Event report

Together with the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, Eurogroup for Animals, in collaboration with its members Fondation Brigitte Bardot, Welfarm and Compassion in World Farming, today organised the event Animal Welfare and International Trade: Looking into the Mirror. The hybrid event gathered over 20 in-person attendees in Brussels and over 70 online attendees from around Europe. The conference aimed to discuss the trade dimension of the revision of European legislation on animal welfare, and to show how the approach adopted in "mirror measures", one of the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council, can inject more coherence between the EU trade policy and the Green Deal, in particular with regard to animal welfare and the “Farm to Fork” strategy. As of today, standards around welfare at the time of slaughter are the only EU rules pertaining to animal welfare that are applied to imported products. For instance, an egg produced by putting hens in battery cages is still allowed to enter the EU market, while this practice is banned in the EU. Combined with the EU’s efforts to conclude trade agreements, this situation has led to an increasing amount of imports that are mostly produced under animal welfare standards lower than in the EU, and to EU consumers thus fueling unsustainable practices abroad that they would not accept at home. The EU should use the opportunity created by the coming revision of its animal welfare rules to change this approach and to impose these standards on imported products as well. This would be in line with the wishes of EU citizens - the majority of which (93%) called for this in the Eurobarometer on animal welfare - and the measure would be based on the ethical concerns of EU citizens, it would also be in line with international rules of the World Trade Organisation. “Animal welfare is not properly considered in the framework of trade law, yet, it’s a crucial field when we discuss reciprocity”, said the French Minister for Agriculture and Food Julien Denormandie in his introductory remarks. “For the end of 2023 we’re expecting a legislative proposal on animal welfare in the context of the Farm to Fork strategy, and I believe it is essential for it to include a reciprocity component”, he added. “Whilst facing huge global challenges, the EU can lead the way towards a truly sustainable and humane food system and trade policy. We believe that the mirror clauses represent a very good mechanism to support this transition. If the EU wants to become a truly sustainable producer and live up its reputation as leader in animal welfare, it is of utmost importance to revise the animal welfare acquis and this can only be done if our standards also apply to imported products. The concept of mirror clauses fits perfectly within this context and we thank the French government for being so persistent”, added Reineke Hameleers, CEO of Eurogroup for Animals After Philip Lymbery, CEO of Compassion in World Farming, closed the introductory remarks, three speakers set the stage for the discussions: Stéphanie Ghislain, Eurogroup for Animals, opened on the interconnections between international trade and animal welfare; Lucie Carrouée from DG SANTE elaborated on the discussions around the trade dimension in the current revision of the European legislation on animal welfare; and finally, Clémentine Baldon, lawyer at the Paris Bar, argued that, from a legal perspective, imposing new animal welfare standards on imports could be compatible with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). During the panel discussion, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne MEP, vice-chair of the European Parliament INTA Committee, supported the idea: “Reciprocity is an essential topic, in line with strong and necessary demands from civil society, but also from farmers, because it fits with an objective of coherence between public policies.” She also rightly underlined the key challenge of implementing such rules, “An issue that will keep us busy is the implementation of this objective of reciprocity”, confirming it will be an important topic for the European Parliament. “Consumers are in favour of international trade as long as there is no race to the bottom in terms of regulations, and they can’t imagine that imported products do not respect the rules applied in the EU. 93% of EU citizens demand that trade policy reflect European norms, including on animal welfare”, explained Monique Goyens, CEO of BEUC. “WTO rules can be a hurdle but it’s not impossible. We have a caselaw very clear on that and on the conditions that have to be met. When there is a moral concern, we can of course legislate and we’ll be doing this in a number of areas”, indicated Iciar Chavarri-Ureta, Deputy Head of the Agriculture, Food and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Matters Unit in DG Trade. The event was also the occasion to launch the new report Bye Bye Cages, by Eurogroup for Animals and Compassion in World Farming, on the legality of an EU ban on the sales of meat and eggs produced from caged animals including imported food. Animal welfare is a cross-cutting issue. Other trade aspects were discussed such as the trade in exotic pets. The trade in exotic pets causes extreme suffering at every stage of an animal’s path from capture, transport to the totally unsuitable conditions for life in our homes. Physical and psychological damage, often by self-mutilation, from lack of biological or behavioural needs results in terrible animal welfare issues. The exotic pet trade also poses serious risk to human and animal health through zoonotic disease, such as COVID-19 (75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature, the majority originate in wild animals). Additionally, the exotic pet trade negatively impacts conservation and biodiversity, through capture and disruption of natural habitat; and through introduction of invasive species. We now have positive lists in 7 EU Member States! We should adopt a precautionary approach, through an EU wide positive list to harmonise EU legislation to reduce animal suffering. A positive list is simple: a concise list of animals that are allowed to be kept based on strict criteria. If not on the list, it is illegal to keep or trade that animal. This is clearer, easier to enforce with less bureaucracy compared to the existing (long and ever increasing) negative lists. Furthermore, more than 20 million animals are estimated to be impacted by scientific practices every year in the EU. The great majority of experiments inflict suffering on the animals. For some species, confinement alone causes suffering. Yet, numerous studies agree that animal experimentation seldom delivers on its main promise, which is better healthcare for humans. Scientists leading the innovation in animal-free methods have been putting forward new visions where strategic combinations of these methods can provide explanatory models of diseases in humans, which are leading to effective new therapies. However, our long-term reliance on animal-based research has led to practices that are strongly rooted in regulation and in our social and scientific norms, making change difficult. An Action Plan is urgently needed to turn the replacement of animals in scientific procedures into a priority for the EU. By establishing an Action Plan – like already done for many other policy areas – the European Commission can ensure that the EU will be equipped with a clear strategy, resources and objectives to ensure that the European goal of fully replacing the use of animals in science will be attained. Last year, an overwhelming majority of the Members of the European Parliament supported this action plan. It’s time for the Commission to put it in practice.