Britain’s £ 7.2billion poultry meat industry is determined to play a key role in ensuring British food grown to British standards remains accessible and affordable for all.
British Poultry Council, Chief Executive, Richard Griffiths, said:
“We welcome the recent comments from Environment Secretary, Theresa Villiers confirming that the UK will ‘hold the line’ in any post-Brexit trade negotiations with the US and ‘defend our national interests and our values, including our high standards of animal welfare’. We must see real action to support our producers, to improve our standards, and tackle hunger in this country.
We are calling on the Government to introduce legislation underpinning its assurances and ensure that imported food meets British standards as a condition of entry. Losing control of how we feed ourselves as a nation would undermine our producers at a time when we should be looking to use Brexit as an opportunity to take matters of nutrition, productivity, and climate change into our own hands and make a step change for the benefit future generations.
We simply cannot afford to compromise 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 two-tier food system, in which only the affluent can afford to eat British food grown to British standards. This is unacceptable.”
