Free trade agreements

10 reasons TTIP is bad for good food and farming

The United States and the European Union have launched negotiations on a new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): a free trade agreement that aims to “harmonize” standards and regulations in both regions to expand corporate profits. However, the regulations in question are critical to creating more sustainable, healthy food systems in Europe and in the United States.

What goes around comes around: U.S. trade agenda vs. climate and green jobs

On Friday, President Obama announced new commitments to support the solar industry and create green jobs. Too bad the President’s trade agenda didn’t get the memo.

Webinar: TTIP webinar series: Trade rules for poultry and pork: safe for whom?

One of the flashpoints in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks is the pressure to bring EU standards to US levels in ways that expand the use of industrial agriculture despite the risks to human and animal health and worker safety.

The anti-localization agenda in TTIP

When U.S. and EU officials talk about the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), they say it will bring the two economies together as leaders in the global economy. Just this week, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso told the U.S.

Trading away localization in TTIP

All over the world, communities and nations are developing new ways to rebuild local economies. In the U.S. and Europe, a growing number of people are taking a look at the processed foods at the supermarket and opting instead for healthier choices: foods that are local, in season and grown with fewer pesticides.

US-EU free trade agreement draws strong reactions from farming communities and consumers in Germany

Earlier this month, IATP was part of a six-event speakers’ tour organized by the progressive German farmers’ organization, ABL and sponsored by over 20 German organizations on the proposed U.S.-EU free trade agreement.

U.S. groups voice concerns about meat industry demands in transatlantic trade deal

Trade negotiators from the United States and the European Union are meeting in Brussels this week behind closed doors to inch towards a transatlantic free trade agreement, benignly referred to as the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment partnership (TTIP). Twenty-nine U.S.

Obama administration told to stop expanding "corporate rights" in trade agreements

One of the most controversial provisions in free trade agreements is the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, which gives corporations the right to sue governments over public measures that undermine their expected profits. It’s a pretty outrageous assault on democratic structures.

Agriculture in TPP: Repeating NAFTA’s mistakes

Farmers, union, environmental and women’s activists gathered in Mexico City last week to take stock of the lessons from NAFTA and plan strategies to confront the next big threat: the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). One of the earliest lessons from the NAFTA experience was that people and environments in all three countries were affected. The stories from Mexico, Canada and the U.S.