UNISON has got together with War on Want and produced a video on the dangers of deregulation of meat inspection and the Transatlantic, Trade & Investment Partnership (TTIP).
As part of the TTIP "trade negotiations", the European Union (EU) wants to end port inspections of imported meat products, even when there are outbreaks of dangerous diseases such as BSE, e coli or salmonella.
The film - Death on a plate: TTIP meat inspections and your food - highlights the potential dangers of what is being discussed in secret rooms in Brussels and Washington DC. At the same time, the EU is planning to put an end to independent meat inspections in Britain and other European countries. UNISON is "hugely concerned at the public health implications of ending inspections," said National Officer, Paul Bell. "Removing contamination from meat saves lives. Given the many instances of contaminated meat found by independent meat inspectors, each year, we should be raising standards, not lowering them."
UNISON is urging the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland - which has responsibility for the negotiations on changing the relevant EU regulation [882/2004] - to keep independent meat inspections in the new regulations.