Statement of Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)

This statement by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), submitted to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance on October 30, 2013, argues that the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could undermine public health and environmental protections, particularly regarding toxic chemicals. CIEL warns that mechanisms like regulatory harmonization, mutual recognition, and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) may lower safety standards to a 'lowest-common denominator' and chill the development of more protective laws in the U.S., EU, and globally.

• CIEL argues that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is likely to hinder public health and safety goals regarding chemicals due to the goal of reducing regulatory barriers to trade. To mitigate this, CIEL asserts that the EU and U.S. must maintain the right to set their own health protection levels and that the agreement should exclude investor-state dispute resolution, mutual recognition for sensitive sectors, and the authority of a Regulatory Cooperation Council over the chemicals sector.
• There is a fundamental divergence between U.S. and EU chemicals management: the EU uses a hazard-based approach under the 2006 REACH Regulation, while the U.S. employs a risk-based approach under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). CIEL notes that the risk-based approach is flawed because it relies on assumptions to fill significant data gaps regarding chemical toxicity and exposure.
• CIEL warns that 'mutual recognition' in the chemicals sector would effectively eliminate restrictions that exist in only one jurisdiction, potentially allowing chemicals banned in one region to be sold in another. This is illustrated by the gap in cosmetics regulation, where the EU banned 1,328 chemicals as of January 2003, while the U.S. FDA had banned or restricted only eleven.
• The inclusion of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) in TTIP is opposed by CIEL because it allows corporations to sue governments in private tribunals over policies that reduce expected profits. CIEL cites NAFTA as an example where such provisions led to over US $365 million in compensation payments to foreign investors for challenges to public health, environmental, and energy policies.
• TTIP could preempt sub-federal regulations in the U.S. and national regulations in EU Member States. CIEL highlights that over 30 U.S. states have enacted their own chemical protections due to federal inadequacy, and several EU countries (including France, Germany, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Czech Republic) have implemented moratoria on hydraulic fracturing ('fracking') as a precautionary measure.
• CIEL expresses concern that TTIP could be used by the chemical industry to establish a global regulatory standard that discourages other countries from adopting stringent laws. While countries like China, Japan, and India are drafting REACH-like legislation, CIEL notes that lobbying already weakened Korea's version (K-REACH).

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} }