Presidency helps give animals a better life

Tisková zpráva Press Release Communiqué de presse

Prague, 23 March 2009
 

Presidency helps give animals a better life

The Council conclusions on the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare, which the Czech Presidency prepared in cooperation with the European Commission, was adopted today in Brussels by the Ministers of Agriculture. The EU and other international players want to use this declaration to encourage third countries to introduce national rules for animal welfare. The level of animal protection and welfare is high in the EU and keeps improving. However, in terms of equal opportunities for food producers on the world market this is sometimes a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, the Presidency seeks to introduce standards for animal welfare in the EU which could be an inspiration for the rest of the world.

Although the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare is not legally binding, the Union expects that it will result in more humane treatment of animals.“Determining optimal standards for animal welfare and incremental unification of these standards on a global level as well as harmonisation of national regulations is also important from the perspective of customer protection,”explains Minister Gandalovic. “Conditions of animal welfare also need to be assessed in the context of international trade and with respect to securing the competitiveness of animal breeders and food producers in the EU,” added the Minister.

In the context of managing international trade, sponsored particularly by the World Trade Organisation, the different levels of standards in animal protection are usually not accepted as a reason for imposition of trade barriers.“Everything indicates that in the area of animal welfare the EU has the most rigorous rules in comparison to significant world producers of foods of animal origin,” emphasised First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ivo Hlavác. The EU strives to support a global increase in standards of animal protection for the benefit of animal welfare and equal conditions of competition for food producers on the global market. 

Tereza Dvorácková
Spokeswoman of the Ministry of Agriculture