One Million Sign Petition Urging U.K. to Protect Food Standards

(Bloomberg) -- More than 1 million people signed a petition urging the U.K. government to uphold food standards in future trade deals.

Trade talks with the U.S. are again sparking public fears about an onslaught of food produced at lower standards, an issue that’s expected to be a sticking point in negotiations. The standard of products sold on supermarket shelves could be crucial for Britain’s livestock farmers who fear losing out to cheaper U.S. meat produced using methods that are banned in the U.K.

“Trade policy is complicated, but what the public are telling us is quite simple. They care deeply about their food, where it comes from and how it is produced,” National Farmers Union President Minette Batters said in a statement. “They do not want to see chlorinated chicken or hormone-fed beef on their supermarket shelves.”

The U.K. is looking to make a deal with the U.S. as it prepares to leave the European Union at the end of the year. Chicken washed with chlorine and hormone-treated beef have become synonymous with U.S. food and animal-welfare standards that are deemed inferior to those in the U.K. That has prompted fears among British farmers that allowing imports of such products would mean they wouldn’t be able to compete with American food sold at lower prices.

The NFU has long said that domestic production standards should be used as a benchmark in trade talks, and the government has signaled that the country won’t compromise on food in a U.S. deal. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said on Thursday there’s no timetable for concluding talks with the U.S. over a free trade agreement.

America will have problems on agricultural issues in negotiations with Britain, Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative, told a House committee on Wednesday. Worries in Europe about U.S. food-safety standards are “thinly veiled protectionism” and the Trump administration won’t compromise on agriculture in trade talks, he said.

The NFU, which organized the petition, is also calling for the introduction of an independent body that could review trade policy and ensure food imports are held to the same standards expected of British farmers.

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