h. ensure a positive and ambitious final outcome of the negotiations for agriculture, reflecting both the offensive and defensive interests of the EU agricultural sector concerning the abolition or reduction of both tariff and non-tariff barriers, including in particular sanitary and phytosanitary standards and procedures, securing a strong position for high-quality European products so that EU producers make genuine gains in terms of access to the US market, and consider that measures to protect consumers and their health or maintain food safety should not be regarded as non ...[+++]-tariff barriers;

5. Emphasises that while the specific interests and sensitivities of both partners must be safeguarded in a balanced way, there are many areas where progress would be greatly beneficial, in particular regarding the removal of trade barriers, the introduction of measures to ensure better market access, including for investment, the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR), the opening up of public procurement markets to ensure full reciprocity, the clarification, simplification and harmonisation of rules of origin, and the convergence on mutual recognition of regulatory standards, and not simply to adhering to a minimum required s ...[+++]tandard based on the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (the SPS Agreement), but rather to strive in jointly to enhancing quality and cooperation when dealing with EU and US divergent standards; considers that such an intensification of economic relations would also allow for greater alignment of EU and US approaches towards addressing global economic challenges;

3. Calls on the Commission to draw a clear distinction between those NTBs which give rise to unfair distortions of competition and those which reflect legitimate public-policy aims, notably in relation to public health and the protection of the environment; emphasises, for example, that the European laws on GMOs and the health- and plant-health-related rules affecting agriculture cannot be regarded as unfair NTBs but should, on the contrary, be defended in the international trade arena;

3. Calls on the Commission to draw a clear distinction between those NTBs which give rise to unfair distortions of competition and those which reflect legitimate public-policy aims, notably in relation to public health and the protection of the environment; emphasises, for example, that the European laws on GMOs and the health- and plant-health-related rules affecting agriculture cannot be regarded as unfair NTBs but should, on the contrary, be defended in the international trade arena;

include sequential commitments covering key trade-related chapters such as non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation, rules of origin, sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures, intellectual property rights and investment and competition policy, and to complete actions in areas covered by the Action Plan;

Although the general rule is that all sanitary and phytosanitary measures must be based on scientific principles and that they should not be maintained without adequate scientific evidence, a derogation from these principles is provided for in Article 5 (7) which stipulates that: "in cases where relevant scientific evidence is insufficient, a Member may provisionally adopt sanitary or phytosanitary measures on the basis of available pertinent information, including that from the relevant international organizations as well as from san ...[+++]itary or phytosanitary measures applied by other Members.