The 8th round of negotiations took place last week in Brussels. Comprehensive discussions were had in all 3 areas of the negotiations; Market Access, Regulatory Cooperation and the Rules, which includes trade facilitation, intellectual property, sustainable development, labour, the environment and SMEs. ISDS or investment protection was not discussed.
The Market Access discussions focused on tariffs, services and public procurement.
Discussions in the Regulatory area were around the proposals tabled by both sides on regulatory cooperation, technical barriers to trade i.e. standards and conformity assessment and sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures (SPS). The regulatory cooperation text was tabled by the EU and is available on the EU Commission website: http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/press/index.cfm?id=1230#regulatory-cooperation.
The main elements of the EU text are good regulatory practices and enhanced regulatory cooperation. Negotiators are discussing ways to establish a good system of cooperation between the US and EU regulators in a manner that does not compromise standards on either side of the Atlantic.
Discussions on the Rules area included sustainable development, labour and the environment. Both the EU and the US believe in the protection of workers’ rights and in the protection of the environment. Negotiators stated that they are committed to achieving an ambitious outcome. Also discussed were trade facilitation, intellectual property, state to state dispute settlement, rules or origin, energy and raw materials and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
During the 8th round the negotiating teams spent one day meeting and hearing from over 400 civil society representatives from business and industry, professional associations, consumer bodies, environmental groups and the labour movement. Turning to Regulatory Cooperation, the EU and US work closely already in a number of areas. Air transport is one example of where common standards for safety and technical requirements are already in place. The EU and the US have also agreed to recognise each other’s organic food standards. The TTIP proposes to extend this to other areas such as cars, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. The objective is to avoid duplication and to find ways to make our systems work more smoothly.
Regulatory compatibility and cooperation is not about deregulation. Rather it recognises the realities of globalisation and will make the trading landscape easier and more predictable. This will be particularly important in unlocking the potential for SMEs and in helping them to internationalise and grow exports.
