U.S., EU Trumpet Breakthrough on Trade

The U.S. and the European Union said they have cleared the way for a deal under which approval of safety standards by one country would be accepted by others in five product categories. “We feel that we have a breakthrough, and we hope that it will lead to an agreement in the next few days,” President Clinton said after talks at The Hague with Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok and European Commission President Jacques Santer. The two sides also signed a cooperation accord on controlling chemicals used to make synthetic drugs and a customs deal Kok said will boost trade and help fight fraud and graft. He said the two sides also bridged bilateral differences on animal inspections, preventing a possible transatlantic wrangle on meat quality standards. The mutual-recognition agreements are expected to cut manufacturers’ marketing costs by up to 10% by allowing each party to recognize the other’s testing, inspection and certification procedures.