On March 12, 2014, Molly Scott-Cato, Member of the Green Party of the European Parliament published a response to an earlier Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article by her opponent Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Julie Girling on the online news platform Our National Health and Safety (OUR NHS) (previously reported on by the FPF). In her WSJ article, Girling had criticized that the application of the precautionary principle in European chemical regulation may jeopardize the trade talks. According to Scott-Cato, Girling thereby shows clearly that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is not to benefit the individual citizen but largely represents corporate interests. In contrast, Scott-Cato expresses the belief that the precautionary principle protects Europeans from the worst excesses of corporate damage. Scott-Cato opposes Girling’s assertion that the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) can be easily compared to other environmental influences on the body’s hormonal system and are thus harmless. Instead she argues that 50 years of chemical exposure will unlikely have been sufficient for humans to evolutionarily adapt to the effects of EDCs. Scott-Cato asserts that the TTIP agreement will likely result in another “onslaught from the peddlers of genetically modified foods, pharmaceuticals and social protections”, as it is not about trade but about corporate power and the expansion thereof. She concludes, that the secret negotiations should be made public to thoroughly assess what the TTIP is really is about.

Read more

Molly Scott-Cato (March 12, 2014). “Bad science, health risks, and the EU/US trade treaty.

FPF article “Opinion: Precautionary principle threatens transatlantic trade

FPF article “Precautionary principle compliments scientific approaches to managing chemical risk

Share