Minister refuses to rule out chlorinated chicken imports

THE ENVIRONMENT Secretary has refused to rule out chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef being imported from the US in a post-Brexit trade deal.

George Eustice also defended the Government’s new immigration system, after businesses raised fears of a shortage of workers. His predecessor before the recent reshuffle had insisted the controversial products from the States would not be imported amid animal welfare and environmental fears.

But Mr Eustice, while saying there are “no plans” to change the law, did not explicitly rule it out when pressed three times on the subject.

With the Government expected to publish its negotiating position for a free trade deal with Washington within two weeks, he told Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday that the Government would not “take risks” on standards of welfare.

But he said “lactic acid washes” are now more commonly used in the US than chlorine, which is unlikely to allay fears over animal welfare because concerns centre on treatment before the washes themselves.

“What I’m saying is we won’t make any moves on our standards, we’ve got a clear position in this country that it is illegal to sell chlorine-washed chicken, illegal to sell beef treated with hormones, we have no plans to change those things,” he said.

Labour’s Shadow Environment Secretary Luke Pollard called for the Tories to introduce a ban on trade deals lowering welfare and environmental standards.

“Chlorinated chicken being sold in Britain is a genuine risk, unless this backdoor to lower standard US goods imports is closed and a ban is put into law,” he said.

Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrats’ food and rural affairs spokesman, accused the Conservatives of having backed down on their commitment.

“Farming communities up and down the country are rightly concerned about being undercut by low-standard imports from the US,” he said.

“With the Tories’ desperation for a trade deal with Donald Trump, it would appear they are rolling back on their promises. They are wilfully threatening British consumers and farmers.”

Theresa Villiers, who was relegated from leading the environment department to the backbenches in Boris Johnson’s reshuffle, had been explicit in

January that the EU laws banning chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef would be adopted here.

“There are legal barriers to their import and those are going to stay in place,” she added. The Government’s immigration plans set out this week are designed to cut the number of low-skilled migrants entering the UK.

The plans have drawn criticism from businesses for choking off a supply of workers that they need to operate.