Animal welfare: The Government's initial response to the Farm Animal Welfare Council report on the welfare implications of farm assurance schemes
The Farm Animal Welfare
Council (the Government's independent advisory body on animal welfare
matters) published a report
on the welfare implications of farm assurance schemes 
(963 KB) in June 2005.
In preparing their report, FAWC’s main objectives were:
- to consider the ability of schemes to deliver credible assurance on the welfare standards under which farm animals are kept and the conditions they are exposed to in transit, at market and at slaughter
- to review the prospects of future developments in farm assurance
- to examine the extent to which welfare assurance is sought by retailers, the food service sector and individual consumers
- to assess where in the food chain the main drivers for greater focus on animal welfare issues are situated
- to draw conclusions about the potential for farm assurance schemes to influence animal welfare and the key requirements if they are to do so; and
- to make recommendations as to how assurance schemes can better embrace animal welfare concerns to deliver good welfare outcomes
The report contains 30 recommendations. Most of the recommendations are directed towards assurance scheme owners, other relevant industry stakeholders such as retailers, caterers and food processors.
In summary, the report has the following recommendations:
-
Improvements to schemes to ensure there are welfare experts working in their Technical Advisory Committees, clear and transparent systems in place to initiated and implement welfare changes, readily available information about standards, and greater consistency of standards between schemes.
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Improved audit of schemes and the assessment of animal welfare through certification bodies ensuring assessors have the necessary knowledge, skills and competencies, provision of improved inspector guidance and a more transparent approach to dealing with identified non-compliance with legislative requirements.
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Improved arrangements at farm level including better assessment of the abilities of stockmen to assess animal welfare and greater use of animal health and welfare plans.
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Improvements of schemes within the organic sector by including disease risk assessments within herd/flock health planning, providing guidance on parasitic control directly relevant to the welfare risk, Advisory Committee on Organic Standards to review regularly policy on restrictions on the use of drugs and provision of clear guidance, greater recognition by the organic sector of disease prevention by immunological means.
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Greater focus on animal welfare by retailers and caterers when purchasing products from home and abroad and consumer organisations to take a more pro-active role to encourage greater assurance of animal welfare standards in the products purchased by consumers.
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Use of the Government’s Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative to set targets to progressively increase the proportion of food purchased from sources which give explicit assurance about welfare standards.
The Government’s initial response is at Annex
A
(69 KB). Please note: In Part VI of the response, comments
have been directly incorporated from the Advisory Committee on Organic
Standards (ACOS). These represented the industry's position but did not
necessarily represent the Government's view.
The Government is liaising with interested parties / stakeholders about
the recommendations which are directed towards them. The responses we
receive from stakeholders will be posted on this website once they are
available. The response from Assured Food
Standards
(1.36 MB) is attached.
Page published:
11 July, 2006
Page last modified:
15 August, 2008