site.bta Report: Proposed EU-US Trade Agreement Can Ruin Bulgarian Food Industry

Report: Proposed EU-US Trade Agreement Can Ruin Bulgarian Food Industry

Sofia, April 24 (BTA) - A recent report warns that the proposed
EU-US free trade agreement known as the Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) can ruin the Bulgarian food
industry. "The industry can be swept away like a tent swept by a
 hurricane," says Chavdar Naidenov, one of the authors of the
report which examines TTIP's potential effects on Bulgaria's
society and economy.

The study was unveiled on Friday during a BTA-hosted news
conference organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the
Bulgarian Solidarity Association (BSA).

Naidenov said the European Commission has been trying to hammer
in the point that food standards are not subject to any
negotiations relevant to TTIP. But the US openly stated at the
very beginning of the talks that they want to get the EU to
relax or even remove its sanitary and phytosanitary restrictions
 because they are very different from those adopted by the US
and hinder imports to the EU, he said.

"Europe's goal is to remove unnecessary restrictions on trade
and investment by reciprocal recognition and convergence of
standards and by enhanced cooperation between the regulatory
authorities. But convergence is only possible if either party
accepts completely the alien philosophy of the other," Naidenov
noted.

The problem is that food, cosmetics, dyes etc. are allowed into
the EU market only if they are proven to be harmless, whereas
the US approach is that everything is allowed unless it is
proven harmful, the expert said. "To convince the US to change
its entire regulatory philosophy, which is supported by powerful
 interest groups, is a utopia. This means that convergence, if
any, should come as a compromise by Europe," he said.

Experts are concerned that, on the one hand, the EU will have to
 lower its standards, and on the other hand, US competitors will
 gradually beat EU products because the more liberal rules in
the US make for lower production costs, Naidenov said.

He recalled that seven years ago Bulgarian producers spent a lot
 of money to align their practices with EU standards, but this
did not give them a foothold on the EU market and even caused
them to lose much of their home market. "Now, they would be
faced with even more overwhelming competition and would have
either to yield more territory or radically change their
technologies," Naidenov cautioned.

Market standards aside, TTIP will push up unemployment levels in
 the EU, causing an additional 600,000 to 700,000 people to lose
 their jobs, said BSA President Vanya Grigorova, who edited the
report. National budgets in the EU will lose 7.3 billion euro
annually after customs duties are removed, Grigorova warned.

She further said: "Labour safeguards are particularly
threatened. US labour laws say that an employer is not required
to sign an employment contract, he may sever his relations with
his employees at any time without having to explain why or prove
 that he had to. The US authorities do not limit working hours.
I am afraid that the adoption of US standards will have even
more tragic effects on Bulgarian employees."