In all European countries, farmers keeping animals must comply with national animal welfare legislation, and if member of the EU also the EU legislation. Each government has a responsibility to make sure that the legislation is complied with. However, during the last decades it has become increasingly common that private organisations, such as the industry, farmers’ organisations, or animal welfare organisations, develop additional animal welfare regulations (‘private standards’) that the farmers also need to comply with.
In a recent paper from The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, researchers aim to highlight the most important opportunities and risks of this trend.
The private standards have the opportunity to improve animal welfare above the legislative level. However, this is not always the case and all of these different private standards, in addition to the legislation, makes it difficult to get an overview of the animal welfare regulation and control arena.
For the sake of the farmers, the animal welfare inspectors, the consumers and the animals, the researchers conclude that it is important that policymakers consider this arena as a whole and not their own regulation as a single phenomenon.
http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/1/4
Lundmark, F., Berg, C., Röcklinsberg, H. 2018. Private Animal Welfare Standards—Opportunities and Risks. Animals 8, 4.