MPs have rejected the Agriculture Bill - but is chlorine-washed chicken still illegal in the UK?

MPs have rejected a bill which would require imported food to meet UK legal standards from 1 January 2021.

A Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill - which would require trade deals to meet UK animal welfare and food safety rules - was struck down.

The government stated that making current standards legal was unnecessary as ministers had already committed to making sure that UK food standards would remain intact in any post-Brexit trade agreements.

Kath Dalmeny, chair of the Future British Standards Coalition, said, “It’s dismaying that the government has opposed attempts to put into law its own commitment to maintain British food standards.

“It is perfectly possible to have high standards at home and sign trade deals with new trading partners who meet them. It’s what consumers have repeatedly said they want.”

‘An increasing risk of lower quality food’

Luke Pollard, the shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, said, “The Conservatives have again broken their promise to British farmers and the public.

“No one wants lower quality food on our plates, but there is an increasing risk that this could happen because the prime minister is refusing to show leadership. Labour will always back British farmers and it is a disgrace that the tories won’t do the same.”

Neil Parish, a Conservative MP and chair of the Select Committee on the environment, food and rural affairs, said, “Why are we not a great beacon of animal welfare and the environment as we negotiate these trade deals?

“We the British believe in agriculture, we believe in farming.”

The government says that EU rules banning imports of chlorine-washed chicken and other products will be automatically written into UK law after the post-Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020.

However, campaigners say that the ban of chlorine-washed chicken would still allow for many other types of food produced under conditions illegal in the UK to be imported.

Supermarkets pledge never to sell chlorinated chicken

Earlier in the year, when concerns regarding the UK’s food safety standards had started to grow, a number of supermarkets pledged to never stock the likes of chlorinated chicken or hormone injected beef on their shelves.

The supermarkets that have joined the pledge include:

AldiWaitroseCo-opM&SSainsbury’s

Aldi’s chief executive, Giles Hurley, said, “We will never compromise on the standards or specifications of our products, and that includes a commitment to never selling chlorinated chicken or hormone injected beef.