Leader of Scotland's Conservatives Opposes US Chicken and Beef Imports

The UK farmers' union has urged the government to block imports of chicken washed with chlorine and beef from cattle injected with hormones from the US as apart of a post-Brexit trade deal under negotiation since May.

A leading UK Conservative Party MP has said he would heed farmers' concerns and vote against imports of beef and chicken from the US.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said the government had listened to concerns raised by the National Farmers' Union over a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal that could open the door to imports of chicken treated with chlorine and beef from cattle injected with hormones.

"I would be in no doubt and have no hesitation in voting against any legislation which would allow those products into this country," Ross said. "That’s a categorical assurance."

He added that while US food standards would not change under any such agreement: "What we can do is to say we would not allow hormone-injected beef or chlorinated raw chicken in. Our standards can be as high as they’ve always been."

The Scottish National Party (SNP)-controlled devolved government is set to to be granted over 100 new powers due to return to the UK from Brussels in January at the end of the Brexit transition period. 

But under Westminster's proposals for the UK internal market the devolved national governments could be unable to opt out of the trade deal, negotiations for which began in May.

"The NFU wants more reassurance on the common framework and there’s more work to be done on that," Ross said. "There would be no point having the consultation if the government was just going to forge on ahead and pay no attention to what has been said."

The SNP has used Britain's 2016 referendum decision to leave the European Union, which 62 per cent of Scottish voters opposed, to push for a repeat of the 2014 independence referendum which was rejected by 55 per cent to 45.

The Tories have countered by pointing out that the extra funding the Scottish government receives from Westminster under the Barnett Formula is worth almost £2,000 per resident.  

"The crucial point is that, and I reiterate it because it’s worth 545,000 jobs for Scotland, we have to have this legislation in place to protect the internal market because the alternative is the SNP leave the internal market and that would be catastrophic for our economy, for jobs in Scotland and for our businesses," Ross stressed.

The NFU has many members in the Scottish Tory leader's rural Moray constituency in northern Scotland, where most of population live in farming and fishing communities.

Ross gained the seat from the SNP at the 2017 snap general election.