Is Liz Truss losing her battle to let chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef into the UK?

An independent inquiry looks set to slam the brakes on US trade talks – and the idea has been roasted by the supermarket giants, Rob Merrick reports

The buccaneering rip-up-the-rules trade secretary’s goose may be cooked (10 Downing Street/PA)

When the government suddenly dumped its pledge to ban chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef from UK shops, this appeared to be a Brexit deal that really was oven-ready.

Liz Truss, the buccaneering rip-up-the-rules trade secretary, was riding high as she embarked on talks with the US – and in no mood to let the opposition of farmers and consumer groups stand in her way.

But, six weeks later, could it be that – after the sharp-elbowed interventions of farmers and supermarket chiefs – it is now Ms Truss’s goose that is cooked?

Certainly, she is now on the back foot, after having to concede to the setting up of an independent commission to allay protests that domestic producers will be hurt by cheap imports.

A delighted National Farmers’ Union, which had been demanding the move for 18 months, hailed it as “a hugely important development” that could prevent standards being undermined.

On Friday, the trade secretary announced a heavyweight chair for the commission, Tim Smith, former head of the Food Standards Agency, and said that its report will be “presented to parliament”.

Now, not every opponent of low-quality US food is delighted. Green groups attacked the lack of voices for the environment, and said that the report will be “advisory” only, and bemoaned the presence of prominent Brexiteers on the panel.

Moreover, its existence is no substitute for parliament being stripped of its power to scrutinise proposed trade deals, one of Boris Johnson’s first acts after his general election triumph.

Nevertheless, this must be a big setback to Downing Street’s hopes of a quick deal with Washington, the supposed big prize of Brexit – even though it would barely boost our economy.

It is widely agreed that there can be no deal without concessions to US agriculture but that surely now cannot happen without the commission’s report, which will not come for six months.

At the very least, that would block a deal before November’s seismic presidential election, with Donald Trump, on current polling, on his way to the political graveyard.

If the impact of the commission is uncertain, the stance of the UK’s supermarkets is crystal clear as, one by one, they vowed not to sully their shelves with such unpopular food.

Waitrose was first to outlaw chicken washed in acid, and beef pumped with growth hormones or antibiotics, quickly followed by Aldi, Co-op, Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

If its food is not going to be sold here anyway, will the US really offer the “ambitious and comprehensive” agreement the Brexiteers promised?

For ministers so desperate to strike that deal – and who see generous terms for US food producers as the key – this must be hard to swallow.