British food and drink products such as Cornish pasties, Cumberland sausage and Stilton cheese could lose their special protected status in trade agreements signed since Brexit.
Lord Tyler of Linkinhorne – the former Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall – highlighted the issue after a debate in the House of Lords about the trade deal between the UK and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
According to the peer the UK has failed to agree protection for the geographical indicators with Norway and Liechtenstein for products such as Cornish pasties and clotted cream.
The two products are among many British foodstuffs which had previously been given protection under EU rules which meant that they have to be produced using ingredients from their geographic origin and, in terms of a Cornish pasty, also have to be baked to a certain recipe and shape.
Securing the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) for pasties had been done to prevent inferior products being created outside of Cornwall and called a Cornish pasty.
All PGIs which were previously agreed by the EU have been continued by the UK Government since Brexit under a new scheme which recognises UK products with GIs
Lord Purvis said in the Lords: “Clotted cream from Cornwall, Cornish pasties, Cumberland sausage, Welsh lamb and beef, Stilton and Cheddar cheeses—all of which the Prime Minister and Liz Truss, when she was in the DIT, were fond to cite—are no longer protected for our trade in Norway, nor is Scottish wild or farmed salmon, a direct competitor with Norwegian salmon.
“The Norwegians already own much of the industry, and now we have failed to protect our products.”
The Department for International Trade said that it was seeking protection for a number of UK GIs in agreements it has already reached and would continue to do so according to the relevant procedures of each country.