Cable Forum - View Single Post - UK & EU Agree Post-Brexit Trade Deal

**Chris** · 28-02-2020, 10:23

The chlorine-washed chicken issue comes up with monotonous regularity, hilariously it is often brought up by Europhiles (and/or America haters, sometimes they’re the same thing) who don’t understand the rationale behind the process, and where and when it may be used, and assume that it must have something to do with chemical poisoning or a finished product that is otherwise unsafe (when in fact a final chlorine rinse ensures chicken is extremely safe).

I suspect to get to the bottom of this you would have to trawl through EU records from the time this issue was discussed and regulated. I’d bet hard cash that somewhere in the paper trail you will find a lobby group with powerful connections in one of the principal member states that pushed for a ban on chlorine washing. It could either be an industry lobby that had already invested in other processes, or it could have been green politicians in a coalition somewhere, forcing their majority partner to make concessions.

Either way it is a talisman for everything that the EU fears might happen in the UK if they don’t secure dynamic alignment. They know perfectly well that the process is safe and cheap. Here, and in a lot of other areas, the UK has the potential to make EU imports look ridiculously expensive by freeing up domestic producers to do things in other, cheaper ways. This is why they don’t want to take the more common trade deal route of mutual recognition of standards. They need continuing alignment in the UK because it is a critically important export market for them, which they fear is about to get much more difficult for them to sell into.

In a mutual recognition scenario, British producers would in some cases be able to sell products in the EU that meet British standards (in others compliance with EU standards might still be required), but in all cases British producers selling in the British market need only comply with British standards. The opportunity to cut costs for British business here is immense, especially as the vast majority of British businesses deal only domestically.

28-02-2020, 10:23	#2510
Chris Trollsplatter Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: North of Watford Services: Humane elimination of all common Internet pests Posts: 38,196	Re: [Updated] The UK’s future relationship with the EU The chlorine-washed chicken issue comes up with monotonous regularity, hilariously it is often brought up by Europhiles (and/or America haters, sometimes they’re the same thing) who don’t understand the rationale behind the process, and where and when it may be used, and assume that it must have something to do with chemical poisoning or a finished product that is otherwise unsafe (when in fact a final chlorine rinse ensures chicken is extremely safe). I suspect to get to the bottom of this you would have to trawl through EU records from the time this issue was discussed and regulated. I’d bet hard cash that somewhere in the paper trail you will find a lobby group with powerful connections in one of the principal member states that pushed for a ban on chlorine washing. It could either be an industry lobby that had already invested in other processes, or it could have been green politicians in a coalition somewhere, forcing their majority partner to make concessions. Either way it is a talisman for everything that the EU fears might happen in the UK if they don’t secure dynamic alignment. They know perfectly well that the process is safe and cheap. Here, and in a lot of other areas, the UK has the potential to make EU imports look ridiculously expensive by freeing up domestic producers to do things in other, cheaper ways. This is why they don’t want to take the more common trade deal route of mutual recognition of standards. They need continuing alignment in the UK because it is a critically important export market for them, which they fear is about to get much more difficult for them to sell into. In a mutual recognition scenario, British producers would in some cases be able to sell products in the EU that meet British standards (in others compliance with EU standards might still be required), but in all cases British producers selling in the British market need only comply with British standards. The opportunity to cut costs for British business here is immense, especially as the vast majority of British businesses deal only domestically. Last edited by Chris; 28-02-2020 at 10:27.