Dutch Minister for Agriculture Martijn van Dam will be hosting a two-day informal meeting of the Agriculture Council on 30 and 31 May. The meeting, which will be held in Amsterdam and the Eindhoven region during the Netherlands EU Presidency, will be attended by all EU agriculture ministers. The meeting’s central theme will be ‘Food of the future – the future of food’, focusing on innovation and the future of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Food to be On Monday 30...

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Today, I'm meeting my counterparts from all EU governments in the Foreign Affairs Council on Trade. We meet regularly to discuss EU trade policy and the way forward on a long row of issues. The agenda today was long, as there are a lot of things happening. We had a very good discussion on how to move forward on WTO, building on the momentum created after the ministerial conference in Nairobi. There is a new optimism about the multilateral trade...

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After more than three years of negotiations to forge a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), many elements of the agreement are still far from settled. However, it is possible to reach agreement in 2016. The negotiators are determined, and there is mounting awareness that an agreement that underscores the importance of the transatlantic economic relationship and strengthens the strategic relationship between the European Union (EU) and the United States is needed. There is ample rhetoric in the media about...

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The below graphic outlines the status of the various areas of negotiation being addressed by TTIP. Among them: Agriculture, Anti-Corruption, Competition, Cross border Trade Services, Customs, Trade Facilitation, eCommerce, Energy & Raw Materials, Investment Protection, IP, Legal & Institutional, Procurement, Market Access for Industrial Goods, Regulatory Coherence & Cooperation, Rules of Origin, SME's, State Owned Enterprises, Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures, State-to-state dispute Settlements, Subsidies, Sustainable Development, Technical Trade Barriers, Textiles & Apparel, Trade Remedies... Click on the graph to see a...

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Every year, World Trade Month—designated for the month of May—gives us the opportunity to acknowledge the importance of global trade, and look back at the economic advancements we have made as a result. This World Trade Month, we can look back and appreciate the success we have accomplished. In 2015, our exports totaled $2.23 trillion, we increased our exports to 58 international markets, and we achieved record exports with 20 global partners. Our export success was one aspect of a...

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The EU's Chief TTIP negotiator,  Ignacio García Bercero,  has summarised progress made in the 13th round of talks. Read his remarks here. Compliments of the European Commission

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PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Guten morgen!  Once again, I want to thank Chancellor Merkel and everyone here at Hannover Messe for welcoming us.  Angela and I already spoke last night.  I’m giving a speech later this morning.  So I’m going to be very brief. As I said last night, so much of our global economy and the growth that creates jobs is driven by the spirit of innovation --discovery, invention -- and then turning those ideas into new products, companies, new industries,...

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The United States continued to be the European Union’s top trading partner in 2015, registering €619 billion or 18 percent of total EU trade in goods. China ranked second, with €521 billion or 15 percent of total EU trade in goods. Both the U.S. and China were well ahead of Switzerland and Russia, which ranked third and fourth for merchandise trade with the European Union. The U.S. is the EU’s number one destination for exports and ranks second for imports...

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will travel to Berlin and Paris next week to discuss areas of mutual interest between the European and American agricultural sectors. In Berlin, Vilsack will meet with German officials as well as farmers about rural economic development opportunities and to underscore the importance of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). He will then lead the U.S. delegation to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Meeting of Agriculture Ministers, which is being held in...

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The European Commission today publishes further documents from the ongoing negotiations on a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in line with its commitment to enhanced transparency in the ongoing trade negotiations with the United States. The documents made public today include the recent EU proposal on regulatory cooperation which the Commission submitted to the United States during the last round of talks in February. Regulatory cooperation is an innovative part and a key pillar of TTIP. Regulatory cooperation with the...

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