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EU Drops Plans For Safer Pesticides After Pressure From US 156

An anonymous reader writes: The European Union recently published plans to ban 31 pesticides containing chemicals linked to testicular cancer and male infertility. Those potential regulations have now been dropped after a U.S. business delegation said they would adversely affect trade negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. "Just weeks before the regulations were dropped there had been a barrage of lobbying from big European firms such as Dupont, Bayer and BASF over EDCs. The chemical industry association Cefic warned that the endocrines issue 'could become an issue that impairs the forthcoming EU-US trade negotiations.'"
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EU Drops Plans For Safer Pesticides After Pressure From US

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  • Spin everywhere... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:01AM (#49768245)

    News like this makes me angry and sad at the same time. The problem is that it's all so complicated that one cannot really understand the matter without spending years of work and research on it, and even then a citizen only gets a subset of all information that was presented.

    The chemical industry for sure had arguments and data that supported their case, in same way that the opponents of the pesticides have their arguments and data. It all comes down to spinning information and conveniently omitting some facts (for sure on either side). How anyone, who is not a subject matter expert, can make a decision in this is just beyond me.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      In the case where both sides appear to have a valid claim would it not be prudent to air on the side of not poisoning the entire world not be the reasonable choice..

      well not in america where dead bodies == dollars

      • Dead bodies merely rot. It is the sick bodies that bring in the big bucks.

        • Nope the death industry is doing pretty well. Make sure you fork out extra for a casket with a rubber seal so all the rotting gasses stay inside and explode the coffin once buried.

    • by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:51AM (#49768605) Homepage Journal

      The problem is that it's all so complicated that one cannot really understand the matter without spending years of work and research on it,

      You can say that about absolutely anything, and have been able to say that ever since human knowledge became generally redistributable. But anybody can understand that nobody really knows whether these chemicals can be used safely, and that we have alternatives for them.

      How anyone, who is not a subject matter expert, can make a decision in this is just beyond me.

      They can err on the side of caution. It doesn't mean taking no risks, it means taking action to limit risk.,/p>

    • How anyone, who is not a subject matter expert, can make a decision in this is just beyond me

      You can't easily do so, but you can easily recognise the spin for what it is. As you say, the Guardian wants us to believe that the chemical industry is some cigar-smoking shades-wearing embodiment of corporate evil here, which is unlikely. It seems to be more like a dispute over the costs and benefits of enacting a ban before harm is conclusively established. So ..... just ignore it! My opinions on TTIP have been e

      • As you say, the Guardian wants us to believe that the chemical industry is some cigar-smoking shades-wearing embodiment of corporate evil here, which is unlikely.

        Of course not. It's a "nothing personal, just good business" embodiment of corporate evil. Someone wants a bonus and is somehow able to convince himself the resuls of the means used to get it aren't really his fault. Just like every other group of monsters in human history managed to convince themselves that their ends justified their means. The o

    • by MrL0G1C ( 867445 ) on Monday May 25, 2015 @12:18PM (#49769155) Journal

      RTFA and you might then understand the issue.

      What they don't clearly say is the real reason they dropped the bans is because the bans would likely not be legal if TTIP were implemented.

      TTIP removes the ability of the gov't and EU to protect people and the environment in many ways. ISDS allows companies to sue governments if some new law causes them to lose profits. In effect, new laws to protect people can not be written if they impinge on some corporations TTIP given right to make profit at any expense.

      TTIP is insanely bad, it is undemocratic, written by The Commission and corporations in order to help corporate profits at the expense of jobs, health, public serivces and the environment.

      What is TTIP? And six reasons why the answer should scare you - Comment - Voices - The Independent [independent.co.uk]

      UN calls for suspension of TTIP talks over fears of human rights abuses | Global | The Guardian [theguardian.com]

      New trade deal with U.S. will open the door to inferior food pumped with growth hormones and pesticides warns Jamie Oliver | Daily Mail Online [dailymail.co.uk]

      TTIP will cost one million jobs: official | War on Want [waronwant.org]

      Email MEP (not mp) (sorry UK only) [writetothem.com]

      This capitulation is very much proof that there will be a race to the bottom with regards to standards, there will be a corporate orgy of cost-cutting at the expense of our health and product quality. All of this cost-cutting will of course cost jobs.

      Stop TTIP, sign the petition [stop-ttip.org]

    • News like this makes me angry and sad at the same time. The problem is that it's all so complicated that one cannot really understand the matter without spending years of work and research on it, and even then a citizen only gets a subset of all information that was presented.

      You know what makes me angry and sad? The false assertion people need to become domain experts to make informed decisions. The health effects of EDCs are well known.

      http://apps.who.int/iris/bitst... [who.int]

      In this case merits of EU regulation don't even matter. There was no evidence offered new data was provided to support changing policy. Local policy seems to have been sidetracked by political concerns.

      Unfortunately reality continues to exists independent of politics.

  • Bad for TTIP? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Saithe ( 982049 ) on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:02AM (#49768253)
    Everything that is good for citizens is bad for TTIP and vice versa.
  • There is no other way to apply the pressure needed to get what you want. Oh well, lack of resistance can only mean implied consent. We are on our own.

  • by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:10AM (#49768315)

    Dear EU sponges,

    Shouldn't that be a good reason FOR pushing for this leglisation?

    So, lemme recap, we not only don't get any protection from dangerous pesticides but we also get it so we can still have a trade agreement that has no beneficial effect whatsoever for EU corporations?

    Thanks. Who are you working for again, just so we know? We're kinda confused.

    signed, the idiots paying for you useless asshats.

    • by mcvos ( 645701 )

      Oh, it probably has plenty of advantages for EU corporations (at least the multinational ones). It just has no advantages for EU citizens, but who cares about them, right?

    • Blaming Americans is just an excuse; the EU is bigger than America, they don't need to be pushed around.

      In this case, it was European companies that were pushing. But it's easier politically to blame America. Just like US presidents always blame their predecessors for anything bad that happens.
      • We may be more. But the EU is basically a self service station for the member states, not something they want to pitch in for.

        Imagine the US, just with every state doing its best to rip off all the others. That's what the EU is like.

    • by Livius ( 318358 )

      What's really sad is the EU is actually effective, in relative terms, in slowing down the descent into feudalism.

      In Canada politicians spend enormous effort trying to out-compete each other in selling out to American corporations and American money.

  • Just in case anyone wasn't paying attention, we are consumers, nothing else. Consume, or else.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      Just in case anyone wasn't paying attention, we are consumers, nothing else. Consume, or else.

      Exactly, and if we die of it sooner, no problem, we're still spawning enough consumer replacements to keep the economy going.

  • National motto (Score:2, Redundant)

    "The United States of America: keepin' it classy since 1776"

    • "The United States of America: keepin' it classy since 1776"

      Everything we know, we learned from the most skilled oppressors of the day: The English, the Dutch, the French. It's just business as usual. No excuse, of course, but it's the same old crap since history, and presumably before.

  • by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:18AM (#49768377)
    Well, now it looks like US corporations are flexing their muscles in Europe, reducing democracy there after all but buying legislators here in the US.
    • by Moridineas ( 213502 ) on Monday May 25, 2015 @10:30AM (#49768445) Journal

      Well, now it looks like US corporations are flexing their muscles in Europe, reducing democracy there after all but buying legislators here in the US.

      I would quip that you should RTFA, but the relevant part is even quoted in the summary!

      Just weeks before the regulations were dropped there had been a barrage of lobbying from big European firms such as Dupont, Bayer and BASF over EDCs. The chemical industry association Cefic warned that the endocrines issue “could become an issue that impairs the forthcoming EU-US trade negotiations”.

      Dupont -- American
      Bayer AG -- German
      BASF -- German

      Yes, American corporations pressured American politicians to pressure EU politicians. EU corporations were also pressuring EU politicians directly. EU politicians wussed out. This story is sensationalist because, of course, the EU politicians want to blame the US for their lack of spine and total subservience to corporations. Pot, meet kettle.

  • ... It's toxic

    • "chemicals linked to testicular cancer and male infertility"

      Get off my lawn! ... It's toxic

      I've already taken the necessary precautions. Can I go back on your lawn now? Thx :-)

  • by Anonymous Coward

    Force feed those involved in this, form both sides, specially those in the EU parliament, including those behind other different secret trans-pacific negotiations.

    Make them suffer the consequences of their corrupt bought out decisions and force feed food treated exclusively with these pesticides. Make them suffer the rest of their lives in their poisoned morals and bodies.

  • Won't that slow down population growth? Isn't that desirable?

    • The concern about infertility is real, but what has the experts worry is the cost to IQ: [theguardian.com]

      The new series of reports by 18 of the world’s foremost experts on endocrine science pegs the health costs of exposure to them at between €157bn-€270bn (£113bn-£195bn), or at least 1.23% of the continent’s GDP.

      “The shocking thing is that the major component of that cost is related to the loss of brain function in the next generation,” one of the report’s authors, Professor Philippe Grandjean of Harvard University, told the Guardian.

      “Our brains need particular hormones to develop normally – the thyroid hormone and sex hormones like testosterone and oestrogen. They’re very important in pregnancy and a child can very well be mentally retarded because of a lack of iodine and the thyroid hormone caused by chemical exposure.”

      There's nothing desirable about reduced IQs and massive health costs (unless you make money on healthcare or benefit from a dumb populace, that is).

    • by HiThere ( 15173 )

      Population growth is much more sensitive to the fertility of the females than to that of the males.

  • \begin{snark}

    If we're unable to reproduce and dying off from testicular cancer, there will be less pressure on the food supply that will be dwindling as the pesticides kill off the bee population and the plant pollenation function they perform. The humans that are left can do that pollenation by hand when the bees are all gone.

    See... it's all good!

    \end{snark}

  • There's little a Joe can do to change any of this. It's just because the government I live under has been purchased and is owned by corporations (long before I was born). I buy the most organic produce & neither fund nor profit from any of these actions (and that's the way many people I know are going). But that road's a long one.
    I want the EU or someone who hasn't been as bought to start standing-up to these corporations. They bring no profit to your nation, they drain resources, and they poison everyt

  • What a bunch of weak-minded sellouts. I lost a lot of respect for the EU lawmaking process...
  • In response to the prediction that EU consumer and environmental protection would suffer because of TTIP, officials promised this would not happen. Of course without any argumentation or backing, and now we see the result. TTIP is already having an effect and it will get much worse when the agreement is enforced.
  • gotta do something to keep idle trade negotiators off the streets.

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