RSPCA claims new trade deal hits animal welfare

THE RSPCA warns that the UK Government’s signing of a new Pacific trade deal misses a crucial opportunity to prevent imports of low-welfare battery hen eggsillegal to produce in the UK - from appearing on our supermarket shelves.

The UK generally has higher legal animal welfare standards than virtually all 11 member countries of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). UK membership of CPTPP now risks opening the doors to imports of lowwelfare egg products and pork produced from sow stalls from those countries.

UK Government negotiators had the opportunity to exclude the import of pork and eggs from systems illegal in the UK from the TransPacific deal by agreeing only to allow them in if they were produced to at least British welfare standards - but chose not to do so.

The RSPCA is now calling for the UK Government to reconsider its strategy and to exclude lowerwelfare egg products and pork completely from any new negotiations.

RSPCA head of public affairs David Bowles said: “Animal welfare is about to suffer another knock-out blow with the UK’s new TransPacific deal. The UK Government has dropped the ball by deciding not to draw a red line around our high animal welfare standards, particularly pork and eggs.

“We would urge Ministers to reconsider because, without an exclusion, pork and eggs produced to very low welfare standards from countries like Mexico and Canada could enter the UK and be found on our supermarket shelves.

“This would not only put UK producers at a disadvantage but also severely disadvantage UK consumers. The UK public has made it clear they do not want lower welfare imports like eggs from hens reared in barren battery cages - but battery hen eggs could be back under this deal.

“The deal could also directly impact RSPCA standards on laying hens and pigs, which account for over one in two eggs and one in four pigs produced in the UK, by undercutting on price, leaving farmers prioritising higher welfare struggling to compete with cheap imports.

“Worryingly, we fear the problems could be set to get even worse as the UK now starts negotiating a new bilateral agreement with Canada, which will be seeking new opportunities to send the UK their pork from sow stalls, banned here nearly 25 years ago and their beef raised on barren feedlots.”

David continued:

“Despite the UK having over 40 specific animal health and welfare standards, the UK Government has claimed joining the CPTPP would not compromise these standards and that any imported product would have to comply with UK import standards. But negotiators know that import standards do not safeguard the UK’s animal welfare standards. Without tariff conditionality, we struggle to see how our standards will not be compromised.

“We had high hopes that things might change after the disappointing Australian trade agreement. But by deciding not to exclude battery eggs or sow stall pork from this TransPacific deal, the UK Government has missed a real opportunity to get its manifesto commitment back on track, where it promised to maintain and, where possible, improve standards of animal welfare in the UK as new free trade agreements were negotiated.”

The much-vaunted trade deal will add only eight-hundredths of one per cent to the UK’s GDP.