England Implementation Plan
Consumers and animal health and welfare
Consumers have fundamental expectations about the safety of the food they eat, and the animal health underpinning that. They also expect that standards of animal welfare appropriate to a modern society have been met. The Animal Health and Welfare Strategy (AHWS) for Great Britain asked for greater consumer engagement to improve food safety and help raise awareness of animal health and welfare standards.
Since March 2005, Government has been working with the consumer to build public trust through stronger engagement and involvement of consumer representatives, as opinion leaders and an indicator of public views. This helps reduce the gap in perceptions, and contributes to more balanced decision-making. Minutes of meetings between the Government’s Chief Veterinary Officer (UK) and consumer representatives can be found on the “working with the consumer” webpages.
Discussions, to date, have covered strategic issues such as priority setting, consumer reactions to risk and the best methods for reaching consumer and citizen views. Policy areas have included animal diseases and the risks they carry, animal welfare, responsibility and cost sharing, and fisheries.
Teleconferencing was used to consult consumer representatives throughout the 2007 Foot and Mouth and Avian Influenza outbreaks. Minutes of these meetings can also be found on the consumer webpages. Consumer representatives were impressed that Defra had found ways to consult them so swiftly. One consumer organisation [Foodaware: The Consumers Food Group] commented to the Independent Review that:
“Steps were also taken to consult with consumer representatives by teleconference throughout the outbreak. This was a new initiative and kept open two-way channels of communication allowing those participating to raise any questions, seek clarification of issues and facts, offer advice and report on matters of concern to members at the grass roots. Several senior Defra personnel participated and provided up to date information. This was a quick, efficient, cost-effective and valuable point of contact and should be acknowledged as good practice for future outbreaks or crises.“
A consumer representative was also appointed to Defra’s foodborne zoonoses working party.
Priorities and outcomes for this work in 2009 are:
- contributing to policymaking, for example, on the control of foodborne zoonoses and pet travel;
- continuing strong involvement of consumer representatives, including as a sounding board during animal disease outbreaks and in the responsibility and cost sharing debate;
- helping develop the role of consumer organisations and representatives as trusted intermediaries providing environmental messages, in line with the Defra third sector strategy; and
- co-operating across government on consumer engagement including with scientific advisory committees.
See also
Page last modified:
April 24, 2009