UK Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss’s latest stance on adopting a ‘free market approach’ to trading food post Brexit and ‘accommodating US demands’ risks watering down British food standards and creating a dangerous two-tier food system with the less well-off forced to accept lower standards, warns the British Poultry Council (BPC).

BPC, the trade association representing the nation’s £7.2billion poultry industry, is determined to carry on putting food on every table and ensuring British food grown to British standards remains accessible and affordable for all.

BPC Chief Executive, Richard Griffiths, said:
“It is vital that trade deals post-Brexit recognise the high standards to which Britain produces food. British farmers have worked incredibly hard to build a food system that enhances British food values and ensures high standards of production from farm to fork.

We simply cannot afford to compromise on our high standards of animal welfare and food safety and accept trade products that do not meet our current standards. If food produced to lower standards is allowed to enter the British market, it will create a 2-tier food system, in which only the affluent can afford to eat British food grown to British standards. This is unacceptable.

We’re calling for a Government-wide commitment that production standards of imported food must meet British standards as a condition of entry. Government must do everything it can to enable British food producers to carry on putting food on every table and ensure no one is left behind.”