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Chickens slaughtered in the United States, claim officials in
Brussels, are not fit to grace European tables. No,
say the Americans: our fowl are fine, we simply clean them in a
different way. These days, it is differences in
national regulations, far more than tariffs, that put sand in the
wheels of trade between rich countries. It is not
just farmers who are complaining . An electric razor that meets the
European Union’s safety standards must be
approved by American testers before it can be sold in the United
States, and an American-made dialysis machine
needs the EU’s okay before it hits the market in Europe.
As it happens, a razor that is safe in Europe is unlikely to
electrocute Americans. So, ask businesses on both
sides of the Atlantic, why have two lots of tests where one would
do? Politicians agree, in principle, so America
and the EU have been trying to reach a deal which would eliminate
the need to double-test many products. They
hope to finish in time for a trade summit between America and EU on
May 28th. Although negotiators are
optimistic, the details are complex enough that they may be
hard-pressed to get a deal at all.
Why? One difficulty is to construct the agreements. The Americans
would happily reach one accord on
standards for medical devices and then hammer out different pacts
covering, say, electronic goods and drug
manufacturing. The EU-following fine continental traditions—wants
agreement on general principles, which
could be applied to many types of products and have extended to
other countries.
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