Fears of unsafe foods being imported after Brexit raised

Safefood has expressed concerns that foods with less strict standards than currently apply in the EU may cross the border from the North into the Republic after Brexit.

In a briefing to an Oireachtas committee, an executive from the food safety agency said there was a risk that chlorinated chicken or GM foods - currently banned by the EU - would cross into the Republic after Brexit.

"That would be one of the main and immediate threats along the Border after March 2019," its vice chairman Paul Gibbons said.

Where there were price differentials between food items in the past, people were prepared to exploit that by moving foods across the Border, he told the Joint Committee on the Implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

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Safefood, is one of six cross-border bodies created under the 1998 agreement. Based in Cork, it is tasked with promoting food safety and healthy eating on an all-Ireland basis.

Its chief executive Ray Dolan acknowledged there was a risk that in seeking new markets, the UK would import foods from South America where lower standards and lack of sustainable production were evident.

The head of the UK government's Food Standards Agency had recently stressed to him, however, they wanted to maintain high standards. "That was very encouraging," he believed.

There was a likelihood of divergence in legislation between jurisdictions but the full picture would not emerge until after the end of the transition period. Any divergence would have particular implications for the agrifood sector. The UK may take a view EU standards were not necessary for its domestic suppliers, he pointed out.

This could lead to changed labelling on meats or substitute ingredients, for example, and lead to confusion for consumers.