The new boss of Waitrose has joined other representatives of the food industry and farmers in calling for food standards protections in any post-Brexit trade deals.
Waitrose’s new head James Bailey, who joined from Sainsbury’s in April, said any regression from current high standards in the UK would be unacceptable and pledged that John Lewis’ food business would not sell products it deemed to be of an inferior standard.
“It would be simply wrong to maintain high standards at home yet import food from overseas that has been produced to lower standards. We would be closing our eyes to a problem that exists in another part of the world and to animals who are out of our sight and our minds. I feel sure customers will share our view,” he said.
More than a million UK residents have signed a petition calling for a ban on cheaply produced imports in any post-Brexit deals.
The petition was commissioned by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to ensure there would be no importation of chlorinated chicken or hormone-injected beef in a post-Brexit trade deal with the likes of the United States.
The NFU argues that not only are such products of an inferior quality and could affect the health of UK consumers, but also that British farmers would be unable to compete on price.
Outgoing Tesco chief executive Dave Lewis has also ruled out the prospect of the UK’s largest supermarket selling chlorinated chicken from the US, while Morrisons has said it only sells fresh meat products.
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