Chlorinated chicken could face high tariffs

Proposal for US trade deal would tax imported food produced below British animal welfare standards

Britain would allow imports of chlorinated chicken from the US, but with high tariffs on cheaply-produced food to minimise the impact on UK farmers. The proposal for a trade deal with the US is for a “dual-tariff ” regime which sets duty on imported foods depending on compliance with animal welfare standards. Hormonefed beef, chlorinated chicken and other foods will be allowed but with tariffs to make it uneconomical for US producers to export them here.

BRITAIN would allow imports of chlorinated chicken from the US, but with high tariffs on cheaply-produced food to minimise the impact on UK farmers.

The latest Government proposal for a trade deal with the US is for a “dualtariff ” regime which imposes different levels of duty on imported foods, depending on whether they comply with UK animal welfare standards. Hormone-fed beef, chlorinated chicken and other foods that use techniques banned in the UK will be allowed, but ministers want to use tariffs to make it uneconomical for US producers to export them here.

High-quality foods, such as organically reared free-range meat, would be subject to lower tariffs in order to encourage foreign producers to raise their animal welfare to British levels.

The National Farmers’ Union described the scheme as “a significant step forwards” because it would prevent the US from flooding the UK market with cheap food produced using techniques banned in Britain.

However, Brexiteers will be concerned that consumers will not see the benefits of leaving the EU in the form of cheaper food in supermarkets. It represents a major victory for George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, over Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, who as a free marketeer had championed an alternative proposal that would have led to tariffs being reduced to zero over 10 years.

The dual-tariff proposal was adopted at a ministerial meeting on Monday, and will be put to the US as part of the ongoing negotiations over a post-brexit trade deal.

Donald Trump, the US president, is an opponent of tariffs, and could reject the idea out of hand, but it is likely to become the standard offer to other countries, as the UK continues to broker trade deals around the world.

Ministers are trying to achieve a balancing act of bringing down the cost of living for British consumers through post-brexit trade deals while, at the same time, protecting the interests of British farmers who are at risk of being put out of business if they are undercut by imports.

A government source said: “The idea of a dual-tariff regime is that the upper band would remove any economic advantage that foreign producers would gain through lower animal welfare standards. British farmers would also have a competitive advantage, even with goods that are produced to high standards, because of the lower tariff regime applied to imports.”

The issue of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef has become one of the central sticking points of US-UK trade talks. The Government accepts that such food is safe, but the reason American farmers wash chicken carcasses in chlorine is because they are battery-farmed, which makes them more prone to disease.

British farmers have argued that it would be grossly unfair to allow imports of foodstuffs that would undercut domestic goods on price because of the fact that they are produced in a way that is banned in the UK. Minette Batters, president of the NFU, told The Daily Telegraph: “It’s a significant step forwards that the Government has recognised the damage it would do to our farmers, who have to abide by the highest rung of the ladder, if we import food that wouldn’t even get on the lowest rung of the ladder when it comes to food standards.

“But we would call on the Government once again to accept the need for an independent food and farming standards commission to look at the proposals for trade deals.

“There has been an ongoing disagreement between Defra [the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] and the Department of International Trade which is why we need a stand-alone bridge that can advise the Government.”

‘It recognises the damage it would do if we import food that wouldn’t get on the lowest rung of standards’