MSP briefing – Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

Type: MP briefings
Date: 29 April 2015

This briefing is for the European and External Relations Committee debate.

The Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP) is currently being negotiated between the US and EU. We believe that the risks from TTIP far outweigh the benefits. TTIP is not about reducing conventional barriers to trade, such as tariffs (which are already extremely low between the US and the EU) it is designed to take away barriers which are behind the customs border – such as differences in regulations, standards and certifications.

TTIP is a gamechanging attempt to find common denominators for environmental, health, food, energy and medical regulations on both sides of the Atlantic, with great risks to hard won measures to protect public health, worker rights and the environment. If passed, TTIP will hand unprecedented powers to big business and
become the new model for future trade agreements worldwide, subjecting other countries, particularly those in the global south, to the same detrimental impacts.