ISDS Case Map
food safety | SPS
Internal ministerial briefing for Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers warns post-Brexit trade agreements could ‘irreparably damage' environment and public health.
European health standards too costly and complicated for Albertan beef exporters.
Government’s assurances that there are no health problems are misleading, say food policy experts.
CETA raises many questions and it is up to food businesses to comply with various requirements, in order to highlight their products and provide accurate information.
Officials participating in the negotiations say the deal not only involves taxes, but also non-tariff and investment issues.
A major focus throughout the agreement is an obvious effort to limit information provided to consumers and workers about food ingredients and nutrition, as well as the chemicals used in agriculture, consumer products and workplaces.
That’s in part because of a long-running catch 22: the US won’t contemplate a deal that doesn’t include agricultural goods, and the EU, keen to protect its own farmers and maintain food standards, refuses to allow a deal that does include them.
Bringing European officials to cattle country is part of a multi-pronged effort to sell beef to the EU.
The US negotiating objectives clearly intend to cover agriculture broadly. One of the trade negotiation mandates adopted by the EU addresses domestic regulatory changes which does not exclude agriculture.
The UK will be forced to accept US demands for the UK to change its food safety standards if it enters into a post-Brexit trade deal with the Trump administration
