The UK Government has got itself into a Brexit bind having turned its back on the European Single Market and leaving itself at the mercy of a US trade deal and Donald Trump.
The signs are that key Scottish sectors could suffer as a result including Scotland’s booming food and drink sector which it now seems likely will be on the negotiation table in any US trade deal.
The row over allowing the import of chlorinated chicken shows exactly what an ‘America First’ deal would look like for Scotland.
This is certainly not, as Michael Gove suggested, an issue on the margins.
Our food and drink sector is disproportionately important to Scotland.
Scotland’s food and drink industry benefits from the high environmental, food safety and animal welfare standards which breeds consumer confidence and allows our businesses to export without barriers across the continent as well as often attracting a premium in the marketplace. The EU has played a key role in providing the framework to allow our industry to prosper.
In particular, EU membership has protected our food producers from being undercut by inferior imports from countries with lower standards.
The public spat between Liam Fox and Michael Gove over whether we should accept imports of chlorinated chicken in future trade deals shows that we can’t take those high standards for granted.
Take hormone injected beef as an example.
Over the years, Scottish farmers have vigorously resisted any suggestion that the EU ban should be relaxed but we have a UK Government that may be prepared to negotiate these safeguards away. The EU won’t be there to shield us.
There are countless similar issues that may be on the table – such as GM foods.
And it’s not just import standards that should worry us.
Consumers know that the quality and provenance of Scottish food is guaranteed by EU protections over food names.
Outside of the single market, the EU will have no obligation to enforce protection for Scottish produce in their own trade deals across the world.
And with the increasing likelihood that key powers over agriculture returning from Brussels will stop at Westminster rather than Holyrood, and Michael Gove only guaranteeing farm support up to 2022, many of our farms and crofts which supply the raw materials that underpin our food and drink sector could be crippled. We must ensure our primary producers are supported to play their role in our wider food and drink industry.
The danger to Scottish food and drink comes, fundamentally, from a weak UK government adopting a self-defeating negotiating position.
With the Tories ruling out single market membership, they appear desperate to secure a political win by signing new trade deals at any price.
The obsession with ending freedom of movement trumps the overwhelming need to maintain our trade links with Europe.
Another sad irony is that Scotland’s food and drink industry depends enormously on freedom of movement of labour for seasonal agricultural work and food processing factories.
Scotland’s food and drink industry is a massive success story.
It’s a diverse, thriving sector that exports high quality, high end produce around the world attracting tourists to our shores. More and more people around the world are now seeing Scotland in a similar culinary light to Italy and France.
Scottish salmon is the UK’s biggest food export and Scottish whisky is the UK’s biggest drink export – and exports mean jobs.
Our reputation for quality food has been built up over decades.
We can’t allow the UK government to destroy it at the stroke of a pen for a bad trade deal and put a successful industry into reverse gear.
Richard Lochhead was Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment 2007-2016
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