US, EU report progress in TTIP trade talks

US and EU trade representatives have had a "productive" fifth round of talks, but hard work lies ahead, US trade representative Michael Froman says.

"We've moved from discussing a conceptual framework to defining specific ideas for addressing the majority of the negotiating areas," Froman said as the talks ended.

He said there was "a lot of work ahead" but "steady progress" was being made and there was now "a firm understanding of the key issues that need to be resolved".

Froman's chief negotiator in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), Dan Mullaney, called the week's talks "challenging".

Completing the world's largest free trade agreement "will require a lot of creativity and a lot of persistence," he told reporters.

Ignacio Garcia-Bercero, chief negotiator for the European Union, underlined that the overall goal was "highly ambitious" but that progress had been made through "intensive" discussions this week on labour, environment and sustainable development issues.

The US and European Union aim to expand what is already the world's biggest trade relationship by dismantling regulatory barriers that force companies to produce different products for the US and European markets.

The next round of talks is slated for July, most likely in Europe.

The US and EU say the deal would allow companies to save millions of dollars and create hundreds of thousands of jobs.

The toughest areas of dispute are financial regulation, which the US does not want to include in the deal, and a special extrajudicial mechanism to settle investor-state disputes, which has met growing opposition from European civic groups and the German government.

Garcia-Bercero sought to reassure that the EU "in no way" intended to "weaken financial services regulations ... or interfere with work being done".

US financial officials have repeatedly pushed the EU to tighten its banking regulations, in light of the rolling bailouts that undermined economic growth across Europe in recent years.

Garcia-Bercero said there had been "very intensive discussions" over allowing businesses on both sides of the Atlantic to bid on public procurement offers, which are currently largely restricted to domestic bidders.

European businesses are keen on having access not only to US federal projects, but those of the individual states, which are not under federal control.

The United States likewise wants US firms to be able to bid on government contracts across the EU and is "looking for opportunities to expand market access," Mullaney said.

The prospect that Europe's strict food safety rules could be watered down through US standards has driven much of the public interest in the talks, especially during ongoing European Parliament elections.

Garcia-Bercero repeated past EU assurances that hormone treated beef "has to be prohibited under European law".

He said genetically modified crops could be a different issue, with more than 50 "GMOs" having been authorised in Europe.

The US wants Europe to accept World Trade Organisation obligations that allow trade in food that has been approved through scientific review and risk assessment, Mullaney said.

So-called bleached chicken sold in the US is another hot issue.

Mullaney said "there is no such thing as bleached chicken" and, when pressed by a reporter, indicated he saw no problem.

"I have very catholic tastes. I will eat almost anything," Mullaney quipped.

"The United States has no intention of forcing Europeans to eat anything a European does not want to eat."

Garcia-Bercero was optimistic about finding common ground in regulations of most sectors, saying there had been a "very good" discussion, though no point of agreement had been reached.

"We are progressively reaching a better common understanding on these issues," he said.

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