Brussels, 11 July 2014 – Health Care Without Harm is one of 111 European and US chemical safety, health, environmental and consumer organisations that have signed a letter in opposition to proposed rules for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

The letter, sent to EU Commissioner for Trade Karel de Gucht and US Trade Representative Michael Froman, expresses our shared concern that the proposed rules for TTIP would serve to advance the chemical industry’s agenda at the expense of public health and environmental responsibility.

“Including chemicals in the scope of TTIP is a threat to the environmental legislation Europeans have worked so hard to establish,” said Laurel Berzanskis, Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Policy Officer for HCWH Europe.  “Free trade principles are a top priority in negotiations like this, and environmental safeguards are often viewed as a barrier to trade. We are asking trade negotiators to remove any terms from the TTIP agreement that implicate chemicals.”

The letter highlights specific proposals that could weaken tighter EU chemical protections. This includes an EU Regulatory Cooperation Council proposal that would require regulators to calculate the costs of chemical regulations to transatlantic trade, which overlooks the need to consider the overall benefits of such protective laws for society. The letter also criticises the fundamental lack of transparency in the TTIP negotiation process.

Read the letter in full online.

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