Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions - Options for animal welfare labelling and the establishment of a European Network of Reference Centres for the protection and welfare of animals {COM(2009) 584 final} {SEC(2009) 1432}
Date: 2009-10-28
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: animal production, animal welfare, consumer information, labelling, protection of animals, public awareness campaign, trans-European network

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 28.10.2009 
SEC(2009) 1433 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT 

accompanying the 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL, THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE 
COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS 

Options for animal welfare labelling and the establishment of a European Network of 
Reference Centres for the protection and welfare of animals 

{COM(2009) 584 final} 
{SEC(2009) 1432} 

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BACKGROUND 

In 2006, the Community Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals 2006 – 2010 
was  adopted.  This  plan  highlights  the  importance  of  consumer  information  as  part  of  a 
comprehensive communication strategy on animal welfare and the planned establishment of a 
European centre for animal welfare. 

Three  Eurobarometer  surveys  were  carried  out  in  2005  and  2006  on  animal  welfare.  The 
results showed that there is strong public support for the idea of a label or logo of some type 
to give information on animal welfare in food production.  

In  December  2006,  DG  SANCO  published  a summary of the results for the consultation 
‘Labelling: competitiveness, consumer information and better regulation for the EU’1, which 
also covered animal welfare labelling. The vast majority of contributors consider information 
on the animal welfare conditions under which food is produced to be relevant for consumers 
and a potential marketing opportunity for producers and retailers.  

In  May  2007,  the  Council  of  Ministers  adopted  conclusions  on  animal  welfare  labelling2, 
inviting the Commission to present a report on this issue in order to allow an in-depth debate.  

Following  on  from  the  Action  Plan  and  the  surveys,  DG  SANCO  has  started  to  explore 
various legislative and non-legislative options for animal welfare labelling and for a network 
of  reference  centres  for  animal  welfare  in  order  to  further  the  debate.  However,  neither 
initiative  is  intended  to  raise  animal  welfare  standards  as  such.  The  aim  of  the  labelling 
initiative is to increase consumer understanding  of  animal  welfare,  among  other  options,  by 
the information provided on the labels, and the proposal for reference centres is intended to 
harmonise  accepted  animal  welfare  standards  and  to  promote  the  sharing  and  use  of  best 
practice in animal welfare systems. To help prepare its report, DG SANCO commissioned a 
study  to  assess  the  feasibility  of  different  options  for  indicating  animal  welfare-related 
information on products of animal origin and for establishing a Community Reference Centre 
for  Animal  Protection  and  Welfare.  This  study  was  conducted  by  Civic  Consulting  (lead), 
with  some  input  from  Agra  CEAS  Consulting,  of  the  Food  Chain  Evaluation  Consortium 
(FCEC).  

The study concluded that a key issue for consumers where animal welfare is concerned was 
the lack of information on food products regarding animal welfare standards. In the course of 
the  study,  the  consultants  found  various  reasons  for  the  lack  of  information  on  the  market, 
including: 

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the  absence  of  a  harmonised  system  of  animal  welfare  standards  for  labelling 
purposes; 

the  difficulty  in  communicating  to  the  consumer  in  a  clear  way  the  difference  in 
animal welfare standards across food products; and 

http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/labellingnutrition/betterregulation/competitiveness_ 
consumer_info.pdf. 
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/ueDocs/cms_Data/docs/pressData/en/agricult/93986.pdf. 

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– 

the evolution of different  animal  welfare labelling schemes across Europe, creating 
differentiation between goods and a non-levelled playing field for operators. 

Taking into account the findings from the comprehensive stakeholder consultation carried out 
during the external feasibility study, the Commission explores policy options in the report to 
address  the  current  lack  of  consumer  information  and  inequities  in  the  Single  Market, 
including the possibilities for a voluntary/mandatory animal welfare labelling scheme and the 
establishment of a European Network of Reference Centres to share best practice on animal 
welfare. At this stage, the report does not outline any commitments already agreed for action, 
but simply examines various options that could be used to address the objectives of the Action 
Plan. 

The Impact Assessment provides analysis to support the development of strategic orientations 
on  how  to  better  communicate  in  the  field  of  animal  welfare  and  the  establishment  of  a 
network  of  references  centres  for  animal  welfare,  as  set  out  in  the  report.  The  report, 
scheduled for autumn 2009, will not contain definitive legislative proposals — these will be 
put forward if needed, and be accompanied by their own specific impact assessments. 

Given the different impacts of the areas covered in the report, the impact assessment has been 
divided  into  two  parts  —  the  first  concentrating  on  the  impacts  of  different  options  for 
improving the  communication to  consumers on animal welfare related to  livestock products 
and the second exploring the impacts of establishing a Network of Reference Centres. 

PART I: ANIMAL WELFARE LABELLING 

DG SANCO is exploring the possibility of establishing a system of animal welfare labelling 
to improve consumer information on welfare standards and existing welfare schemes and to 
harmonise the internal market to prevent widely differing welfare standards being used under 
the generic ‘welfare’ term. This initiative does not  aim  to raise the minimum  standards laid 
down  in  Community  legislation  or  to  improve  compliance  with  existing  legislative 
requirements. 

This impact assessment has focused on the options outlined in the report for animal welfare 
labelling to give an idea of the likely impacts on stakeholders of each option. Given the early 
stage  of  policy  development,  the  impact  analysis  remains  mainly  qualitative,  but,  where 
possible, quantitative estimates of the potential impact are provided.  

For mandatory labelling, several options are considered: 

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mandatory labelling of the welfare standards under which products of animal origin 
are produced,  

mandatory labelling of the farming system under which products of animal origin are 
produced, and  

mandatory labelling of compliance with EU minimum standards or equivalents.  

The impact assessment also considers voluntary options, including: 

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establishment of requirements for voluntary use of animal welfare claims;  

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establishment of a voluntary Community Animal Welfare Label open for all to use if 
they meet the criteria;  

drafting of guidelines for animal welfare labelling and quality schemes. 

Although  this  impact  assessment  does  not  conclude  on  any  definitive  option  for  animal 
welfare  labelling,  it  does  identify  the  legislative  and  non-legislative  options  that  are 
considered  the  most  feasible  at  this  stage  (harmonised  requirements  for  voluntary  animal 
welfare  claims  and/or  a  Community  animal  welfare  label).  It  is  hoped  that  the  report  and 
Impact Assessment in combination will help facilitate an in-depth inter-institutional debate on 
the subject to consider if further EU action is necessary.  

PART  II:  EUROPEAN  NETWORK  OF  REFERENCE  CENTRES  FOR  THE  PROTECTION  AND 
WELFARE OF ANIMALS 

The  objective  of  the  second  part  of  the  impact  assessment  is  to  explore  and  assess  the 
feasibility of different options for establishing a European Network of Reference Centres for 
the Protection and Welfare of Animals (ENRC). 

The options to develop a central community reference centre were considered in the light of 
the concerns raised in the consultation on: 

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the  lack  of  harmonised  animal  welfare  standards/indicators  for  higher  animal 
welfare; 

the lack of coordination of existing resources to share best practices;  

the need for an independent source of information at EU level; and  

the duplication of activities due to a lack of coordination at EU level. 

Taking  this  into  account,  the  Commission  is  discussing  options  that  it  hopes  will  achieve 
greater  coordination  of  existing  resources  while  identifying  future  needs,  and  will  ensure  a 
more  consistent  and  coordinated  approach  to  animal  protection  and  welfare  across 
Commission policy areas.  

The main policy options discussed in the impact assessment are:  

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continuation of the current situation (status quo option),  

various different options for a centralised approach, 

various options for a decentralised approach, and 

a task-specific strategy to determine central and decentral elements. 

While  the  impact  assessment  does  not  identify  a  preferred  option  at  this  stage,  it  does 
conclude that if EU action were to be taken in this area some form of mixed approach based 
on decentralised and centralised elements would be the most feasible.  

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ASSESSMENT OF POSSIBLE FUTURE PROPOSALS 

This is the first step in assessing the impacts of the different policy options; any firm policy 
decisions  that  may  be  taken  as  a  result  of  this  debate  will  be  conditional  on  further  impact 
assessments  to  evaluate  their  budgetary  feasibility  and  to  better  assess  their  costs.  Evidence 
will  be  obtained  on  consumer  demands  for  animal  welfare  information,  the  distortion  of 
competition due to the lack of a harmonised Community framework to establish criteria for 
animal welfare labelling, and the market opportunities for producers that would like to apply 
higher animal welfare standards than required by Community legislation. 

The assessment of any future proposal for a labelling scheme will be based on the following 
criteria:  

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extent  to  which  the  different  policy  options  would  allow  a  labelling  system  to  be 
developed  based  on  a  sound  scientific  basis  and  benchmarks  to  assess  the  level  of 
animal welfare, 

extent  to  which  the  different  policy  options  would  allow  for  inspection/audit  and 
certification by independent certification bodies,  

extent to which the different policy options would avoid distortions of competition, 

extent  to  which  the  different  policy  options  constitute  a  reliable,  user-friendly  and 
transparent  tool  to  communicate  the  standard  of  welfare  and  enable  consumers  to 
make informed choices, and 

compatibility with international obligations towards third-country trading partners. 

Regarding the options for the establishment of an ENRC, the assessment will be based on the 
following principles: 

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the ENRC should complement, not duplicate, current activities by other Community 
bodies, 

all areas of animal use should be covered, and  

the Centre should be independent from outside interests. 

The impacts expected to be the most significant are social and economic impacts such as the 
impacts  on  consumer  information,  distortion  of  competition,  consumer  prices,  costs  for 
producers,  existing  schemes,  intra-EU  trade  and  external  trade.  Impacts  on  administrative 
burden, SMEs and the environment, and the impact of introducing welfare criteria in existing 
or future product quality labelling schemes, such as organic farming, will be duly taken into 
account.  

These impacts will be assessed using the results of the Welfare Quality project and an external 
study  to  carry  out  a  further  analysis  of  the  possible  social,  economic  and  environmental 
impacts. Further consumer research (Eurobarometer) will also be undertaken to determine if 
consumer  opinions  stated  in  previous  surveys  (willingness  to  pay,  etc.)  remain  valid  or 
whether different factors are now influencing consumers’ purchasing patterns.  

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