Foodwatch on the EU-Canada Agreement, » CETA is not a harmless trade agreement «

Berlin, December 1, 2022

On the vote in the Bundestag on EU-Canada trade agreement CETA, Rhona Bindwald from consumer organization Foodwatch explains…

» CETA is not a harmless trade agreement that merely lowers tariffs and promotes trade. Commercial treaty creates parallel justice only for whom? #CorporationRefers the Bundestag to an audience bench on important issues and weakens it #consumer Protection And #Environment protection in the European Union. Additional declarations and other papers do not change that. We are actively investigating a new constitutional complaint against CETA.

Foodwatch exclusively looks at 3 threats from CETA

1. CETA creates parallel justice for corporations only

CETA establishes an Investment Court System (ICS) that allows transnational corporations to sue governments when new laws run contrary to their profit interests. It has a preventive effect and can be controlled, for example to combat #climate crisisObstacle.

2. CETA bypasses the Bundestag and the European Parliament

CETA establishes committees made up of officials from the European Union and Canada. These committees meet in secret and have far-reaching powers: they can make internationally binding decisions on sensitive issues such as import regulations. #Meal Prepare with pesticide residues or meat hygiene controls. Neither the European Parliament nor the public has detailed information on what is being negotiated. The decisions of the Committee are not governed by the European Parliament or the national parliaments of EU member states.

3. CETA weakens consumer protection and environmental protection

The so-called precautionary principle is in fact firmly established in EU treaties. According to this principle, authorities may ban a substance (such as a pesticide) as a precautionary measure if there is a scientifically justified indication. #harm to health either #environmental damage Huh. The burden of proving that a substance is safe lies with the manufacturer. CETA puts this important principle at risk because the Canadian government is setting #Europe Under pressure to move away from the precautionary principle and consider Canada’s risk-based approach (the aftercare principle) equivalent.

More on this in the Foodwatch report » CETA – On Attack #Health, #environment, #consumer Protection and democracy«, More,