Protest against EU-US trade deal planned

Protests are planned against a controversial EU-US trade deal, which opponents say could threaten European agriculture.

Civil society groups including the Landworkers’ Alliance, which represents small-scale farmers, will join demonstrations in 16 UK cities on Saturday 12 July to protest against the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

TTIP aims to open up trade between the USA and EU through the lifting of import tariffs and relaxation of standards and trade rules. According to some estimates it could be worth up to £100bn a year to the EU.

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The Landworkers’ Alliance has warned of “serious repercussions for farmers’ livelihoods”. Opponents of the deal say EU farmers could lose out, as an increase in cheap US agricultural imports would depress prices, while the relaxation of standards threatened the quality advantage of European products.

So far, the EU has stood by specific issues it says it is not prepared to negotiate on. These include the banning of hormone-treated beef and chlorine-treated chicken imports, the protection of geographically protected products, and maintaining animal welfare standards and GM restrictions.

However, the quota size for US imports – beef in particular – is also a major worry for European farmers.

“US farmers have significant cost-of-production advantages to the UK and the EU, because of GMOs, growth hormones and less regulation,” said NFU economist Lucia Zitti.

There needed to be more focus on the threats from competition, she added.

Concern has been growing among farming groups about the cumulative effect of TTIP and other EU trade deals with Canada and South America. In May, the European farm lobby group Copa-Cogeca warned that a Latin American trade deal could cost EU beef farmers €9bn.

However, unless one or both parties make concessions, disagreements over agriculture could threaten the trade deal, a House of Lords Committee warned in May.

The next round of talks is due to take place in Brussels between 14-18 July.