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
Bangladesh halts controversial relocation of Rohingya refugees to remote island
- Administration of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina spent about $350m on the project
- Rohingya refuse to move to island and 10,000 have fled, top refugee official says
DHAKA: When Bangladesh launched a multi-million-dollar project to relocate Rohingya refugees to a remote island, it promised a better life. Five years on, the controversial plan has stalled, as authorities find it is unsustainable and refugees flee back to overcrowded mainland camps.
The Bhasan Char island emerged naturally from river sediments some 20 years ago. It lies in the Bay of Bengal, over 60 km from Bangladesh’s mainland.
Never inhabited, the 40 sq. km area was developed to accommodate 100,000 Rohingya refugees from the cramped camps of the coastal Cox’s Bazar district.
Relocation to the island started in early December 2020, despite protests from the UN and humanitarian organizations, which warned that it was vulnerable to cyclones and flooding, and that its isolation restricted access to emergency services.
Over 1,600 people were then moved to Bhasan Char by the Bangladesh Navy, followed by another 1,800 the same month. During 25 such transfers, more than 38,000 refugees were resettled on the island by October 2024.
The relocation project was spearheaded by the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted last year. The new administration has since suspended it indefinitely.
“The Bangladesh government will not conduct any further relocation of the Rohingya to Bhasan Char island. The main reason is that the country’s present government considers the project not viable,” Mizanur Rahman, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner in Cox’s Bazar, told Arab News on Sunday.
The government’s decision was prompted by data from UN agencies, which showed that operations on Bhasan Char involved 30 percent higher costs compared with the mainland camps in Cox’s Bazar, Rahman said.
“On the other hand, the Rohingya are not voluntarily coming forward for relocation to the island. Many of those previously relocated have fled ... Around 29,000 are currently living on the island, while about 10,000 have returned to Cox’s Bazar on their own.”
A mostly Muslim ethnic minority, the Rohingya have lived for centuries in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state but were stripped of their citizenship in the 1980s and have faced systemic persecution ever since.
In 2017 alone, some 750,000 of them crossed to neighboring Bangladesh, fleeing a deadly crackdown by Myanmar’s military. Today, about 1.3 million of them shelter in 33 camps in the coastal Cox’s Bazar district, making it the world’s largest refugee settlement.
Bhasan Char, where the Bangladeshi government spent an estimated $350 million to construct concrete residential buildings, cyclone shelters, roads, freshwater systems, and other infrastructure, offered better living conditions than the squalid camps.
But there was no regular transport service to the island, its inhabitants were not allowed to travel freely, and livelihood opportunities were few and dependent on aid coming from the mainland.
Rahman said: “Considering all aspects, we can say that Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char is currently halted. Following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, only one batch of Rohingya was relocated to the island.
“The relocation was conducted with government funding, but the government is no longer allowing any funds for this purpose.”
“The Bangladeshi government has spent around $350 million on it from its own funds ... It seems the project has not turned out to be successful.”
