Important to remove trade barriers between EU and USA - minister

Civil Liberties Minister says that EU must encourage partnership with USA that will remove trade barriers between the two regions, in a meeting held to discuss the controversial proposed TTIP agreement

MEUSAC head Vanni Xuereb with Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli (Photo by Ray Attard)
MEUSAC head Vanni Xuereb with Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli (Photo by Ray Attard)
Helena Dalli and David Sammut address the MEUSAC core group meeting

Trade barriers between the EU and the USA should be removed, Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli told a Malta EU steering and action committee meeting that was convened to discuss the proposed Trans-Atlantic Tade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).

“We must encourage partnership between the EU and the USA to remove trade barriers between each other,” Dalli said.

The TTIP is a proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and the United States that Economy Minister Chris Cardona has already said could boost economic growth in both regions. However, critics are worried that the agreement could give too much power to multinational corporations, as they would be given the right to take action against democratically-elected national governments through the bypassing of national and European courts. In Malta, a group of organisations sharing these concerns have teamed up to form Social Europe-Front Against TTIP (Malta).

David Sammut, Director of International Economic Relations at EPD from the Ministry of Finance, said that negotiations have been on-going for some time and that this is the seventh round of talks.

"During the talks it was felt that, if the USA and EU were to cooperate on market access, tariff barriers and rules, the relationship between the two would be very fruitful," Sammut said. "The negotiations started in 2013 and our hope is that they finish on time in 2015."

He added that his directorate is "keeping its doors open to those who want to contact it."

Areas such as maritime, aviation, gaming and financial services are areas currently being negotiated by the EU that are of particular interest to Malta. However, Sammut noted that  "The US is very reluctant to open up certain markets, like gaming and maritime.”   By way of example he mentioned that all goods transferred between U.S. ports must be carried by US-flagged vessels.

"From the regulatory aspect, we must remove unnecessary obstacles,” Sammut said. “The cost to export to the US is 14% over and above the cost of the product. Our goal is to convince the US to lower its tarriffs and for this the harmonization of rules and enhanced cooperation between regulators are required."

PN representative Marthese Portelli said the party agrees with the elimination of red tape. She said that SMEs are sometimes not able to operate on an EU level because of the amount of red tape involved, especially in the gaming industry.

"Export tariffs are on the high side and must come down,” Portelli said. “There is also the issue of market access, especially with regards to SMEs. We must ensure a level playing field.” She noted that "regulatory costs for both small and large companies are the same when we deal with the US."

Portelli also emphasised the importance of a level playing field for EU and US companies in public procurement , even at the stage of submission of proposals.

The committee will reconvene in late November