Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) warns that TTIP may hinder public health and safety goals by promoting regulatory harmonization and mutual recognition that could lower chemical safety standards. The document highlights the divergence between the EU's hazard-based REACH approach and the US's risk-based TSCA approach, arguing that trade-driven 'regulatory coherence' often results in a 'lowest-common denominator' outcome. It further cautions against investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which could allow corporations to sue governments over environmental laws, and warns that TTIP could preempt protective sub-national regulations in the US and EU. Finally, it suggests that a US-EU agreement could negatively influence the development of chemical regulations in other regions, such as the BRIICS countries.

• The pursuit of regulatory cooperation through harmonization and mutual recognition under TTIP risks reducing national health and environmental protections to a "lowest-common denominator," as seen in previous US trade agreements.
• There is a fundamental conflict between the EU's hazard-based approach to chemicals management under REACH and the US's risk-based approach under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), making full harmonization or mutual recognition unlikely and potentially dangerous.
• Mutual recognition provisions in the chemicals sector could effectively eliminate protections that exist in only one jurisdiction, allowing chemicals banned in one region to be sold in the other.
• Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms allow foreign corporations to bypass domestic courts and challenge public interest laws, with over US $365 million already paid to investors under NAFTA-style deals.
• TTIP could preempt protective sub-federal regulations in the US (such as those in California, Maine, and Washington) and sub-regional laws in the EU (such as fracking moratoria in France and Germany).
• A US-EU agreement on chemicals could create a global standard that discourages other countries, particularly BRIICS nations, from adopting more stringent environmental and health regulations.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2013). Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TTIP_Hearing_30Oct2013.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). 2013. https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TTIP_Hearing_30Oct2013.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) |date=30 October 2013 |url=https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TTIP_Hearing_30Oct2013.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2013statement, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2013}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ciel.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/TTIP_Hearing_30Oct2013.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }