PRODUCERS of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb in the "Rhubarb Triangle" on the edge of Bradford will have to wait until at least 2023 to receive protected geographical status in Japan, after being left off the government’s priority list for official recognition.
Yorkshire-forced rhubarb, which is harvested by candlelight in dark sheds, is grown by around 10 farms in the famous Rhubarb Triangle, a nine square mile radius in the Wakefield, Morley and Rothwell area.
When a trade deal with Japan was announced in September 2020, former Trade Secretary Liz Truss highlighted the West Yorkshire speciality as among 77 products set to receive protected status thanks to the agreement, with her officials saying the process would be complete by May 2021.
However, Labour’s Shadow Trade Minister Gareth Thomas has now discovered that Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb and 38 other products have been left out of the first tranche that the Department for International Trade (DIT) has asked Japan to put through its domestic registration processes, with the second tranche required to wait until at least next year to receive official recognition.
Labour’s Shadow Trade Minister, Gareth Thomas, said: “Producers in the Rhubarb Triangle were rightly proud when they received protected status across Europe in 2010, and we want to see that same status guaranteed whenever the UK strikes new trade deals. That is what Liz Truss told the country she’d achieved in her deal with Japan, but almost two years later, we have uncovered the truth.
“Not 77 new products receiving protected status in Japan by May 2021, as she promised, but fewer than half that number still going through the process now, the other 39 having to wait until 2023.
“Shamefully, it looks as though Liz Truss deliberately exploited the names of Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb and dozens of other iconic products to generate publicity for her deal two years ago.”
A DIT spokesperson said: “Our deal with Japan not only retained protection for all our existing Geographical Indications (GIs), but we have also shared a list of 77 additional UK products to be processed for GI status by Japan as quickly as possible. Due to this large number of additional GIs, Japan requested they be split into two batches.
“We are helping our fantastic food and drink exports – including Yorkshire rhubarb – to be sold to the world, and our impact assessment shows our UK-Japan deal could boost trade between our two nations by £15.7 billion.”
"It won't affect me," said Wakefield farmer Jonathan Westwood, whose family has grown Yorkshire-forced rhubarb since the 1870s. "I use the wholesale market and local shops. A lot of what we produce goes to places like Bradford and Leeds markets."
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