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TTIP: clarifications on the harmonisation of EU and US manufacturing rules

The answer of the European Commissioner for Trade to a parliamentary question concerning the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) was published in the OJEU C 405 of 14 November 2014. As regards the possibility for the EU and US to apply the same manufacturing rules for products despite standards being different, the Commissioner pointed out that:
  • approaches based on equivalence of EU and US requirements shall not be considered across the board but discussed for specific sectors in a specific context.
  • “the EU and the US will retain their regulatory autonomy and TTIP will not result in a lowering of protection levels for consumers, health or the environment”.
  •  EU regulations will continue to apply to products irrespective of their origin. Products will be placed on the EU market based on compliance with US requirements only if specific EU and US regulations were recognised as equivalent under TTIP. Such equivalence can only be established between requirements that ensure the same high level of safety, health or environmental protection.
For information, as regards regulatory issues affecting trade in goods, the TTIP aims to  to minimise obstacles to trade arising from differences between EU and US regulations.   Sources :
  • Question for written answer E-004893/14 to the Commission, OJEU C 405 of 14 November 2014, p. 52
  • Answer given by the European Commissioner for Trade on 25 June 2014, OJEU C 405 of 14 November 2014, p. 52

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