British trade minister challenged to eat chlorinated chicken in public

British secretary of state for international trade Liam Fox was challenged on Monday to eat an American-style chlorinated chicken in public after he argued against letting a media obsession with food standards undermine transatlantic trade negotiations.

Campaign group Open Britain threw down the gauntlet to the international trade secretary after he cast doubt on whether Britain would continue to adhere to EU rules banning imports of chlorinated chicken after Brexit.

Mr Fox’s stance during a trip to the US highlighted the potential for the UK to make significant compromises as it starts preparatory work on striking bilateral trade deals.

Concern about the safety of the chlorine washes used by US chicken producers to kill bacteria including salmonella has long been a sticking point in transatlantic trade discussions.

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US officials argue the chicken is safe, citing various scientific reviews, but EU rules ban the meat from being imported to the bloc.

Speaking in Washington during a visit aimed at boosting trade after Brexit, Mr Fox declined to answer a question about whether he would eat chlorinated chicken.

But he told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute: “In a debate which should be about how you get, or make, a contribution to global liberalisation and the prosperity of both the UK, the US and our trading partners . . . the British media are obsessed with chlorine washed chickens.”

He dismissed the chicken issue as “a detail in the very end stage of one sector of a potential free trade agreement”.

‘Live on camera’

Open Britain, a pro-EU group, said that “if Dr Fox think it’s safe, he should put his money where his mouth is . . . and devour a chlorine-washed chicken live on camera”.

The British Poultry Council, which represents UK chicken farmers, said it rejected “the notion of importing chlorine-washed chickens as part of a makeweight in trade negotiations”.

Mr Fox’s stance appeared to put him at odds with other members of the government – notably environment secretary Michael Gove – who have pledged to protect Britain’s animal welfare standards. Downing Street said: “Any future trade deal must work for UK farmers, businesses and consumers.”

Mr Fox also signalled that he saw many other areas where UK attitudes were more in line with those of the US than the EU. He highlighted the issue of data flows, saying the UK was more in tune with US calls for information to be allowed to flow freely across borders.

Separately, a report by the House of Lords EU committee says today that Britain “must negotiate to include provisions regarding animal welfare in future free trade agreements”, and that Britain’s meat and poultry industry is “united in seeking to maintain [current] standards”.

– (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2017)