Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: U.S. trade deal might loosen Europe’s chemical safety rules

This news update regarding the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is brought to you by McClatchy DC.

 

It’s been difficult for American chemical companies to crack the European market because the safety standards there are tougher than they are in the U.S. But that might be changing.

 

A pending free trade deal with the European Union, known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, might include broad changes to how products that contain chemicals, including everyday household items such as cosmetics and cleaners, are regulated on both sides of the Atlantic.

 

A wide variety of chemicals used in manufacturing a host of products are available in the U.S. but banned in the 28-nation EU because they’ve been linked to cancer and birth defects. The chemical industry wants to see a unified set of standards. It argues that domestic regulations for chemicals are based on “science” while the European prohibitions are rooted in precaution. The effect, the industry says, is to block American products from finding new markets.