ANIMAL WELFARE
Council of Europe Conventions and Recommendations
The European Convention for the protection of animals kept for farming purposes (Nr. 087) dated 10 September 1978 was ratified by all EU Member States and transposed into their national legislation. This Convention lays down the general provisions on animal protection and is a binding guideline. Next to this general framework, a Recommendation concerning fur animals was adopted by the Standing Committee on 22 June 1999 and provides specific welfare guidelines for fur-farmed species.
EFBA Position:
EFBA supports the Council of Europe Recommendation on fur animals and helps Member States to integrate it into their national legislation. This is the best guarantee to secure the animal-welfare conditions at the farm and to ensure that national inspection controls are performed on a regular basis. The Recommendation has been included in the EFBA Code of Practice, applicable to all EFBA members.
EU Animal Welfare
Today, there is no Community Law on Animal Welfare detailing specific provisions per animal species. Council Directive 98/58 (EC) of 20 July 1998 lays down the minimum standards for the protection of animals bred or kept for farming purposes. Fur-farmed animals are covered by the scope of this Directive under article 2 §1.
The European Action Plan on Animal Welfare 2006-2010 was adopted on 23 January 2006. The main objective was to define Community initiatives which would contribute to the upgrading of existing minimum animal-welfare standards. MEP Marit Paulsen (SW-ALDE) is currently carrying out an evaluation and assessment of this Action Plan for the European Parliament and a new plan will be debated in the first half of 2010.
EFBA Position:
EFBA welcomes and supports the review of the European Action Plan on Animal Welfare 2006-2010. EFBA will actively contribute to the debate on this matter as any recommendation on future legislative proposals should be proportionate to the risk involved.
Killing and Slaughter
EU legislation on welfare at slaughter aims to minimise pain and suffering of animals through the use of properly-approved stunning and killing methods, based on robust scientific knowledge and practical experience. Council Directive 93/119 has been revised since 2006. On 22 June 2009, the European Council adopted a political agreement on a new Regulation for the protection of animals at the time of killing that replaces the present Directive and will enter into force on 1 January 2013. Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 was published in the Official Journal on 18 November 2009.
EFBA Position:
EFBA welcomes this Commission review of slaughter practices and has been involved in the stakeholder consultation process. Stricter operating procedures and training of operators will reinforce the welfare of fur-farmed animals at the time of stunning and killing. EFBA will now start working on the implementing measures of this Regulation.
Transportation
The Commission is currently reviewing the Regulation on the protection of animals during transport (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004. A new proposal dated 16 March 2009, intended to reduce travelling time to nine hours and reinforce navigation systems, has been twice submitted to the Commission inter-service consultation procedure. A number of concerns remain unresolved at this stage and no formal proposal is expected before 2010. Meanwhile, the Commission continues to concentrate on enforcement activities of current transport Regulations.
EFBA Position:
Transport is very limited for fur-farmed animals as slaughter takes place on the farm itself. It only impacts the transport of livestock which is a small part of the activity in our sector. EFBA participated in the stakeholder-consultation process and will follow-up developments on this issue very closely in 2010.
Animal-Welfare Standards
The EU Welfare Quality® project (2004-2009), funded by the European Commission, involves integration of animal welfare in the food-quality chain. The project aims to accommodate societal concerns and market demands through the development of reliable on-farm welfare-assessment protocols, product-information systems and practical species-specific strategies to improve animal welfare. Three species were covered: cattle beef and dairy; pigs; and poultry-broiler chickens and laying hens. Some 44 institutes and universities with specialist expertise from 13 European and 4 Latin American countries are participating in this integrated research project (www.welfarequality.net).
EFBA Position:
The WQ® protocols are species specific and can be further developed provided that sufficient scientific knowledge on the biology and welfare of a species is available. Welfare of the most important fur-farmed species – mink, fox and Finnraccoon – has been scientifically studied over the last 25 years. On 1 September 2009, in collaboration with seven European research institutes and a number of experts from WQ®, EFBA initiated the ‘WelFur’ welfare-quality-like project on fur-farmed species. The main outcome will be welfare-assessment protocols for the mink, fox and Finnraccoon by 31 December 2010. Implementation on the farm will start in 2011.
Animal-Welfare Labelling
On 28 October 2009, the Commission adopted a report with suggested options for EU animal-welfare labelling : the establishment of requirements for the voluntary use of animal-welfare claims or a voluntary Community Animal Welfare label – subject to certain criteria and considered the most feasible at this stage – or the drafting of guidelines for animal-welfare labelling and quality schemes. The report also develops the idea of creating a European Network of Reference Centres (ENRC) for the protection and welfare of animals. This network would provide technical support for the development and implementation of animal-welfare policies, including certification and labelling. As a study carried out for the report showed a lack of animal-welfare information on food products, these options would enable consumers to identify and select welfare-friendly products and give producers an incentive to improve animal welfare. The report will be debated in Council and Parliament in the next few months.
EFBA Position:
EFBA welcomes the Commission initiative on animal-welfare labelling and has officially communicated its position with regards to the options. EFBA strongly supports the options of harmonised EU requirements for the mandatory or voluntary use of claims in relation to animal welfare based on solid scientific evidence as well as the creation of the ENRC to provide technical assistance on animal-welfare issues.