Animal welfare label
An animal welfare label is a seal of quality that is intended to help consumers of animal products to assess the conditions for keeping, transporting and slaughtering animals.
These labels do not indicate the quality of the meat products.
Definition of "animal welfare"
The term "animal welfare" is neither protected nor legally or scientifically defined under trademark law in Germany. There is a complementary connection between the terms animal welfare and animal welfare .
Animal welfare labels in different countries
Germany
State animal welfare label
A state animal welfare label was already planned under Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt and continued by his successor Julia Klöckner . In May 2018, a corresponding technical discussion with all those involved took place in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The criteria for the new label were presented to the public by the Agriculture Minister in February 2019. For the time being, the introduction is only planned for pig farming, an expansion to other livestock is to follow. The aim is to introduce the state animal welfare label by mid-2020. Participation in the state animal welfare label is to be voluntary, and 100 million euros are planned for advertising. Compliance with the standards should be monitored by state-certified bodies.
The label presented by Klöckner is to contain three levels in the future and a. the following requirements for pigs:
| Legal minimum standard | step 1 | Level 2 | level 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Place in the stable | 0.75 m² | 0.9 m² | 1.1 m² | 1.5 m² (of which 0.5 m² outlet) |
| employment | free choice of materials | Access to roughage and organic occupational material with options | ||
| Suckling time for piglets | 21 days | 25 days | 28 days | 35 days |
| Shorten tails | Allowed in individual cases | Allowed in individual cases, but stricter requirements | forbidden | |
| Anesthesia during castration | only from 2021 | Yes | ||
| Transport time | 24 hours | 8 h | ||
The state animal welfare label was criticized even before the introduction of animal welfare and consumer protection associations. In particular, it is emphasized that the term "animal welfare" does not conceal a legally binding definition and that most consumers have a different conception of the type of husbandry when animal welfare is advertised. In addition, voluntary participation is not seen as an effective means of significantly improving the keeping of farm animals. In addition, it is suggested for level 1 products that major improvements in animal husbandry have already been achieved compared to the legal standard, but the difference between the legal standard and level 1 is only minimal and is far from sufficient. In addition, the introduction of the state animal welfare label, along with many others, will only bring one more seal of approval onto the market without any further improvement.
In addition to the state animal welfare label, there are various privately organized animal welfare labels in Germany.
Identification of the animal welfare initiative
The label was developed by the Tierwohl initiative , an association of agriculture, the meat industry and the food chains Aldi Nord / Süd, Edeka / Netto, Kaufland / Lidl, Rewe / Penny. You have been awarding packaged own-brand products of pork, beef and chickens with a four-level label from the Society for the Promotion of Animal Welfare in Farm Animal Husbandry since April 2019 . This labeling does not refer to fresh products from the sales counter, and products that do not belong to the own brands are also not labeled. Levels 1 - 4 include a color coding of red-blue-orange-green. Housing type 1 is stable housing, housing type 2 is called stable housing plus, housing type 3 is outside and housing type 4 is premium.
| Keeping and exercise | Lining | Animal health | Transport to the slaughterhouse | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Housing type 1 (stable housing) | <110 kg - 0.75 m 2 / animal
No exercise prescribed. |
conventional feed
Genetic engineering allowed |
No information on castration,
Truncation of Curly tails or for prophylactic administration of Antibiotics. |
No information on
Transport time. |
|
Housing type 2
(Stable housing plus) |
<110 kg - 0.825 m 2 / animal
No exercise prescribed. Additional organic Employment material. |
conventional feed
Genetic engineering allowed |
No information on castration,
Truncation of Curly tails or for prophylactic administration of Antibiotics. |
No information on
Transport time. |
|
Housing type 3
(Outside climate) |
<110 kg - 1.05 m² / animal
No exercise prescribed, but stable keeping with Outside climate stimuli. Additional organic Employment material. |
conventional feed
Genetic engineering prohibited |
No information on castration,
Truncation of Curly tails or for prophylactic administration of Antibiotics. |
No information on
Transport time. |
|
Housing type 4
(Premium) |
<110 kg - 1.5 m 2 / animal
Exercise prescribed. Additional organic Employment material. |
Conventional feed; at least
20% from own operations or from the region. Genetic engineering prohibited. |
No information on castration,
Truncation of Curly tails or for prophylactic administration of Antibiotics. |
No information on
Transport time. |
This way of labeling is criticized by both animal welfare organizations and consumer advocates. In all levels, only the time during the mast is marked. Neither the beak shortening of chickens nor the anesthetized castration or the docking of the tails of pigs is explicitly prohibited in all four stages. The keeping of sows in the crate is also not taken into account. A survey by greenpeace showed that almost 90% of pork comes from farming type 1, so that consumers do not have the right choice between the individual forms. There is no external control of the labeled products and their manufacture.
further markings in Germany
Furthermore, the Neuland label and the animal protection-controlled label of the organization Vier Pfoten exist .
The German Animal Welfare Association has created the animal welfare label for more animal welfare . This is divided into two levels with different strict requirements. The first stage is to ensure, for example, that in pig production the animals are given 45 percent more space compared to the minimum legal requirements. The animals should have their own areas to lie down, eat and defecate. Furthermore, the animals should be offered activity material and there is an upper limit of 3000 pigs per farm. The second stage of the label is to ensure that the animals have twice as much space as the minimum legal requirements and that no more than 2000 animals are kept per farm.
Of natural land , bioland and Demeter are other label featuring products from organic and biodynamic farming.
Denmark
In Denmark there is a state animal welfare label. The consumer is informed of the keeping conditions with green hearts on the products. The state controls the farmers and is responsible for marketing.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands there is the animal welfare label "Beter Leven" (German: live better). According to the agricultural economist Achim Spiller , the label is “extremely successful on the market. If you go through the shelves in Holland you will see it all over the place. That has much larger market shares than in Germany so far. "
Switzerland
There are two types of housing in Switzerland: “BTS” (particularly animal-friendly housing systems) and “RAUS” (housing with regular access to the open air). The Swiss Animal Protection criticized the permitted forms of entertainment there in poultry production. Around 93% of Migros' label poultry comes from Optigal companies that produce according to BTS, which is why Micarna has already been criticized several times. (→ Micarna # review )
United States
There are also Animal Welfare Labels in the USA.
criticism
There is criticism of the animal welfare label from animal welfare organizations, which instead demand the introduction of mandatory husbandry labeling.
See also
Web links
- Strengthen animal welfare - label for more animal welfare , a comparison of different labels at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany)
- Animal welfare label and housing form identification , information on various animal welfare labels from the German Food Association
- Haltungsform.de , information on the way of labeling of the German food retail trade
- Eating with a heart , a comparison of different Swiss animal welfare (STS) labels
- tough but fair from April 15, 2019: The meat question: With pretty seals against a guilty conscience?
Individual evidence
- ↑ Wiebke Pirsich, Tierwohl in der Fleischbranche Label - Consumer Settings - Marketing Paths, Dissertation, published on October 18, 2017
- ↑ Rheinische Post, "Consumers decide about animal welfare" , March 27, 2018
- ↑ Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, The State Animal Welfare Label: Criteria and Requirements , 2017
- ↑ Progress achieved on the way to a state animal welfare label. ; BMEL press release of May 9, 2018
- ↑ Klöckner: "We make more animal welfare visible from birth to slaughter." In: Press release No. 36.BMEL, February 6, 2019, accessed on February 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Questions and answers on the state animal welfare label. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ https://www.tierwohl-staerken.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Tierwohlkennzeichen/Tierwohlkennzeichen-Kriterien-Tabelle.pdf
- ↑ 2 August 2019 by Benita Wintermantel Categories: Nutrition: State Animal Welfare Label meets with heavy criticism. August 2, 2019, accessed on April 17, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Michael Gassmann: Criticism of the state meat label . In: THE WORLD . February 7, 2019 ( welt.de [accessed April 17, 2020]).
- ↑ gutachten_tierwohl-label. (PDF) Retrieved April 17, 2020 .
- ↑ https://www.haltungsform.de/
- ↑ Seal check meat. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ Posture label: What it can do and whom it should help. Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ i04591_ranking_abfrage_billigfleisch. (PDF) Retrieved April 16, 2020 .
- ↑ QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH: The QS system is the basic benchmark for labeling the manner of husbandry. Accessed April 16, 2020 (German).
- ↑ NRD, What do the largest animal welfare labels mean? , January 20, 2017
- ↑ Consumer Advice Center , The Label "For More Animal Welfare" , January 15, 2018
- ↑ Spiegel, Meat Quality Seal: Wellbeing Label for Conscience , January 28, 2017
- ↑ Hessischer Rundfunk, Waiting for the State Animal Welfare Label , March 8, 2018
- ↑ Deutschlandfunk, Not Bio, But More Animal Protection , January 15, 2018
- ↑ Federal Office for Agriculture : Animal Welfare Contributions (BTS / RAUS) In: blw. admin.ch , accessed on October 8, 2018.
- ↑ Angelika Hardegger: Is that still agriculture - or is it already industry? In: nzz.ch , September 15, 2018, accessed on February 6, 2019.
- ^ New York Times, What to Make of Those Animal-Welfare Labels on Meat and Eggs , January 31, 2017
- ↑ Retailers want mandatory husbandry labeling , from March 27, 2018, accessed on August 8, 2019 in Lebensmittelpraxis.de.
- ↑ Honest labeling from schnitzel to milk: FOUR PAWS and consumer advocates are calling for animal husbandry labeling , dated May 3, 2018, accessed on August 8, 2019 in Fellbeisser.net.