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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEU dropped plans for safer pesticides because of TTIP and pressure from US
EU plans to regulate hormone-damaging chemicals found in pesticides have been dropped because of threats from the US that this would adversely affect negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), according to a report in The Guardian. Draft EU regulations would have banned 31 pesticides containing endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that have been linked to testicular cancer and male infertility.
Just after the official launch of the TTIP negotiations on 13 June 2013, a US business delegation visited EU officials to demand that the proposed regulations governing EDCs should be thrown out in favour of a further "impact study." Minutes of the meeting on June 26 show Commission officials saying that "although they want the TTIP to be successful, they would not like to be seen as lowering the EU standards." Nonetheless, the European Commission capitulated shortly afterwards.
That climbdown was despite repeated promises from the European Commission that TTIP would not jeopardise EU health and safety standards. For example, a Commission factsheet on Pesticides in TTIP from February 2015 states: "TTIP will not lower the food safety standards for pesticides." The Guardian report demonstrates that plans to strengthen regulations governing EDCs were blocked, which is equivalent to a lowering of future standards that would have been introduced had it not been for TTIP.
As well as giving the lie to assurances that health and safety would not be compromised in order to reach an agreement on TTIP, the European Commission's move makes no sense from a purely economic standpoint. The claimed benefit from an "ambitious" TTIP agreement is £100 billion in 2027. According to "the most comprehensive study of the subject yet published," the health costs of EDCs to Europe are between £113 billion and £195 billion (between 160 and 277 billion) every year. Tackling EDCs with more stringent safety rules could potentially provide a far bigger boost to the EU economy than even the most optimisticand unrealisticpredictions for TTIP. And yet the European Commission decided it was more important to appease the US than save money or protect EU citizens.
more
http://arstechnica.co.uk/tech-policy/2015/05/eu-dropped-plans-for-safer-pesticides-because-of-ttip-and-pressure-from-us/
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)I don't understand the lunacy of the super-rich. They are out to Get It All, even if they have to turn everything to poison in order to do it. Do they really think they can insulate their grandchildren from the consequences of their rapacious greed?
As a non-religionist, I'm starting to re-think my position on the existence of evil.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)They can live separate from the rest of us, in beautiful, unspoiled enclaves, with special food grown free of chemicals. Most can't think 5 minutes ahead of the next profit report.
Jackpine Radical
(45,274 posts)is figuring out ways to dig rodents out of holes.
Same skill set, different varmint.
nenagh
(1,925 posts)"That they can live separate from the rest of us,...with special food grown free of chemicals"...it is the only conclusion that makes sense and yet we've been so conditioned to consider that nearly conspiracy theory.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)pa28
(6,145 posts)nenagh
(1,925 posts)elite in China...the delicacies- rice watered by mountain stream, hormone free cattle from grassy fields in Inner Mongolia, the organic teas..
To have a complete system of supply dedicated to the elite few..I was, stupidly, shocked. But thank you for the link.
I came upon a paper written by Paul Grootendorst and Aiden Hollis from 2011, "An Economic Impact Assessment of Proposed Pharmaceutical Intellectual Property Provisions" re CETA: (the Canadian EU Comprehensive Trade Agreement)
There are some comparisons to the U.S...though not many, but the paper is meticulous & very detailed.
There are sections on patents, patent linkage and data exclusivity etc that might be interesting. Because of the number of pharmaceutical company's head offices being located in the EU, it is a kowtowing in legal format to those corporations that will significantly alter Canadian drug laws if the deal actually is signed.
We cannot know the relevance to the secret TPP intellectual property rights re patented drugs..being negotiated..but it may give some clues. There are significant differences in the Canadian system vs the U.S. of pharmaceutical regulation. But there might be a commonality to the thinking between those that negotiate for big Pharma, so to speak, for CETA and those who negotiate for the TPP.
CETA apparently grants the power to customs officials (I just scanned it, might have it wrong) to stop shipments of medications at the border.. which would be completely new.
Also don't know if these details are subject to change since 2011, but the Harper government is very pleased with the agreement... whereas it is hard to square increasing medication costs at a time that the baby boomer cohort is aging..
moondust
(19,981 posts)This is appaently the First Commandment of the capitalist religion that some people believe in, live by, and die for. I distinctly remember hearing it for the first time--in 1985.
99Forever
(14,524 posts).. is difficult to wrap your head around. Especially when you see who is leading the charge that will poison us all.
I can't believe this is our country. I thought we were so much better than this. Apparently I was wrong.
pa28
(6,145 posts)Looks like banks and corporations found the pot of gold under the rainbow.
Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)The president is a good father! Pass it, then fix it! These trade pacts are one big yawn! They will have no effect on most of us!
erronis
(15,257 posts)As we are all remembering on Memorial Day, Gen. Smedley Smith who has said that "War is a Racket."
Well, the NSA, the CIA, the USTR, and all the other alphabet organizations have only one reason for existence - to serve the rich and powerful.
All that storage built by the NSA in Utah is to store plenty of material for blackmail against anybody who does not toe the corporate line. Sorry, Barrack - you cannot really be an agent of Change - remember?
Elwood P Dowd
(11,443 posts)I no longer believe a word coming out of that place.
NRaleighLiberal
(60,014 posts)whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)malokvale77
(4,879 posts)organics in particular need bees (which pesticides are killing), and human labor (which the rich find disposable).
All the money in the world can't buy what doesn't exist.
whereisjustice
(2,941 posts)and that is what is driving chaos in the world. This doesn't mean it will end well for the rich, but their perception is that money buys them anything they want and for now it is true.
Unfortunately, things are going to get much worse for the non-rich before the rich feel any consequence of their behavior.
malokvale77
(4,879 posts)being non-rich will survive them. We actually know how to do things. LOL
Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)Nasty!