US ambassador urges Britain not to be deterred by EU agriculture ‘smear campaign’
The United States’ ambassador to London has launched an attack on what he sees as the EU’s outdated farming practices, saying they should not impede a post-Brexit trade deal.
On Thursday, the US Trade Representative’s office (USTR) said it would try to reduce regulatory differences between the countries and cut barriers stopping US industrial and agricultural goods entering the UK market.
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The plans sparked concerns the UK would be flooded with goods currently banned under EU regulations such as chlorinated chickens. Environment secretary Michael Gove has already said the UK will not compromise on such standards.
But on Saturday morning, ambassador Woody Johnson wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “You have been presented with a false choice: either stick to EU directives, or find yourselves flooded with American food of the lowest quality.”
“Inflammatory and misleading terms like ‘chlorinated chicken’ and ‘hormone beef’ are deployed to cast American farming in the worst possible light. It is time the myths are called out for what they really are: a smear campaign from people with their own protectionist agenda.”
Johnson said American farmers were merely using scientific and technological tools to help meet the challenges of a growing global population.
“It is not sustainable for the whole world to follow the EU’s ‘Museum of Agriculture’ approach. We have to look to the future of farming, not just the past,” he said.
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Johnson said washing chicken was a “public safety no-brainer”.
“The fact is that farmers in America have the same priorities as farmers in Britain”, he said, adding the EU’s approach to agriculture is “traditionalist”.