The TACD Policy Committees produce policy papers with included recommendations in relation to the predominant themes of their work plans. They also issue statements and letters to governments, and respond to public consultations whenever necessary. The Policy Committees are made up of experts from TACD’s 70+ EU and U.S. member organisations and allow for in-depth and technical discussions within the fields that they address. The Policy Committees are a major forum for identifying common issues and challenges, information exchange and sharing expertise and best practice among consumer groups from both sides of the Atlantic.
The Digital Policy Committee
The Digital policy committee covers all issues related to protecting and building digital rights and safeguards for EU and U.S. citizens and consumers and aims to promote the recognition and improvement of consumer rights in the digital world. The committee focuses on harmonisation and protection, and ensuring that the policies and legislation on digital rights are effectively implemented by the industry and understood by policymakers and the media. With consumers increasingly relying on the Internet for work, shopping and social life, it is more important than ever that the appropriate regulatory frameworks are in place to ensure their safety and privacy.
The Food Policy Committee
The Food Policy Committee focuses on a broad range of issues relating to EU and U.S. policies on nutrition, food technologies, information and safety as well as on cross-cutting issues. The aim is to ensure that the consumer voice is heard.
The Financial Services Policy Committee
The financial services policy committee focuses on working with the EU and the U.S. government to ensure that strong consumer protection regulation is put in place to protect the financial consumer interests, as well as the safety and soundness of financial systems in general. The committee has also explored the issue of digitalisation of financial services and the impact of fintech on consumer protections.
The Product Safety, Chemicals and Emerging Technologies Policy Committee
The Product Safety and Chemicals policy committee works to ensure that consumer products, including those resulting from emerging technologies (e.g. nanotechnology, synthetic biology, etc) are safe and beneficial to citizens and do not lead to new hazards in consumer products and the environment.
The Intellectual Property Policy Committee
TACD’s work on intellectual property (IP) focuses on promoting a more balanced IP system in which the needs and rights of consumers are given equal consideration to those of rights holders. TACD promotes an IP system that effectively promotes innovation while maintaining access for users.
Trade
TACD’s work on trade focuses on raising awareness to EU and U.S. policymakers on the impact of trade agreements on consumers. Through its work on trade, TACD aims to strengthen the dialogue between consumer representatives and policymakers and provide recommendations on regulatory, economic and trade issues.
In the past, TACD was heavily involved in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations and raising the consumer perspective. TACD raised a number of concerns in key areas of consumer policy and called on negotiators to ensure that the TTIP really benefited consumers and society. As of 2017, TTIP negotiations have been on hold.