UK-US post Brexit trade deal: Chlorine-washed chicken ban will continue

10 Jan 2020 --- UK government has allied concerns over the potential use of chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef in any post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and the US. Environment secretary Theresa Villiers insists the current EU ban on the two foods will be carried over into UK legislation. Until now the UK has been wavering on the issue. Chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef are currently illegal under EU law for different reasons.

“There are legal barriers to the imports and those are going to stay in place,” Villiers told the BBC’s Countryfile. The environment secretary previously talked of imposing tariffs on any future imports of US chicken and beef. However, Villiers maintains that there has been great pressure from Britain’s farmers.

“We will defend our national interests and our values, including our high standards of animal welfare,” she added. 

According to the EU, feeding cows with growth-enhancing chemicals could potentially result in harm to beef-eating humans. However, the US regards the rules against these products as a way for Europe to protect its own producers, and has stated that the trade of both meat products will be central to any UK-US trade deal after Brexit.

Villiers’ pledge could please British consumers who are currently unhappy with the thought of chlorinated-washed chicken. 

The environment secretary has made a strong promise that legal barriers to the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef will “stay in place” and that the government will “hold the line” on this even if insisted upon by President Donald Trump in trade talks. This makes a quick trade deal with the US rather tricky to envisage.

This is a clear example of the delicate balancing act and trade-offs involved in the UK's new post-Brexit trade freedom.

In December, leaked US-UK trade documents showed the US tried to establish how far the UK would, after Brexit, detach from the EU's hard line against US farm trade methods. The exposé underscored advantages for the US in a no-deal Brexit scenario, which would pave the way for lucrative trade opportunities following the UK’s departure from the single market’s stringent food safety standards. These motives have been decried by British food and agriculture representatives.

In October, FoodIngredientsFirst met with representatives of the US poultry sector on the showfloor of Anuga 2019, in Cologne, Germany. In this interview, a statement by the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council resonated with US interests in a post-Brexit trade deal, outlining that the UK’s departure from strict EU legislation regarding poultry would indeed present attractive trade opportunities for US exports.

In August 2019, FoodIngredientsFirst also reported that chlorine-washed chicken, as part of a post-Brexit free trade deal with the US, was “the thin end of the wedge” that could impact public health and threaten thousands of jobs in the UK food processing industry. This was according to Unite, Britain and Ireland’s largest union. Unite called on the government to give a clear statement that it will not “sellout” the estimated 450,000 workers directly employed by the UK food industry in any free trade deal with US President Trump.

Edited by Elizabeth Green

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