Food safety in the UK and public confidence in it will be placed at risk if the government pursues a free-trade agreement with the US, a former Conservative environment minister has said.
If imports of US-standard food were allowed, “you would have a huge decline in food safety,” said Lord Deben, now chairman of the Committee on Climate Change. “Food safety is a huge issue.”
See also Brexit Resilience: Conception to GraveHe said the US would stipulate allowing exports of its agricultural products to the UK in any free-trade agreement. “I know this – I’ve negotiated with them, for the whole of the EU,” he told the Guardian.
“You have four times as much food-borne disease in the US,” he said, adding that the country’s standards on aspects of food safety, including meat and other agricultural products, were lower than those in the UK and Europe.