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TTIP talks: What’s cooking?
- Perspectives on Food & Farming
TTIP – how will it impact on
food and farming?
This conference was organised to look at the broader impacts and concerns
raised by civil society and how it will affect progress in building more
sustainable food systems
1
.
Share information and raise awareness about
concerns on how TTIP could water down key
rules and standards for food and farming in particular
regulatory cooperation’s effect on democratic processes
of regulating in Europe, and how fierce competition from
agribusiness would undermine ecological robust forms of
agriculture and small scale farmers;
3
.
Make food and farming a more prominent issue
in the Brussels TTIP debate; and
2
.
Make clear that it is not possible to trust the con-
stant reassurance by the EC that EU food laws or
standards will not be changed, simply because cheaper
production methods in the US will compete heavily with
EU production;
4
.
Make clear that EU agriculture and food
production needs to choose course: further
intensification and industrialisation or a more robust
sustainable and socio-economically viable path.
Objectives
In the first event of its kind, the
Greens/EFA group in the European
Parliament with the support of civil
society organisations from both
sides of the Atlantic organised a
conference on the impacts of a
potential trade agreement between
the European Union (EU) and the
United States (US) on food and
farming.
Much of the debate around the
Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP) and its impact
on food and farming
has revolved
around food safety issues,
specifically chlorinated chickens
.
Although this is one important
aspect, this conference was
organised to look at the broader
impacts and concerns raised by civil
society and how it will affect progress
in building more sustainable
food systems and the broader
socioeconomic impacts of TTIP on
food and farming.
Invited speakers from the food
and farming sectors, and civil
society presented their views and
concerns relating the EU-US free
trade agreement currently being
negotiated (TTIP). Respondents
from the European Commission, the
United States Trade Representative
(USTR) responded to the challenges
and concerns in an open and frank
debate on TTIP and its potential
consequences on food safety
standards, environmental and
health protection legislation, animal
welfare and TTIPs broader impact on
farmer’s livelihoods and rural areas.
There are many unanswered
questions. For example, even
though DG Trade says there will
be no lowering of EU standards,
how will this be ensured if EU
and US diplomats negotiate
on harmonisation and mutual
recognition? This is at odds with
the citizens
“Right to choose”
versus a “priority for increasing
transatlantic trade”
. At a broader
level, questions have been raised
on how TTIP and other bilateral
trade agreements will lead to
unfair competition. These kinds
of agreements favour a “cheaper
industrial model of food production”
and do not reflect the true costs of
production compared to production
systems that work within ecological
boundaries, with respect to health
and well being of ecosystems and
citizens.
This conference is seen as a first
step in a debate between civil
society and legislators in both
the EU and the US on TTIP and
its broader impact on food and
farming.