CETA threatens food safety even before national parliaments sign off

20 September 2017
by greenpeace -- last modified 20 September 2017

On the eve of the preliminary application of the EU-Canada trade deal, CETA, Greenpeace warned of threats to food safety and agricultural standards.

Around 90 per cent of CETA will come into force on a provisional basis on 21 September, even before it gains approval from the EU's national and regional parliaments.

Greenpeace Netherlands trade campaigner Kees Kodde said: "It is unacceptable for CETA to come into force before national parliaments have had their say. Canada has weaker food safety and labelling standards than the EU, and industrial agriculture more heavily dependent on pesticides and GM crops. CETA gives Canadian and US multinationals the tools to undermine rules concerning cloning, GM crops, growth hormones and country of origin labelling, among others. Europe's national parliaments must reject this dangerous deal and protect our food and farming."

On 6 September the Belgian government asked the European Court of Justice to rule on the legality of CETA's controversial investment protection mechanism, amid concerns that it may be in conflict with European legislation.

**For details on the risks of CETA to European food safety, please see three new briefing papers by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Greenpeace Netherlands on: regulatory cooperation, growth hormones, GM crops; country of origin labelling; and animal cloning.

** Briefings

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