Fox plays down chicken debate during US visit
DECISIONS on whether to allow chlorine-washed chicken to be sold to British consumers would be taken at the “very end stage” of a potential US-UK free trade deal, Liam Fox said as he condemned media “obsession” with the subject.
The International Trade Secretary was in Washington for talks on post-Brexit trade links with the United States amid concerns that any agreement would open up British markets to US agricultural products including the controversial chickens.
Dr Fox said closer trade ties could boost prosperity in both countries and hit out at Brexit critics, claiming they were “dreaming” if they thought the UK could end up remaining in the EU.
Asked if he would feel comfortable eating a chlorine-washed chicken, Dr Fox said: “In a debate which should be about how we make our contribution to global liberalisation and the increased prosperity of both the UK, the US and our trading partners, the complexities of those – the continuity agreements, the short-term gains that we may make, the opportunities we have and our ability to work jointly towards both a free-trade agreement and WTO liberalisation – the British media are obsessed with chlorine-washed chickens, a detail of the very end stage of one sector of a potential free trade agreement. “I say no more than that.” Answering questions following a speech at the American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank, Dr Fox said it would be “optimistic” to think a free-trade deal with the European Union could be concluded by the time of Brexit in March 2019 but ministers were supportive of a transitional deal so that businesses would not face a cliff-edge change in the rules.
There was a “growing consensus” in Cabinet for an “implementation” phase, which would see the UK voluntarily keep some of the EU’s laws and rules, he said.
But he rejected Brussels’ demands for the European Court of Justice to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the UK after Brexit, saying it was a “very strange view of jurisprudence”.
Theresa May’s official spokesman said it was too early to discuss specific details of any trade deal, such as the issue of chlorinated chicken.
The spokesman was challenged at a regular Westminster media briefing over whether the Government was guaranteeing to maintain EU-level food standards after Brexit. He said: “Our position when it comes to food is that maintaining the safety and public confidence in the food we eat is of the highest priority Any future trade deal must work for UK farmers, businesses and consumers.”
Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a leading supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: “The Government is putting the Fox in charge of the hen coop when it comes to food safety.
“This row about chlorine chicken is a direct result of the Government’s decision to leave the single market. They are so desperate for new trade deals to make up for some of the losses that they seem ready to compromise on the safety of the food we eat.”
Britain is to release a report detailing the UK’s trade links with every single one of the 435 congressional districts in the USA, in a bid to win the backing of American politicians for a swift postBrexit trade deal.
The publication, which highlights more than 700,000 US jobs supported by exports to the UK in 2015, has been compiled by a new US/UK trade and investment working group set up by Dr Fox’s Department for International Trade.
In his speech to the AEI, Dr Fox warned that global growth and prosperity were under threat from an increase in protectionist measures “silting up” world trade since the crash of 2008. He called for swift completion of the mooted Trade in Services Agreement to liberalise trade in sectors like banking and healthcare, as well as action to enforce rules against illegal subsidies and dumping.
And he suggested that technological advances mean that geographically-based trade blocs like the European Union are becoming a thing of the past
“For the most advanced economies, like the US or UK, where almost 80% of our economic activity is service-based, we can afford to seek closer partnerships with those whose demands complement our output, not necessarily those who are geographically proximate,” he said.