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Product safety Chemicals Consumer policy Online platforms Consumers and trade
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Bilateral trade negotiations
Consumers and trade
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EU-Japan trade deal to be signed: data protection secured, further clarity needed on other issues
EU-Japan trade deal to be signed: data protection secured, further clarity needed on other issues
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Bilateral trade negotiations
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A trade deal between the EU and Japan will be signed in Tokyo tomorrow (17 July). Consumer groups welcome that rules on data flows – which could risk undoing EU efforts to protect people’s personal data – have been excluded from the deal. However, two issues – that of using an investor protection court and the formulation of consumer benefits – remain unclear at this stage.
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Our International Affairs team works to protect Europeans in a global market. 

EU consumer policy is decided through a clear legislative process. The bloc’s external relations with third countries can affect this process and the daily lives of consumers. We therefore follow these relations and urge international engagement to include civil society and be transparent. 

Practically this means we scrutinise EU trade negotiations, ranging from ‘bilateral’ ones (with Australia, for instance) to talks about global e-commerce happening at the World Trade Organization. We remind decision-makers that trade should benefit Europeans, without negatively impacting consumer-related regulations in the EU (whether data privacy, chemical laws, food safety, etc.). 

We also look at external policy beyond ‘trade’, such as dialogues between EU and third-country regulators. The EU-US cooperation agenda is an example of this. BEUC supports such exchanges if they are voluntary and used to improve EU decision-making, address common issues, or take joint actions. 

Finally, we flag consumer concerns to decision-makers: think about issues with sending or receiving parcels from the UK since its EU exit, or dangerous products that are marketed to Europeans from outside the EU. This means we keep an eye on other policy areas, such as customs.

To make an international impact, we work with US civil society through the Trans-Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD), and the global Consumers International network of more than 200 organisations.