By Ranjan Balakumaran @FinancialEyes

Many people are worried about what will happen to consumer protection and patient safety after Brexit.

The truth is for now no-one really knows.

Will there automatically be less regulation and will that necessarily be a bad thing?

Are we going to adopt an American Model towards Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare and Agriculture?

Will the health and food system become more innovative as well as more dangerous?

If the EU-US TTIP trade agreement is anything to go by then US negotiators will want Mutual Recognition and Harmonisation of Regulation, which means EU access for their food products – including Genetically Modified food and all sorts of chemicals and pesticides.

BBC Video – 2015

Lots of recent merger activity has lead to consolidation in the chemical and pharma sectors – German firm Bayer buying American giants Monsanto, Asian ChemChina buying Swiss Syngenta and American Dow buying Dutch DuPont.

What’s the worst that could happen?

They tell us the food will become cheap, the poor will be fed, the rainforest saved, and we will have fewer emissions with items we can keep in the fridge for six months. 

With TTIP kept at bay by campaigners and public opposition, Brexit offers an opportunity to see its goals realised through new guises, and Theresa May already said at the start of the year that the NHS could a part of such a US deal. Meanwhile, ahead of negotiations the sectors of food and pharma are in more powerful lobbying positions than ever.

To find out more about trade deals, mutual recognition and regulation harmonization, look out for our interview with Linda Kaucher, trade campaigner – the first part released tonight.