Position Paper: Mutual recognition of standards in TTIP

The European Union’s current proposal for legal provisions on regulatory cooperation under the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) implies extending regulatory and technical cooperation between the EU and US authorities by cutting red tape, developing new structures and processes to increase information exchanges, and by identifying common ‘areas of interest’ for further cooperation.

Under a specific section on legal provisions on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), TTIP also proposes to facilitate the harmonisation of standards based on mutual interest and reciprocity, for instance through a process of mutual recognition where EU and US standards could equally provide presumption of conformity with relevant European legislation.

ECOS considers that closer regulatory convergence and technical cooperation on standards in the context of TTIP threaten citizens’ welfare and the environment.

Read our full position paper ‘Mutual recognition of standards in TTIP: Another threat to citizens’ welfare and the environment?’ here.

The executive summary is also available to read in German here.

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