So the Guardian reports that conservative and libertarian thinktanks like @CatoInstitute and the @IFTtweets favour dropping EU food standards. What to make of that (short thread) theguardian.com/politics/2018/…
1) The precautionary principle is not favoured in the US. The current US administration has already stated that it wants these standards dropped. I am not really sure which bit of this news is new.
2) Whether and to what extent this is good for the UK is another question. Here’s how to analyze this:
3) a) determine which standards the UK population actually wants
B) the economic aspect: US standards mean cheaper US imports, loss of EU trade, and for the farmers a different competitive environment.
EU standards mean blocking US imports, more trade with EU and less US competition for UK farmers.
So: you do an impact assessment. What gains, what losses, what trade-offs. Include the UK policy preference and how strongly the preference is felt.
To only look at possible gains through liberalization of US-UK trade and ignore all other factors is, well, not how you should tackle these decisions.
(And yes, I have ignored the bigger picture of the impact of a decision on food standards on the chances to reach an overall FTA with either the EU or the US. But it’s late. And I’m tired)
