Stronger, more progressive regulations for the protection of health and the environment are being targeted by industry for elimination under the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Where stronger laws and standards have been democratically adopted or are even proposed—for hazardous pesticides and other chemicals on only one side of the Atlantic, they have consistently been cast by industry as trade irritants, to be eliminated. Due to ongoing public health, food security and other concerns, several states of the United States and some Member States of the European Union con tinue to develop and advocate for stronger controls over the use of pesticides.
Prior to the sixth round of negotiations, American and European pesticide lobby groups CropLife America and the European Crop Protection Association (ECPA), representing the interests of powerhouse pesticide corporations active on both sides of the Atlantic, such as BASF, Bayer, Dow, DuPont, Monsanto, and Syngenta, produced recommendations for TTIP negotiators to consider on regulatory convergence.
This report provides a critical analysis of the CropLife-ECPA proposal for regulatory cooperation under TTIP. It demonstrates the pesticide industry’s actual goal of increasing trade while increasing the risk of harm to European and American citizens. It reveals the extent to which the pesticide industry is willing to go to maximize profits