26T05:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/?p=47230"},"modified":"2024-09-25T22:49:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-25T20:49:26","slug":"cruel-trade-loopholes-let-european-companies-export-toxic-products-banned-from-eu-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eu-unit\/issues\/nature-food\/47230\/cruel-trade-loopholes-let-european-companies-export-toxic-products-banned-from-eu-market\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCruel\u201d trade loopholes let European companies export toxic products banned from EU market"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Brussels, <\/strong>26 September 2024<\/strong> <\/strong>\u2013 More than 100 non-governmental organisations, including Amnesty International, the Child Rights International Network and Greenpeace, have called on the European Union<\/a> to close what they call \u201chypocritical, cruel, unfair and intolerable\u201d loopholes which allow companies in the EU to export products to other parts of the world even when those products have been banned in Europe for safety reasons. <\/p>\n\n

Laws governing the sale and use of pesticides, children\u2019s toys, toxic chemicals, single-use plastics and intrusive artificial intelligence systems are subject to a  loophole that allows companies to export dangerous categories of goods from Europe to the rest of the world. <\/p>\n\n

*** <\/strong>Read the joint briefing and full list of 117 signatories here<\/strong><\/a> ***<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Greenpeace EU campaigner Lis Cunha said<\/strong>: \u201cIt\u2019s scandalous that EU bans on dangerous products don\u2019t apply when the goods are destined for non-EU countries. From plastics to pesticides, Europe\u2019s politicians know that these products are harmful to the environment and people\u2019s health, but they\u2019ve chosen to put private profit above the wellbeing of vulnerable communities in other parts of the world. It\u2019s indefensible, and the EU must now act quickly to close these loopholes with a single, cross-cutting law.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Veblen Institute advocacy officer for trade policy reform, Stephanie Kpenou, said<\/strong>: \u201cIt is high time to end this double standard, which violates the EU’s environmental and human rights commitments and discredits the ambitions of the Green Deal. This ethically unjustifiable situation is yet another illustration of how EU trade policy is often conceived and implemented without regard to its adverse impacts on climate, biodiversity and human rights.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

The joint briefing<\/a> documents how these hypocritical trade loopholes appear in current and proposed laws, including:<\/p>\n\n