The animal welfare charity claimed that the deal, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), would allow the import of products produced to lower animal welfare standards than those legal in the UK.
RSPCA head of public affairs David Bowles said: “The UK joining this Trans-Pacific trade bloc is another potential nail in the coffin for animal welfare standards back home. Many CPTPP countries use methods of production which are illegal here, such as sow stalls and battery cages for laying hens. Worryingly, we now fear there will be nothing to stop those products from being imported into the UK.
‘Catastrophic own goal’
“We were hoping that this Trans-Pacific agreement would result in a far better outcome in terms of animal welfare than the stand-alone trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, but this looks like another catastrophic own goal for animal welfare.”
The RSPCA noted that there are no explicit references to animal welfare standards in the trade bloc’s formal conditions.
“The UK Government had said it was committed to maintaining welfare standards in international trade deals but has negotiated a deal that will allow 55,000 tonnes of pig meat produced under standards illegal in the UK to be imported,” Bowles added.
Illegal in the UK
“Worryingly an endless amount of egg products produced in battery hens’ cages, a system that has been illegal in the UK since 2012, [would be allowed]. Bizarrely, the only country not allowed to export its eggs under the agreement is Australia – which is too far away, in any case!
The CPTPP member nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. According to the RSPCA, the UK has higher legal animal welfare standards than virtually every other CPTPP member country.
“Unless iron-clad safeguards on standards are produced, this deal is a huge concern,” Bowles concluded. “If the UK Government is to honour its manifesto commitment to protect our leading standards, it must take steps to keep these products off our supermarket shelves.”
