Numerous TACD member organisations presented at the Stakeholder Forum on the margins of the seventh round of negotiations of the planned Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which took place near Washington from September 29 – October 3, 2014. The forum was hosted by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) and gave stakeholders a chance to provide input to EU and U.S. negotiators.

One of the presentations was made by Jaydee Hanson, Policy Director at the International Center for Technology Assessment and Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for Food Safety. Mr. Hanson, who is also US Co-chair of the TACD Nanotechnology Policy Committee, made a strong case for why the trade agreement should not undermine efforts to regulate chemicals, including nanomaterials.

Mr. Hanson called on EU and U.S. policymakers to allow both trading partners the autonomy to adopt stronger non-discriminatory protection measures. He emphasised that increased mutual market access must not undermine current human health and environmental protection standards. To ensure consumers and the environment are protected from exposure to hazardous chemicals, Mr. Hanson recommended establishing a common definition of nanomaterials (while recognising that different definitions may be needed for different applications of nanotechnology), better sharing of information and developing new testing methods to adequately assess the safety of products containing nanomaterials.

See the presentation for the full list of recommendations here.

Mr. Hanson’s comments derive largely from a TACD resolution on better regulation of chemicals, including nanomaterials, in light of the TTIP negotiations.