Shared chemicals assessment on TTIP table

EU and US negotiators are examining how regulators can “share the work of assessing priority chemicals” as part of the TTIP trade deal, the US chief negotiator has said.

But joint chemicals regulation is “absolutely off the table”, the EU’s chief negotiator emphasised as the seventh round of TTIP talks closed.

Shared assessments would “avoid unnecessary duplication of effort and cost” and “allow the US and EU regulators to do their jobs more efficiently, freeing up their resources for places where the need is greater”, Dan Mullaney of the US said. He acknowledged that the EU and US regulatory systems for chemicals are “very different”.