Virtual Meeting of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare

 JMICAWE Director, Cathy Dwyer, attended another virtual meeting of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare this week, in her role as one of the independent experts. This is the second virtual meeting of the Platform, but the 8th meeting overall since the Platform was set up in 2017. The whole platform is keen to be able to meet again in person in Brussels perhaps for the next meeting in June 2021.

The platform provides a regular update on the animal welfare activities of the EU and is a forum for discussion and networking between government vets, academics, industry representatives and animal welfare NGOs. The meeting began with a short address from the Commissioner, Stella Kyriakides, who re-affirmed her commitment to improving standards of animal welfare in the EU through reviewing the existing legislation and improving enforcement. A key part of this work is consideration of the option to develop an EU-wide animal welfare food label, and a sub-group of the Platform has been set up to look at how this might work.

A new development in the EU has been a European Citizens Initiative campaign, ‘End the Cage Age’ (www.endthecageage.eu), led by Compassion in World Farming, which calls for a ban in the use of cages for the housing of laying hens, rabbits, pigs and dairy calves by 2027. The campaign has received more than 1.4 million verified signatures of support across the EU, so ensuring a public hearing and response from the Commission. Although some EU countries have already banned some cages, there are still many millions of animals spending some or all their lives in cages in commercial production in the EU, and this is the most common housing c
ondition for pigs, rabbits and poultry around the world. However, the research has clearly shown that such close confinement results in high levels of stress and poor welfare.

Also presented at the meeting was the work of two other sub-groups of the platform working on welfare issues in horses and donkeys and the welfare of dogs and cats kept for trade. Each of these sub-groups are developing guidelines and factsheets to help improve the welfare of these species. The guidelines to good animal welfare practice for the keeping, care, training and use of horses have been developed and 7 factsheets have also been produced on infectious disease and biosecurity, feed, water, hoof care, social interactions and comfort behaviours, stables-indoor housing, turnout – shelter and pasture. Infographics and leaflets on selling and buying dogs have also been produced. These materials can be accessed from the Platform conclusions site of the European Commission website (https://ec.europa.eu/food/animals/welfare/eu-platform-animal-welfare/platform_conclusions_en)

Overall, the meeting was very positive and demonstrated the commitment of the Commission to animal welfare improvements in the EU, and to supporting farmers and consumers in developing and accessing higher welfare products.

New developments in EU animal welfare

JMICAWE Director, Cathy Dwyer, attended a virtual meeting of the EU Animal Welfare Platform this week, in her role as one of the independent experts who sit on the platform. The platform meets every six months, but with the current pandemic this was the first one to be hosted online rather than in Brussels.

Early parts of the meeting were taken up with the presentation and discussion of the new EU Strategy: From Farm to Fork. This represents the plans for the EU in moving towards a greener and more sustainable future by, for example, reducing the use of pesticides and antimicrobials in food production by 50% over the next 10 years, and increasing organic farming to 25% of farmed land.
Presenting the strategy, Andrea Gavinelli for the EU said: ‘Better animal welfare improves animal health and food quality, reduces the need for medication and can help preserve biodiversity’ explicitly emphasising that animal welfare is an integral part of sustainability.

Embedded within this are pledges to consider whether animal welfare legislation is still fit for purpose, and to investigate whether an animal welfare food labelling scheme is required. Some of the EU animal welfare legislation is already 20 years old, and based on scientific research done when animal welfare science was in its infancy. A great deal of animal welfare research has since been carried out and can be used to improve animal welfare through improving the legislation, and transitioning to greener farming practices. Also under discussion was the discrepancy between specific legislation for some species (pigs and poultry) but not for others (e.g. cattle, sheep, fish, rabbits etc), which are covered by broader, non-specific legislation only.

Further developments of animal welfare in the EU were also discussed through the activities of the Animal Welfare Reference Centres. The first of these, for pigs, began its activities about 18 months ago, and seeks to provide responses to questions and synthesis of scientific knowledge for the member states of the EU.

Their website is a great source of information for all things pig welfare: https://www.eurcaw.eu/en/eurcaw-pigs.htm. The second reference centre, covering poultry and small farmed animals (rabbits and animals farmed for fur), has just begun its activities earlier this year, and plans for a third reference centre, to cover ruminants and horses, were announced.
Overall, the meeting reflected an increased enthusiasm to move forward with animal welfare improvements in the EU, and to support farmers and consumers in having access to higher welfare products.