Dundonians have launched a bid to head-off a transatlantic attack on regional delicacies such as Dundee cake and Arbroath smokies.
The iconic foodstuffs are on a hit-list of Scottish products that could lose their special status as a result of a controversial free trade deal.
Amid fears that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement could lead to a flood of low-quality imitators, the Stop TTIP Dundee group has been established.
It will look to tackle the US and EU head on and defeat what it sees as a serious threat to Tayside’s culinary culture.
The opposition group joins the growing band that has sprung up in towns and cities across the country, with one also established in St Andrews.
Along with Arbroath smokies, Aberdeen Angus beef and Stornoway black pudding have special status under European law. Their protection means only products that are genuinely made in the region of origin, to traditional recipes, can be marketed as such, preserving their good name and heritage and protecting manufacturers.
Producers of Dundee cake are in the process of applying to receive similar protected geographical indication status.
However, such protection could be lost under the trade deal.
The new opposition group’s chairman, Paul Robison, said he was strongly opposed to the proposed TTIP and set out why he believed others should be too.
“We can see from trade deals elsewhere that while they boost the profits of big companies, they can easily undermine working conditions and environmental protections,” he said.
“That’s what the removal of ‘non-tariff barriers’ and ‘harmonisation of regulations’ mean in practice.
“Geographical protections for local products such as Arbroath smokies and Aberdeen Angus beef could be removed.
“At the same time we could end up having to accept imports of low-quality products such as chickens dipped in chlorine and beef fed on hormones and antibiotics.”
The Dundee group will be working to raise awareness of what the “obscure” deal could mean and encouraging more people to voice their concerns about it to their elected representatives in an effort to increase pressure on the negotiators.
Stop TTIP Dundee will not do so alone as it will be working closely with other local organisations opposed to TTIP, as well as groups in other parts of the country.
A major event is planned for April 18.