Hormone-treated beef from Canada to flood UK food chain under CPTPP deal, British farmers warn
Canada is pushing for hormone-treated beef to be made available across the UK once Britain joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
According to the National Farmers Union, the deal would “severely undermine British farmers” and lower the quality of meet sold across the UK.
CPTPP – a trade deal among a bloc of nations with a combined total GDP of roughly £10 trillion – has been signed so far by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
The pact came about when talks on a Trans-Pacific Partnership collapsed after the U.S. pulled out.
The National Farmers Union told the Express newspaper that “it is the NFU’s consistent position that any new trade deals should not undermine British farming by allowing imports of food produced using methods that are illegal here.”
Moreover, the CEO of the National Beef Association, Neil Shand, told the paper that imported meats could fall short of high British production and welfare standards.
“In simple terms, we shouldn’t be accepting beef where the standards of production are not equivalent to our own.”
Neil Shand in the Express
“In terms of traceability, there is a real concern that the currently proposed Australian deal could allow beef produced at standards below those required in the UK to be imported,” he added.
“Whilst it’s unlikely any of this beef would end up on supermarket shelves – especially after the negative press the Australian deal has attracted – it is perfectly possible that it would be filtered into foodservice, where spotlights don’t shine as brightly, and fewer questions are asked,” Shand reportedly said.