Update on Trade deals
I’ve got an exciting update. The government has accepted changes that will make it harder to sign trade deals that harm our food and animal welfare standards. [1] It’s a step in the right direction in protecting the quality of the food on our plates and our farmers.
Here’s a summary of what’s changed:
The newly formed Trade and Agriculture Commission - a group set up to advise the government on how trade will affect our farmers and the food we eat - has been given legal status. This means its recommendations will hold more sway. [2]
The Commission will be required to produce a report to MPs on how any new trade deal will affect our food and animal welfare standards. This will arm MPs with more information to decide whether to debate or even block any trade deals that threaten these things. [3]
The government has vowed not to 'negotiate to remove that ban [on chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef] in a trade deal' - however they haven’t yet backed this up with legal protections. [4]
By working together in our hundreds of thousands, we were able to get the government to introduce better protections for our food and animal welfare standards. So I wanted to take a moment to celebrate all of the work we’ve done together to help make this happen:
Hundreds of thousands of us signed petitions and open letters to Boris Johnson and key government ministers telling them to protect our food and animal welfare standards in trade deals with countries like the USA [5]
Tens of thousands of us got in touch with our MPs, telling them to show up to important votes in Parliament and vote to support protections in law
Thousands of us chipped in for a legal briefing to MPs proving why our food and animal welfare standards are at risk
We paid for digital ad campaigns in major newspapers telling Boris Johnson not to break his promise to ban chlorinated chicken in trade deals
Together our pressure forced 4 major UK supermarket chains - Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda and the Coop - to ban chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef from their stores [6]
This news is a positive sign the government is listening to the concerns of the public: of 38 Degrees members like you, farmers, consumer and agricultural groups, and food experts who've all been working to make sure our food and animal welfare standards are properly protected in trade deals.
We'll still need to be on the lookout: to make sure that our farmers will never be undercut by lower quality imported food, and products like chicken dunked in chlorine never end up in our supermarkets, because of each new trade deal. But I'm proud of what we've achieved together so far - and I hope you are too.
Jess and the 38 Degrees team
Here’s a summary of what’s changed:
The newly formed Trade and Agriculture Commission - a group set up to advise the government on how trade will affect our farmers and the food we eat - has been given legal status. This means its recommendations will hold more sway. [2]
The Commission will be required to produce a report to MPs on how any new trade deal will affect our food and animal welfare standards. This will arm MPs with more information to decide whether to debate or even block any trade deals that threaten these things. [3]
The government has vowed not to 'negotiate to remove that ban [on chlorinated chicken and hormone-injected beef] in a trade deal' - however they haven’t yet backed this up with legal protections. [4]
By working together in our hundreds of thousands, we were able to get the government to introduce better protections for our food and animal welfare standards. So I wanted to take a moment to celebrate all of the work we’ve done together to help make this happen:
Hundreds of thousands of us signed petitions and open letters to Boris Johnson and key government ministers telling them to protect our food and animal welfare standards in trade deals with countries like the USA [5]
Tens of thousands of us got in touch with our MPs, telling them to show up to important votes in Parliament and vote to support protections in law
Thousands of us chipped in for a legal briefing to MPs proving why our food and animal welfare standards are at risk
We paid for digital ad campaigns in major newspapers telling Boris Johnson not to break his promise to ban chlorinated chicken in trade deals
Together our pressure forced 4 major UK supermarket chains - Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda and the Coop - to ban chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef from their stores [6]
This news is a positive sign the government is listening to the concerns of the public: of 38 Degrees members like you, farmers, consumer and agricultural groups, and food experts who've all been working to make sure our food and animal welfare standards are properly protected in trade deals.
We'll still need to be on the lookout: to make sure that our farmers will never be undercut by lower quality imported food, and products like chicken dunked in chlorine never end up in our supermarkets, because of each new trade deal. But I'm proud of what we've achieved together so far - and I hope you are too.
Jess and the 38 Degrees team
