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'Chemical chaos' could ensue as Brexit leaves UK vulnerable to dangerous pesticides, union warns
02/09/2018
UK is ‘moving from a situation where we are a key player in all of this to an almost passive bystander with much less control over what goes onto the shelves’, says Prospect chief. / Harmful chemicals including bee-killing pesticides, skin irritants and hormone disruptors could be allowed into the UK following Brexit, experts have cautioned.
Environmental groups are unsatisfied with Green Brexit's weaker regulations. The UK's touted departure from the EU has led to a great reshuffling of regulations across the board. However, for many environmental advocacy groups, these changes are quickly proving to be not in the planet's favor.
EU countries voted on Friday for a near-total ban on insecticides blamed for killing off bee populations, in what campaigners called a “beacon of hope” for the winged insects. /
WHEN asked whether US food standards would ever be accepted in post-Brexit Britain, the unequivocal response from Cabinet Minister Michael Gove was “over my dead body”.
They talked about the benefits of community farming for wellbeing and biodiversity, as well as the risks posed by pesticides and lower environmental standards.
Fantastic news as countries across the European Union – including the UK – vote to ban the outdoor use of 3 bee-harming pesticides.
Chlorinated chicken is just the start. The government intends to rip up food standards, public services and public protections.
Exclusive: Britain is falling behind the bloc on almost every area of green regulation, analysis reveals.
Brexit is bad for bees… and your stomach
10/03/2024
The UK has again approved the use of a bee-killing pesticide that is banned in the EU.
Brexit: despatches from the downside – No 19
27/01/2024
This week's Brexit downsides: half a billion in extra costs to import food, the collapse of trade talks with Canada and more.
Brexit fears prompt more than 50 firms to move registrations away from the UK.
Ministers criticised for failing to fight for ‘ambitious’ commitments to cut CO2 emissions.
Thousands of pro-consumer laws we take for granted could expire at the end of 2023.
UK preparing to lift tariffs on palm oil from Malaysia as price for joining CPTPP trade agreement. / Britain is preparing to sign off on a post-Brexit trade deal that campaigners say will encourage further destruction of nature, threaten the habitat of orangutans in Malaysia and make a mockery of the government’s claims of being committed to tackling deforestation abroad.
The world’s most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollination.
Soil Association raises concerns over chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef.
Ruptures have once again emerged across government over the direction of the UK’s post-Brexit trade policy, with environment secretary George Eustice raising concerns about a potential deal with India.
Expert coalition urges ministers to abandon ‘behind closed doors’ trade policy and include public health and green voices on its trade commission.
‘We need urgent action to restore the abundance of our insect populations, not broken promises that make the ecological crisis even worse,’ says Wildlife Trusts
Activists file formal complaint alleging government has breached international law in signing deal.
Big firms want Donald Trump to play hard ball over the NHS, food quality and consumer rights.
Wanting to forge new trading relationships after Brexit and securing them are two very different things.
Government condemned for trying ‘to rush it through’ – in echoes of Northern Ireland Protocol now being torn up. / MPs should block the Australia trade deal because the government has broken a promise to allow it to be scrutinised properly, a damning report says.
An open letter from joint CEOs Miriam Turner and Hugh Knowles to the Department of Trade on possible trade deals with the US.
Post-Brexit India deal could cut thousands of jobs in Leave-voting areas, and hike food prices
18/05/2023
British rice milling industry faces wipe-out from part of a trade deal being discussed with India. First proposed by Boris Johnson, it is also predicted to raise consumer food prices and break UK limits on pesticides.
Brexit is also impacting the tools pest controllers have readily available to tackle vermin as less companies opt to pay to put their products through UK-specific regulation processes.
Tate & Lyle: Brexit-backing firm that donated to Tories set to save £73m from trade change
09/08/2020
Company denies ‘sweet deal’ that will import sugar cane from countries with lower employment and environmental standards.
The UK should not let its pesticide standards slip during US trade talks – they will not be relinquished without consequences
09/06/2020
The decisions made in these trade talks will define the health of the UK’s population as well as the country’s environment and economy for years to come.
Tory MPs urge government to scrap EU pesticide regulations and allow all US chemicals on food
14/06/2022
Conservative MPs have urged the government to use its Brexit freedoms to ditch the EU’s cautious approach to making sure pesticides are safe for human consumption.
Analysis from EU’s scientific risk assessors finds neonicotinoids pose a serious danger to all bees, making total field ban highly likely
EU restricts use of eight chemicals, with 16 more in pipeline; UK has two under consideration.
Analysis finds changes such as removal of blanket ban on hormone-disrupting chemicals. / The UK has been accused of “silently eroding” key environmental and human health protections in the Brexit-inspired rush to convert thousands of pages of European Union pesticide policy into British law.
American agricultural lobby groups had criticised some of the import bans.
Campaigners say revoking of post-Brexit protections amounts to legislative vandalism. / Hundreds of Britain’s environmental laws covering water quality, sewage pollution, clean air, habitat protections and the use of pesticides are lined up for removal from UK law under a government bill.
Select committee says ministers want to rush through deal allowing food imports that fall below UK environmental standards.
BORDER checks between Scotland, England and Wales could be required because of varying food standards after Brexit, academics have warned.
The UK’s trade agreement with Australia led to British farmers and associations voicing concerns about unfair competition and a lowering of food standards.
They want to tear up our green regulations so they can plunder and pollute the environment for profit.
The government’s “Brexit freedoms bill” could see all legal protections from pesticides abolished, wildlife campaigners have warned, putting insects, wildlife and human health in danger.
A bill to remove EU-derived laws that include 570 environmental regulations will cause serious ecological harm, charities and MPs have warned.
‘Take back control’? With this Pacific trade deal, Brexit Britain has just signed it away
31/03/2023
Goodbye, food standards. Hello, corporate lobbyists. Why are we doing this, for no real economic benefit?
When the government announced this year it would indefinitely delay plans to force UK companies to adopt a new post-Brexit quality mark, the UKCA, Simon Blackham, of the insulation maker Recticel, was delighted. “Yes! An outbreak of common sense,” he recalls thinking. / His joy was short-lived, however.
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◈ environment ×20
◈ food ×19
◈ deregulation ×13
◈ chemicals ×10
◈ hormones ×8
◈ beef ×7
◈ DEFRA ×7
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