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Get your free copy08 July 2020, 09:00 AM
- New executive director James Bailey pledged support for UK farmers in a recent statement
Shortly after an NFU petition urging the Government to secure future trade deals in favour of the country’s growers and producers reached over one million signatures, the executive director of Waitrose, James Bailey, issued a statement backing the call.
He reiterated concern that a UK/US deal where rules banning imports of chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef would see “the standards British farmers have worked so hard to reach and uphold, sacrificed.” The promise was made to never stock products in-store that fall below the company’s own high standards.
“Britain’s food sector has established itself as one of the most ethical and affordable in the world – thanks in large part to Britain’s farmers who have pioneered ever higher standards with support from the Government,” he said.
“While we must recognise the important and difficult task the government has in securing our future trade relations, at the same time, we must point out that any regression from the standards we have pioneered for the last 30 years, both as a business and as a country, would be an unacceptable backwards step.
“It would be simply wrong to maintain high standards at home yet import food from overseas that has been produced to lower standards. We would be closing our eyes to a problem that exists in another part of the world and to animals who are out of our sight and our minds.”
