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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Joe Karp-Sawey, media manager,Tel: +44 (0)7711 875 345,Email:,joe.karpsawey@globaljustice.org.uk

Hormone-Treated Beef and the UK-US Trade Talks

Responding to fears that the UK could be exposed to hormone-treated beef as part of a potential UK-US trade deal, Jean Blaylock a trade campaigner at Global Justice Now said:

"Treating cattle with hormones to increase growth has been banned in the UK for decades because of the risks to human health - scientists have been unable to find any safe level for consumption. But the US has been very upfront about its desire to flood the UK with treated beef.

WASHINGTON

Responding to fears that the UK could be exposed to hormone-treated beef as part of a potential UK-US trade deal, Jean Blaylock a trade campaigner at Global Justice Now said:

"Treating cattle with hormones to increase growth has been banned in the UK for decades because of the risks to human health - scientists have been unable to find any safe level for consumption. But the US has been very upfront about its desire to flood the UK with treated beef.

"The ban on growth hormones is included in a very long list of what the US considers to be barriers to trade, but it's not just about hormone-treated beef and chlorine-washed chickens. There are ten pages in this list of 'barriers to trade' that are entirely devoted to food safety issues in the UK and the EU. There is a very real risk that we will make enormous compromises on all manner of food safety issues in the government's drive to strike a trade deal with the US at any cost.

"These 'barriers to trade' that negotiators are so keen to strip away are not just restricted to food safety standards. They could involve labour rights, environmental protections and data privacy laws. This UK-US trade deal could have massive, far-reaching consequences across society, so it's astounding that Liam Fox is pursuing it so aggressively with no parliamentary scrutiny or oversight."

References

Trading with Trump - What we can expect from a UK-US trade deal

European Commission on food safety and hormones in meat:

2017 National Trade Estimate Report on FOREIGN TRADE BARRIERS, Office of the United States Trade Representative

Global Justice Now is a democratic social justice organisation working as part of a global movement to challenge the powerful and create a more just and equal world. We mobilise people in the UK for change, and act in solidarity with those fighting injustice, particularly in the global south.

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