LONDON: The US ambassador to Britain has attacked what he described as a “smear” campaign against American agriculture by interests with a protectionist agenda.
Woody Johnson said in an article published in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday that US food products are safe, and that scare stories about “chlorine-washed chicken” and “hormone-pumped beef” are being used to mislead the public. The comments come as Britain prepares to negotiate its own trade deals with the US and other countries after Britain’s departure from the European Union set for later this month.
“You have been presented with a false choice: either stick to EU directives, or find yourselves flooded with American food of the lowest quality,” Johnson wrote. “Inflammatory and misleading terms like ‘chlorinated chicken’ and ‘hormone beef’ are deployed to cast American farming in the worst possible light. It is time the myths are called out for what they really are: a smear campaign.”
Johnson says American producers use “scientific” and “technological” tools to feed a growing global population, in contrast to the European Union’s “Museum of Agriculture.”
Chlorinated chicken — or chlorine-treated chicken — refer to chicken carcasses that have been treated with antimicrobial rinses to remove harmful bacteria. The practice is common in the US but banned in the EU.
When asked about allowing the import of such chicken in 2017, Environment Secretary Michael Gove told the BBC flatly that it would not be allowed, saying that the UK would not “dilute our high animal welfare standards” in pursuit of a trade deal.
The UK’s National Farmers Union has raised concerns about US practices, saying trade deals shouldn’t allow imports produced “to lower standards than those required of British farmers.”
While the president of the union, Minette Batters, did not dispute that chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-fed beef were “safe,” she said other factors were worth considering in the debate about whether it should be allowed.
“Our consumer has demanded high standards of animal welfare, we’ve risen to that challenge,” she told the BBC. “(Johnson’s) right to make the point that food security is crucially important, we would say the same. But all we’re saying is: ‘Produce the food to our standards and we’ll have a trade deal.’“
US ambassador to UK slams critics of American agriculture
US ambassador to UK slams critics of American agriculture
- Chlorinated chicken — or chlorine-treated chicken — refer to chicken carcasses that have been treated with antimicrobial rinses to remove harmful bacteria
Al-Shabab extremists are greatest threat to peace in Somalia and the region, UN experts say
- The UN Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend authorization for the African Union’s “support and stabilization” force in Somalia until Dec. 31, 2026
UNITED NATIONS: The Al-Shabab extremist group remains the greatest immediate threat to peace and stability in Somalia and the region, especially Kenya, UN experts said in a report released Wednesday.
Despite ongoing efforts by Somali and international forces to curb operations by Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, “the group’s ability to carry out complex, asymmetric attacks in Somalia remains undiminished,” the experts said.
They said the threat comes not only from Al-Shabab’s ability to strike — including within the capital, Mogadishu, where it attempted to assassinate the president on March 18 — but from its sophisticated extortion operations, forced recruitment and effective propaganda machine.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to extend authorization for the African Union’s “support and stabilization” force in Somalia until Dec. 31, 2026. The force includes 11,826 uniformed personnel, including 680 police.
The extremist group poses a significant threat to neighboring Kenya “by conducting attacks that vary from attacks with improvised explosive devices, which predominantly target security personnel, to attacks on infrastructure, kidnappings, home raids and stealing of livestock,” the experts said.
This year, Al-Shabab averaged around six attacks a month in Kenya, mostly in Mandera and Lamu counties, which border Somalia in the northeast, the panel said.
The experts said Al-Shabab’s goal remains to remove Somalia’s government, “rid the country of foreign forces and establish a Greater Somalia, joining all ethnic Somalis across east Africa under strict Islamic rule.”
The panel of experts also investigated the Islamic State’s operations in Somalia and reported that fighters were recruited from around the world to join the extremist group, the majority from east Africa. At the end of 2024, they said the group known as ISIL-Somalia had a fighting force of over 1,000, at least 60 percent of them foreign fighters.
“Although small in terms of numbers and financial resources compared with Al-Shabab, the group’s expansion constituted a significant threat to peace and security in Somalia and the broader region,” the panel said.
