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Focus on: TTIP & intellectual property


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Leaked TTIP draft for chemicals sector reveals a toxic partnership
A leaked restricted access text for the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) from August 2014 from the European Commission confirms that negotiations continue to favour business interests over the protection of citizens’ health and of the environment.
MEPs urged to veto NHS trade deal
The leader of the UK’s biggest union has written to all British MEPs urging them to vote against a controversial EU-US trade deal if the NHS is not exempted.
Unions say planned international trade deal poses threat to NHS
Transatlantic trade and investment partnership may make the outsourcing of national health services in Britain permanent
NHS could still be opened to American corporations under TTIP
The NHS is not safe from the effects of the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) deal, ministers have admitted.
TTIP: UK government not trusted to protect NHS from American investors
Despite government claims that public services will be protected from the EU’s free trade agreement with the US, 42% of British people don’t trust them to protect the NHS from privatisation.
Chemical industry using TTIP ‘to attack the precautionary principal’
The last 12 months have seen a surge of attacks against the EU’s precautionary principle, with some law firms considering it a potential obstacle to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
Two-third of voters in Tory marginals want NHS exempt from US trade pact
More than two-thirds of voters in 13 battleground constituencies want to see the NHS safeguarded from a new trade deal that critics say threatens to make the privatisation of UK health services permanent.
Overcoming Transatlantic differences on intellectual property: IPR and the TTIP negotiations
A report from the European Parliament Research Service
What does copyright have to do with "free trade"? Unpicking the undemocratic TTIP
Reports are that TTIP may focus less on copyright and IP enforcement issues compared with TPP, and more on other legal regimes that are commonly lumped into the "intellectual property" catch-all, such as trade secrets.
The European Commission must not trade off our crown jewels when negotiating the EU-US trade and investment deal
SOLIDAR, the Social Platform, EPSU and EPHA are jointly calling on the European Commission to explicitly exclude public services, including social and health services, from the ongoing TTIP negotiations.
French concerns over geographical indications will hamper TTIP talks
Wine is a casus belli for the French government, who may block transatlantic negotiations if geographical indications are not protected. EurActiv France reports.
US states demand more say in TTIP negotiations
Fears that provisions under discussion at the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership talks could impede their ability to regulate chemical safety, environmental protection and public health, have prompted several US states, led by Vermont, to demand a "seat at the table".
Free trade agreement with the US threatening fruit and vegetable diversity
The seed industry is planning to take advantage of the free trade agreement between the US and the EU (TTIP) to implement its patents in the European market.
Vilsack says sanitary issues delaying TTIP
Disagreements over sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) are delaying US-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
NHS could be ’carved open’ by US healthcare profiteers, warns Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham
The NHS could be "carved open" for profiteering US private healthcare companies by the end of this year Labour has warned, as concerns grow over the implications of a landmark trade treaty between the US and the EU that critics say would give US healthcare giants, "irreversible" powers to bid for any NHS contract.
Pirate party: Zombie walk against TTIP in Berlin
German Pirate Party invited everyone for a Zombie Walk to protest against the draft contract of the secretively crafted transatlantic trade agreement (TTIP) in Berlin on Easter Saturday.
Leaked EU analysis of TTIP IPR negotiations
Here is a two-page excerpt from a March 20, 2014 EU analysis of the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations on intellectual property rights, including geographical indications.
TTIP and the big pharma wish-list
A report by the Commons Network and civil society partners shows that the pharmaceutical industry’s wish list for the TTIP is detrimental for public health, will increase the cost of medicines and undermines democratic processes
US Senators shocked by EU’s cheese-name claims
In a rare act of bipartisan unity, dozens of US senators have wheeled into action against what they call an "absurd" European initiative that would force name changes to common cheese varieties produced in the United States.
Europe tells US to lay off Brie and get its own cheese names
The European Union wants US food makers to stop using names with historical ties to Europe. But what else would you call, say, Parmesan or Brie?