October 2020

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It’s October, it’s spooky time!

Dear *|FNAME|*,

The world without consumer choice would be a truly spooky place to be. There would be no intellectual property to safeguard innovation, no genetic modification as a means to make agriculture more sustainable, no vaping as a safer alternative to smoking, no sugar, no free trade… and no fun at all!

Thankfully, with all the amazing work my colleagues at the Consumer Choice Center are doing, consumers and their choices are in safe hands.

In North America

US Vaping Index: Yaël and David crunched the numbers and ranked all 50 US states on how friendly their regulations are towards vapers. New York and California are the states vapers might want to think twice before moving there.

Read Here

Pushing against a plastics ban

In response to the Canadian government’s plastic ban announcement, David published this thorough critique in the Financial Post highlighting how a plastics ban does little to address marine waste, inflates costs for consumers, and could jeopardize Canada’s position as a trading nation.

Learn More

Canzuk as a Covid19 vaccine?

The Canadian economy has taken a huge hit as a result of the pandemic. David wrote for the Western Standard on how a CANZUK trade deal could help promote economic growth, and benefit Canadian consumers.

Read Here

Consumer Choice Radio

Yaël and David interviewed the IEA’s Chris Snowdon on alcohol policy: U.S. dietary guidelines want to decree that no adult should ever enjoy a 2nd beer @cjsnowdon says it’s the latest move by prohibitionists and there’s no evidence to support it.

Read Here

Divorcing health insurance from jobs and the WHO comes out against lockdowns

In the Boston Herald newspaper, my colleague Yaël made the consumer case for separating health insurance from people’s jobs. This would allow individuals to choose their own plans, increase competition, and lower prices for everyone. Read it here for the bold idea.

Speaking of bold, the World Health Organization, our favorite organization, has finally stated what we’ve known all along: COVID lockdowns hurt the poor and should not be a primary method of trying to control the virus. Yaël breaks it down on FEE.org.

Read Here

Meanwhile in Europe

Economist’s Panel: On October 8th Fred participated in a panel discussion on Single-Use Plastics which was part of the Economists Sustainability Week.

On September 17th Bill moderated a discussion with two scientists on the future of gene editing in Europe. This event was specifically hosted for German members of parliament and their staff.

On September 24th, I interviewed the World Vapers’ Association Director Michael Landl on how vaping can help to beat cancer in a CCC webinar. Over 7,000 people watched it across platforms. Watch Here.

Euroseeds Conference: On October 13th Fred talked about the consumer perspective on the EU’s Farm2Fork strategy at Euroseeds Annual Congress.

Digital Single Market consultation: Luca joined a high-level consultation on the digital single market and digital services act of the EU. On the digital front, David made the case in the Western Standard why additional platform regulation would hurt Canadian consumers.

Read Here

Infographic: How to feed 10 billion people?

We produced a lot of content on Agriculture and Food Supply:

Bill’s sustainability paper is now available in German

Video: Bill asks three questions on sustainability to Mazaly Aguilar, MEP

Video: Bill asks three questions on the Farm to Fork strategy to Hermann Tertsch, MEP

Interview with Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes

Illicit Trade: Lessons from the Pandemic

Upcoming Webinar on illicit trade: Join us on October 28th for a deep-dive discussion on Illicit trade. During the event, we will touch on very many areas where illicit trade is flourishing, in particular healthcare, digital, and agriculture.

Use the link below to watch the broadcast.

Watch Here

Protecting Intellectual Property in Brazil

In Brazil, a patent application waits between 7 to 10 years, delaying technological evolution. With the rapid technological evolution we have, patent waiting time can age new technologies, making them old by the time they are approved.

Article 40 of the Intellectual Property Rights Law (No. 9,279) recognizes this and, therefore, automatically grants the patent a minimum exclusivity of ten years, to compensate for administrative delays. However, the Federal Supreme Court is expected to rule on this article shortly. Is innovation in Brazil in danger?

My colleague Fabio is fighting for intellectual property rights in Brazil.

Learn More

We’re listening.

Let us know if you have any ideas on what we should be focusing on in the future!

Maria Chaplia
European Affairs Associate

October 2020