Defra Secretary Michael Gove has suggested that MPs will be able to block certain parts of a US trade deal with the UK post-Brexit.
Mr Gove told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA) that certain parts of a post-Brexit US trade deal could be blocked if it included allowing the import of chlorine-washed chickens.
The question of whether the UK would import chlorine-washed meat after Brexit was raised when US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warned that a post-Brexit UK-US trade deal would require that the UK abandoned EU standards.
But on Tuesday (18 December), food safety experts warned that British consumers could be eating “dirty” chlorinated turkey at Christmas if the UK agrees a post-Brexit trade deal with the USA.
They warn that British shoppers would be safer if the UK kept European Union standards and say future controls should be “stricter, not weaker”.
'No compromise'
However, Mr Gove signalled: “I think if Parliament wanted to, it could stop the Government signing a trade deal.
“The Cabinet is agreed that there should be no compromise on high animal welfare and environmental standards.
“In America they cannot guarantee the same high standards in terms of how chickens are reared that we insist on here.
“Unless there is a change in the American side we would say that those animal welfare rules are things on which we will not compromise.
“The whole point about trade deals is that you have got to be assertive in defence of your own interests.”
'No health reasons'
Earlier this year, Trade Secretary Liam Fox appeared to open up a Cabinet split when he said there are "no health reasons" why British consumers could not eat chlorinated poultry.
Speaking about a possible trade deal with the US, Mr Fox said: “There are no health reasons why you shouldn’t eat chickens that have been washed in chlorinated water.
He added that “most salads in our supermarkets” are washed in chlorinated water already.
In the US, the government permits such practices as chlorinated chicken, which consists of dipping meat into chlorinated water to prevent microbial contamination.
The UK farming industry has said a possible trade deal with the US could allow lower-standard produce to be imported into the UK.
Indeed, a report has warned of the potential increase in cheaper, lower standard food imports to the UK which could put British farmers at a competitive disadvantage.
