RENE VAN SLOTEN
Executive Director for Industrial Policy, 
Cefic – the EU chemical industry council

Despite the best efforts of top American and European trade diplomats, a conclusion to TTIP remains elusive. The European chemical industry remains committed to the ideals of free trade in a responsible way, and has called for the conclusion of an ambitious transatlantic trade agreement. So what are we asking for, and why do we ask for it? And what do we hope will happen?

Benefits of better international trade

The future of EU-US trade is a critical issue for Europe’s chemical manufacturers. About 20% of EU chemicals trade is with the US, and this trade and regulatory process already takes place without TTIP. Chemical companies and regulators have decades of experience cooperating, and we see room to improve this process via TTIP including through better regulatory cooperation.

Regulatory cooperation for chemicals in TTIP

There is room for greater cooperation in the following three areas while maintaining the highest safety standards:

Promoting alignment in classification and labelling of chemicals

This is an area with great potential ...