WASHINGTON, May 21 (PNA/RIA Novosti) -- The
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations are
secretive and undemocratic, Debbie Barker, International Director at the
Washington-based Center for Food Safety told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
“We find it a little ironic that the U.S. and
EU, who often pride themselves at being the most democratic, transparent
nations, but in this case of the TTIP negotiations, will not release the
negotiating texts after each round,” Barker said.
“We’re calling on the EU and U.S. negotiating
bodies to release the texts after each round of talks to ensure that we have
public transparency and an informed public discourse,” said Barker. “That is
the minimum if they want to claim any kind of credibility of being democratic.”
Barker’s primary concern is the possible
effects of the agreement on food producers.
European and American negotiators are currently
meeting in Arlington, VA for the fifth round of TTIP talks. The free trade
agreement, if implemented, would establish trade policy across economic sectors
for countries that comprise almost 40 percent of the world’s GDP.
Drafts of agreements that alter national laws
have traditionally been made available to the public and elected officials in
democratic countries.
According to Barker, “there are approximately
550-600 corporate advisers who are now advising on TTIP negotiations and they
have access to the negotiating texts. Yet elected officials have stringent and
limited access to the texts.” She has recently presented the findings of the
Center for Food
Safety to members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee.
Advocates of TTIP say the agreement will expand
trade and investment between the United States and the EU, increase economic
growth, jobs, and improve the ability to address geo-economic and geopolitical
challenges.
However, Barker is
skeptical of the data used to calculate those advantages. “Because the
negotiating texts are secret, we don’t have data, and they don’t provide the
data on which they’re basing these claims,” she said. (PNA/RIA Novosti)
JBP/RSM
JBP/RSM
