We are going in the opposite direction. Currently the US has more lax regulations than the EU. In the EU animals have to be healthy all the way throughout their lives to be sold as food. In the US, you can keep them in miserable conditions and then pump them full of antibiotics before slaughtering.<p>Politicians are attempting to remove EU regulations against this under the guise of &quot;removal of barriers to trade&quot; with TTIP -- international trade agreements are the tool by which democracies are bypassed in such matters.