By Denis Sheehan, Publisher, H&C News: Hormone treated meat on its way to the UK hospitality and catering supply chain soon.
Documents freely available in the House of Commons Library show the UK had an overall trade deficit of £49 billion with the EU in 2020.
This imbalance of trade is one of the forecasted negative consequences of Brexit and many independent economic reports now project this trade deficit will increase.
The government is now desperately seeking to identify and agree new trade deals to fill that £49 billion gap, and concerns are growing that a Machiavellian approach to achieving that will be adopted, some might even say accelerated.
Anne-Marie Trevelyan signs trade agreement with Australia to aid UK’s post-Brexit £49 Billion trade deficitThe UK currently has a ban on producing and/or importing hormone treated meats due to public health concerns. However, government ministers are aiming to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, also known as TPP11 or TPP-11, is a trade agreement among Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.
CPTPP member nations apply a ‘hazard’ approach to animal farming, allowing practices not proven to be unsafe, to continue, and would expect new members to follow suit.
So, the cost to the UK of joining CPTPP could prove expensive, not least in ethical terms, as it may necessitate the UK dropping a ban on importing hormone treated meat.
Canada and Australia have no such ban in place and use hormones in animal farming to allow farmers to increase production and enable lower costs for consumers. Popular with both constituencies.
The government is already under enormous pressure economically, which they know will place them under growing political pressure. So, despite assurances from unnamed government spokespersons that all standards will be maintained… could hormone treated meat be on its way to the UK hospitality and catering supply chain soon?