Report of the 5th Annual Meeting of the
Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue
Introduction
The 5th Annual TACD Meeting took place in Washington DC, October
28-30, 2002. At this meeting over 75 consumer representatives from
both sides of the Atlantic gathered to meet both internally and
also with EU and US government officials.
After the first day of internal TACD meetings, TACD members met
with government officials in the Food, Trade, and E-commerce Working
Groups, as well as the Special Group on Intellectual Property, which
met for the first time. There were also a day of plenary sessions
where panel discussions on Trade in Services, and on the importance
of Intellectual Property Rights to the consumer, took place. There
were also discussions with senior officials over the future of transatlantic
relations, and about TACD's 2002 Report
Card.
The following report covers details from these discussions.
Contents
1) Opening session on transatlantic relations
and future expectations of Dialogue
2) Plenary session on TACD Report Card
3) Themed workshops on Internet Privacy and
Security, Trade in Services, and Why Intellectual Property Rights
Matter to the Consumer
4) Closing plenary session to sum up the
proceedings
5) Working Group reports:
Opening Session on transatlantic relations and future expectations
of Dialogue
Rhoda Karpatkin, President Emeritus of Consumers Union,
chaired the opening session and, in welcoming all participants,
took a moment's silence for the memories of recently deceased Senator
Wellstone and diplomat Larry Foley, of the U.S. Agency for International
Development.
US Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs,
Al Larson, was the first to address the meeting. He lauded
the transatlantic commitment to make the trade system something
with which to expand prosperity globally said that much depended
on the effectiveness of the active positive agenda now being developed,
giving as examples the financial market dialogue, regulatory cooperation
and transparency, auto-safety, cosmetics and food additives. His
one area of deep concern was food safety, which has "spiralled
into a threat to trade and international food security". Not
only has the EU's refusal to accept biotechnology seen a cessation
of scientific analysis, but it has played into famine in unexpected
ways, citing reports in Zambia of refusals to accept food aid because
of the risk to these countries' export markets. "Lives are
literally at stake", he said.
Danish Ambassador to the US, Ulrik Federspiel, highlighted
the Danish Presidency priorities regarding food safety, noting both
the threat of bio-terrorism in the global war on terror, and food
safety within the EU. Regarding GMOs, he said that it is hard to
see the lifting of a moratorium without a labeling and traceability
system in place to answer the concerns of the consumer.
Deputy Head of the European Commission Delegation to the US, Gérard
Depayre, began by saying that TACD is a valuable element of
the transatlantic agenda, and the Dialogue is encouraged to put
forward ideas for pilot projects where cooperation would be beneficial.
Like Al Larson, the Deputy Ambassador trumpeted the development
of a positive economic agenda, and hoped to show progress by the
next EU-US Summit. Turning to biotechnology, he noted that TACD's
recommendations are in line with the EC, which focuses on regaining
consumer confidence and monitoring the introduction of GMOs into
the environment. He agreed that GM technology offers opportunities
for agricultural innovation, and that products passing scientific
scrutiny are as safe as their conventional counterparts. The EC
has urged Member States to restart scientific evaluation. He is
aware of US Government frustration but said that a confrontation
would be a setback and deepen fears. He also invited TACD to look
at newer developments, such as Genetically Modified animals.
TACD EU Steering Committee member, Felix Cohen (Consumentenbond)
stated that the consumer is the engine of the economy and consumer
confidence is important to business. TACD directly represents 20
million consumers. Reaching the 5-year mark is a great milestone,
a tribute to its determination, but not enough. Two things are needed
- the commitment of governments to TACD, and the need for them to
react to TACD's resolutions. The dialogue with governments is open
and pleasant, but the attitude and lack of senior officials present
is contrasts with what sometimes happens with TABD - some dialogues
are more equal than others and this is wrong. While the EC has made
some progress with regard to TACD recommendations, both governments
have let the Dialogue down, with too few requests being put into
action. Consumers are not walking wallets and deserve respect. With
regard to food aid, he said that consumers deserve respect from
governments, and this includes choice. Taking advantage of starving
people does not show the greatness of the US as he understands it.
(After these presentations discussion was opened to the floor.)
Patrick Deboyser (European Commission) explained that GM
maize is considered safe, but if food aid is used for planting,
this could effect exports in the future to a European Union where
consumers do not want to buy GM food. Even if the regulatory system
is changed, there is no market for GM food in the EU.
Jean Halloran (Consumers Union) suggested that one difficulty
of new technologies is the rapid pace of development. Scientific
data continues to emerge on unexpected developments, such as the
appearance of GMOs in Mexico where they have not been planted or
imported, and it is therefore reasonable to be cautious. Since 75%
of US corn is non-GMO, she asked whether that could be provided
as food aid?
Jim Murray (BEUC) said that if people don't want food aid
to be GM, the US should respect this. Even if the US believes the
reasoning is wrong, why not at least mill the GM food aid they are
offering?
The session was concluded with Al Larson's response to these
comments. He blamed the "the unwelcome developments" on
the "illegal moratorium, where the EU didn't respect the consumer
because it stopped scientific analysis". The US respects the
consumer, but if a country does not want biotech food aid, despite
all the safety assurances, that is their choice. But he called it
a grotesque situation in which thousands die because they refuse
aid from the US, and rejected the insinuation that the US is not
motivated by a desire to alleviate starvation. He said that the
US food system is not set up to deliver non-GM food, and this reflects
the US market and US attitude to GM food. The US is willing to have
products milled, but this does not give enough assurance for local
chiefs in these countries, who apparently continue to refuse it.
Rhoda Karpatkin expressed the Dialogue's disappointment
with the governments' lack of responsiveness to TACD recommendations.
She did give good marks, however, to TACD for having a number of
things to be proud of on reaching its fifth anniversary: workable
working relations with governments and excellent working relations
between consumer groups had been established, and TACD's knowledge
base on trade and related issues had been expanded.
US Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs,
Tony Wayne, agreed that there are many areas where the US
Government will not share TACD's views, but believes both sides
had learnt from each other. He expected sharp criticism, but also
pointed to issues where they had good things to say. These included
the US Government's dedication to transparency; the FCC's interest
in electronic privacy and expanding access to broadband; and the
fact that the US has no intention to use a General Agreement on
Trade in Services (GATS) to privatize the social services of other
countries, as well as having concerns about the general application
of tests on the basis of necessity, proportionality, or "least-trade
restrictive".
Referring to the Report Card, Gérard Depayre promised
a written EC response, and said that it was important as a benchmark
for judging the governments' responses and keeping them on track.
However, the assessment of the EC in TACD's report card did not
reflect reality in the areas of Biotechnology, Antibiotics and the
Precautionary Principle, he said. He also pointed to the success
of the DG TRADE civil society dialogue which consulted NGOs on WTO
and other trade issues. He said that low grades for the governments
was partly a consequence of TACD putting its finger on the most
difficult issues where progress tends to be slow. Finally, he applauded
TACD's interest on Access to Medicines and helping to bring about
the Doha Declaration on TRIPS.
Discussion then returned to the heated issue of food aid and biotechnology,
with the President of Public Citizen, Joan Claybrook, saying
that, with the US' advanced technology and capacity, it is unacceptable
to say that the US can't keep track of its food. Tony Wayne replied
that the US supplies the vast majority of food aid, and that part
of the solution would be for other countries to increase the amount
of food they donate. Patrick Deboyser responded by pointing out
that EU provides 55% of global aid to developing countries, and
that it is a better form of aid as it is money with which people
in developing countries can buy from their own farms, helping the
economy as well as feeding the people.
Themed workshops on Internet Privacy and
Security, Trade in Services, and Why Intellectual Property Rights
Matter to the Consumer
(Various other themed discussions were held at the meeting during
plenary sessions with government officials.)
The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Timothy Muris,
gave a short presentation on Internet Privacy and Security and took
answers from the floor. He talked about the FTC's recent work on
privacy, and the cases that had been brought concerning abusive
telemarketing and unsolicited commercial email.
With regards to the educational session on Liberalization of Trade
in Services, TACD invited experts who closely follow these WTO negotiations
to speak about the potential of a new GATS agreement to impact the
domestic regulation of a number of services sectors. This was done
in the context of the TACD recommendation that "the right of
governments to provide and regulate basic services in the consumer
interest should be broadly asserted in a new article included in
the body of the WTO GATS agreement." Professor David Price
(University College London) looked at WTO and GATS with reference
to Health Services; Dr. Patricia Arnold (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
looked at the implications for regulation of financial services
in the United States; and David Waskow (Friends of the Earth)
looked at the provision of water. Where available, copies of the
presentations made can be found on here.
In response to the presentations, Mark Mowrey of the United
States Trade Representative stated that the US does not support
necessity testing and never envisaged GATS threatening a country's
ability to regulate its own social services. The US indeed wants
to protect its own ability to regulate in these areas. Alistair
Stewart of the European Commission's DG TRADE said that GATS
was designed to not force privatization or prevent government regulation.
The EU will publish a summary of its commitment requests, hopefully
thereby answering some of the questions about transparency.
The final workshop looked at Why Intellectual Property Rights Matter
to the Consumer? Presentations focused on three different areas
that are relevant to today's consumer. Michelle Childs (UK
Consumers Association) looked at WTO rules on parallel trade and
compulsory licensing in the context of Levi jeans and other fashion
goods; Rachel Cohen (Médecins Sans Frontières)
discussed pharmaceuticals and access to medicines; and Professor
Peter Jaszi (American University, Washington DC) talked about
music and other copyrighted goods. Government response to the presentations
came from Matthew King (European Commission Delegation to
the US), and William Craft (US State Department). Where available,
copies of the presentations made can be found here.
Closing plenary session to sum up the proceedings
Véronique Arnault, of DG SANCO of the European Commission,
was impressed with the quality of debate and level of expertise
at the meeting, and hoped that TACD would play a role in bringing
on board the consumers of the enlargement countries. To ensure that
the governments are able to provide the requested officials, she
urged that arrangements be made far in advance and in consultation
with governments, and also underlined the EC's availability for
meetings between the annual plenary sessions. She expressed upset
with certain aspects of the Report Card because criticism is fair
but it must be exact. She suggested that it would be useful to the
governments if the Dialogue had a more proactive, "positive
agenda" and gave "upstream reaction" on new subjects
where decisions have not yet been taken. She therefore encouraged
TACD to give the governments concrete proposals for projects for
Regulatory Cooperation.
William Craft, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for US
Trade Policy and Programs, felt that the high points were the personal
interaction at the lunches and reception which allowed for informal
discussion. He urged TACD to be forward-looking, and said that while
the Report Card provided a useful summary, he might like a recount.
The discussions in the Special Group on Intellectual Property were
the best because they were most open, owing to the fact that the
Group is new and does not yet have fixed positions.
Ed Mierzwinski, member of the US Steering Committee (US
PIRG) gave the final words of the meeting. TACD is growing in maturity
and this is shown by the very knowledgeable people that the governments
are sending to the meetings, he said. TACD is encouraged by the
commitments and progress made, and quoted one of the last comments
of the late Senator Wellstone as a way of summing up what TACD is
trying to achieve. "There are things that we can do right now
that will make a difference to ordinary people."
Working Group reports were also given at the closing plenary session.
They appear beneath and cover these groups:
FOOD WORKING GROUP
Labeling
Food Supplements: The WG cautioned the US and the EU from
placing this matter on the agenda of the new US-EU Guidelines for
Regulatory Cooperation given the controversy surrounding the current
US framework for regulating these substances. Unfortunately, a representative
from the US Trade Representative's office was not present at this
portion of the meeting. This issue, however, was brought to the
attention of the USTR during the Trade Working Group's session with
government representatives. The WG also informed governments that
it was in the process of updating its current resolution on the
regulation of food supplements. The EU informed the TACD of initial
plans for the regulation of food supplements containing herbals.
The Food WG found the discussion to be very informative and worthwhile.
Health and Nutrition Claims: The WG stated its disappointment
with recent changes to US policy regarding the regulation of health
related claims for foods and supplements. The Food WG also stated
its disagreement with various portions of the EU draft policy for
the regulation of health-related claims, particularly the EU proposal
to permit such claims for foods high in fat, saturated fat, cholesterol,
sodium, and added sugars.
Caffeine Labeling: The Food WG received information about
the new EU directive requiring label disclosure for caffeinated
beverages. The information was found to be informative and useful.
The US has no similar policy in the area.
GMOs
Latest regulatory developments: The European Commission
explained the status of, and points of contention within, the two
GMO proposals on traceability and the labelling of GMO derived food
and feed. The mandatory notification procedure introduced in the
US will not be final for another year but there remains a voluntary
consultation system. It was obvious that there are still fundamental
differences between EU and US with regard to the labelling of GMO
products.
The issue of contamination with non-authorised GMOs was briefly
touched on, and other discussion focused on seed legislation and
the European Commission indicated plans to address GMO seeds but
gave no timeframe.
Animal biotechnology: While not yet an issue in the EU,
this is already cropping up in the US where at least one application
for GM salmon has been made. In considering this issue the Food
WG, felt that it is necessary to focus on questions of ethics, animal
welfare, consumer involvement and transparency. The US currently
has currently no mechanism for considering ethical issues. Cloned
animals are not in the scope of the recent proposals on GMO food
and feed and the Commission suggested it might be necessary to amend
the legislation to cover the issue. The issue could also be subject
to Codex considerations.
Acrylamide
Research findings presented in Sweden in April revealed for the
first time that this carcinogen - which also causes damage to the
central nervous system - forms in certain foods cooked at high temperatures.
The studies carried out first in Sweden, and later in Norway, Switzerland,
the United Kingdom and the United States, revealed that starchy
foods such as chips, biscuits, and bread showed unexpected high
levels of acrylamide. While the US is currently testing to get knowledge
of the real extent of the acrylamide presence in food, it is not
yet requesting changes in production processes. The EU's Scientific
Committee on Food indicated that further research is needed, but
in the meanwhile suggested looking into the technological processes
to find how to reduce the formation of the substance, as well as
performing more research into the formation process of acrylamide.
Food Advertising Directed at Children
The Food WG reminded the US and EU governments of the World Health
Organization findings that food marketing efforts are one cause
of changes in dietary patterns that lead to poor nutrition, obesity,
and an increased risk of diet-related diseases. The Food WG is in
the process of developing a background paper on this subject. The
EU stated that it did not have an active program in the area, but
acknowledged potential problems of health related claims for foods
that are directed at children. The US informed the WG of a few enforcement
actions that it has taken in the area and revealed that the US Federal
Trade Commission would soon be issuing a report in the general area
of food advertising and regulatory policy.
TRADE WORKING GROUP
Trade in Services
The Trade WG regretted that scheduling conflicts made it impossible
for EC and US to send their Services specialists to the meeting,
but were very pleased that the EC and US have agreed to make their
Services negotiators available for a meeting on issues raised in
the draft TACD Services paper tabled to governments. The Trade WG
also requested that regulators in service industries, and outside
experts including enforcement officials, be invited to this meeting
to share their perspectives on the impacts of the proposed US and
EC requests on domestic regulations or their ability to discharge
their duties per statutory/legal requirements.
TACD recommended that the US and EC issue reports on the requests
they have received, as the United Kingdom has done, so that the
impact of the requests on domestic regulations and consumer impact
can be assessed in public consultations. The EC agreed to prepare
such an impact analysis and make it the subject of a public consultation.
TACD awaits details of the USTR summary of requests made to the
US.
The Trade WG was pleased that USTR agreed to investigate the possibility
of providing teleconferencing facilities for its public hearings
on GATS and other issues to enhance public participation in trade
policy formation.
Early Warning System/Guidelines for Regulatory Cooperation
The US and EC agreed to consider TACD's formal request that nutritional
labeling be a topic for a Guidelines pilot project concerning the
Guidelines on Regulatory Cooperation.
TACD requested that the EC and US work with TACD to create a TEP
consultation process to periodically review progresses made for
Guidelines projects and for Early Warning System discussion. All
interested parties from TABD and TACD would be invited to contribute
establishing terms of reference for the TEP consultation mechanism
and to participate in the to TEP consultation mechanism meetings.
Labeling
TACD proposed a public forum to be joined to the intergovernmental
"Learning Session" of the World Trade Organization Technical
Barriers to Trade (TB T) Committee planned for June 2003 in Geneva.
TACD expressed hope that experts on TBT issues, including labelling,
and not just negotiators, would be invited to the "Learning
Session."
WTO Processes
There was lively discussion on the need for reforms of the Dispute
Settlement Understanding. TACD was pleased to understand that there
is movement towards agreement on the needed reforms among TACD,
EC and US.
INTERNET WORKING GROUP
Because the issues it deals with are broader than its name implied,
the E-commerce Working Group changed its name to the Internet Working
Group (IWG). The IWG chose to focus on access to justice and spam
as two priorities for the coming year. It will also continue to
pass resolutions on other issues such as online security, protecting
children online, protecting consumers from online fraud and abuse,
broadband, and privacy. The IWG discussed many of these issues with
government officials during the 5th Annual TACD Meeting.
Positive outcomes
Spam: Both governments agree that there is an absolute necessity
to elaborate new tools - either legislative cross-border enforcement,
technological filtering or other tools to fight spam at an international
level. They also expressed their willingness to work together towards
this goal.
Broadband: EU is following the US developments and share
our concerns. The EU have passed legislation which will be implemented
in July 2003 and are also considering other projects in this area.
Protection of children: EU announced that they are looking
at privacy on the Internet for children, sales promotions to children
and general rules on commercial practices.
Negative outcomes and areas of dissatisfaction
Safe Harbor: No progress since last year's TACD meeting.
The US Government refuses to address the issue as we are raising
it. They continue to consider Safe Harbor as a success although
there are only 256 companies who subscribed to it and there is no
effective monitoring. The EU is not monitoring the implementation
of the agreement either - consumer groups were invited to test the
agreement themselves.
SPECIAL GROUP ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Parallel trade; trademarks, patents and copyrights
On this issue, the group discussed the different approaches to
parallel trade that WTO rules allow for, in relation to US and especially
EU policies. In particular, how should these rules should be applied
to different goods, such as in the context of Levi jeans and other
fashion or consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and music and other
copyrighted goods?
The group requested from the European Commission a Consumer Impact
assessment on the Trade Mark directive as it comes under review
next year.
Pharmaceuticals, implementation of paragraphs 4 and 6 of the Doha
Declaration
The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health asks countries
to implement the TRIPS in a way that ensures access to medicine
for all. The Doha Declaration also asks the WTO to address the rules
under which medicines can be exported without the permission of
the patent owner. The group discussed the proposals by the US and
the EU in the current WTO negotiations, and the way in which these
proposals affect consumers in the US and Europe and well as in developing
countries. The EU representatives presented their solution to the
Doha obligation. The EU result would seem to create a complex regulatory
system that doesn't take into account economies of scale and a system
that encourages market segmentation.
The group requested from both governments an assessment of the
necessary scale of markets for pharmaceuticals, medical equipment
and technology to allow for efficient production of these goods.
This in relation to the solution to be found to implement article
6 of the Doha declaration of WTO.
Digital copyright issues: distribution of copyrighted material,
balancing the rights of creators and users
The Internet and other digital technologies have created a number
of new issues for the copyright industry, including for example those
relating to compulsory licenses of CD-ROM writing technologies and
Internet broadcasting, proposals to provide compulsory licenses for
peer to peer music sharing technologies, digital rights management
and other issues. The group discussed trade related issues of compulsory
licensing involving the digital technologies and music and the future
of fair use under digital rights management technologies and legal
regimes.
The group requested that the governments review the success that
the copyright directive and the DMCA had in reducing 'piracy' and
peer to peer exchange of digital music. Also, what has been the
impact of this legislation on consumers in their freedom to use
the material for example obsolete hardware, crashing computers,
limiting use?
The group asked both governments to assess the possibility of a
compulsory licence to limit the detriment to consumers and allow
for a balance between creators and users.
The group asked governments to assess the effects of current legislation
in terms of cross border enforcement of copyright protection.
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