[All redactions made under Art. 4.1(b)]
Ref. Ares(2015)4645591 - 28/10/2015
EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Directorate-General for Trade
Directorate E - Neighbouring countries, USA and Canada
USA and Canada
Brussels,
USA and Canada
Meeting Report
TTIP R9 – Side meeting with
BASF – 23 April 2015, 8.00-8.45
In the margins of the 9th TTIP round in New York, we (
EU DEL D.C.;
, DG TRADE) had a productive side meeting with BASF's
(based in New Jersey).
We gave an overview of where we currently stand with the TTIP negotiations in the area of
chemicals. In particular, we outlined progress achieved in the ongoing
pilot projects on priority
chemicals as well as on classification and labelling of substances (on the latter, see enclosed
BASF's slides with an instructive summary of key issues from an industry perspective). BASF
provided a contact in Europe (
) for further discussion of classification and labelling
issues. Industry will have to comply with GHS rules implemented by OSHA by June this year and
they are discussing internally how to ensure compliance.
We also explained that the US has proposed to launch a
third pilot project on Safety Data
Sheets where we are currently waiting for a written analysis from the US OSHA with details on
the possible structure and goals of this third pilot project.
was also interested to discuss the state of play of the
ongoing EU Impact
Assessment on criteria to identify endocrine disruptors. We pointed to the upcoming feedback
report of DG SANTÉ which will provide a summary of contributions received from various
stakeholders during the public consultation which closed on 16 January 2015. We explained the
next steps in the IA process, including the upcoming two IA studies ((1) screening of endocrine
disrupting substances – here the JRC has just presented its draft screening methodology and (2)
socio-economic impacts).
Interestingly,
signalled that the chemicals industry on both sides of the Atlantic is
still very much interested to see
data sharing between regulators as part of a TTIP Chemicals
Annex. We explained that this specific aspect has been put on hold for the time being as we first
have to look into the various legal issues and have to ensure that we fully respect the respective
legal constraints which regulators on both sides face (namely under REACH in the EU and TSCA
in the US).
announced that industry is looking into the possibility of organising a
specific workshop on data sharing in the coming months. This workshop would be held in
Washington with participation of the USG, EU and industry.
will provide us with
more details once available. BASF considers organising this workshop during the next round
held in the US (in September/October). The idea would be to explore all possibilities for sharing
of CBI, or to discard it altogether in TTIP, but at least make sure we tried.
Commission européenne/Europese Commissie, 1049 Bruxelles/Brussel, BELGIQUE/BELGIË - Tel. +32 22991111
Finally,
also gave a
presentation during the stakeholder session of the 9th round,
with the title "Regulatory Coherence & Standards for Crop Protection Products: An Industry
Perspective" (attached).
2
Document Outline