U.S. FOOD AND AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND THE T-TIP

The organizations and companies here below represent the vast majority of U.S. food and agricultural producers, processors and exporters that initially registered strong support for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

However they are concerned by the European Parliament demands that the European Commission should defend the SPS barriers and the precautionary principle on which they were based, yet, on the other hand, calling on the United States to lift its ban on EU beef, which resulted from the BSE crisis, “as a trust-building measure.” At the core, they argue  the EU’s non-scientific notion of “precaution” has led to the adoption of many trade-restrictive measures that have resulted in several high-profile WTO disputes in which the EU’s defense of the precautionary principle has been ruled to be inconsistent with WTO rules. Such precautionary measures they point out are often based on mere hazard identification – or worse, on public perception and political considerations – rather than proper, science-based risk assessments, as required by the WTO. And, even in cases where risk assessments are ultimately carried out, the EU they say has demonstrated an inability to lift unjustifiable measures because of domestic political pressures. From their perspective, “Precaution” in the EU has become a pretext for import protectionism under the pretense of consumer safety. As a result, U.S. exports have repeatedly paid the price.

Examples of such problems include unjustifiable restrictions on production methods that negatively affect exports of U.S. meat, poultry and dairy products, as well as fresh fruits; discriminatory and trade-restricting labeling requirements; political and regulatory barriers to agricultural biotechnology that restrict U.S. corn, soy and processed corn and soy product exports; and imposition of arbitrary sustainability requirements on the production of feedstocks in the United States and other countries for biofuels used in the EU.

If, selected sectors or measures are excluded from the TTIP they say, or placed into a “future negotiation” category, the TTIP will fall short of achieving the Administration’s goal for it to be a high-class 21st century agreement, and it will likely fail to win the overall support of the food and agricultural sector that will be needed to ensure final passage of this agreement.

Signatories

• American Farm Bureau Federation
• American Feed Industry Association
• American Frozen Food Institute
• American Meat Institute
• American Sheep Industry Association
• American Soybean Association
• Animal Health Institute
• Biotechnology Industry Organization
• California Farm Bureau Federation
• California Poultry Federation
• Corn Refiners Association
• Georgia Poultry Federation
• Grocery Manufacturers Association
• International Dairy Foods Association
• Michigan Agri-Business Association
• Michigan Bean Shippers
• National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA)
• National Association of Wheat Growers
• National Barley Growers Association
• National Cattlemen's Beef Association
• National Chicken Council
• National Confectioners Association
• National Corn Growers Association
• National Council of Farmer Cooperatives
• National Grain and Feed Association
• National Milk Producers Federation
• National Oilseed Processors Association
• National Pork Producers Council
• National Renderers Association
• National Sorghum Producers
• National Turkey Federation
• North American Equipment Dealers Association
• North American Export Grain Association
• North American Meat Association
• North Carolina Poultry Federation
• Northwest Horticultural Council
• Pet Food Institute
• U.S. Apple Association
• U.S. Canola Association
• U.S. Dairy Export Council
• U.S. Grains Council
• U.S. Livestock Genetics Export, Inc.
• U.S. Wheat Associates
• USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council
• USA Poultry & Egg Export Council
• USA Rice Federation
• Western Growers Association