Animal Welfare Climbdown

The Government has abandoned plans to give the livestock industry a greater role in setting animal welfare.  Under the plans, industry bodies would have help write the guidance on animal welfare codes.  The current codes have a statutory basis.  The new, industry-led versions would not be legally binding, but, if they were followed, would provide a defence in court should a farmer be prosecuted under the underlying legislation (the Animal Welfare Act).  They also aim to provide farmers with best-practice examples of how to achieve good standards of welfare.  DEFRA had stated the existing codes were becoming outdated, and it did not have the resources to update them in-house.

The first industry-led code, produced by the British Poultry Council (BPC) on chicken farming, was due to come into force on the 27^th April.  Other codes on pigs, cattle, sheep and other poultry were due to follow.  The move to deregulate the guidance had been strongly resisted by groups such as Compassion in World Farming and the RSPCA which believed standards would be watered-down.  This view was echoed by the Shadow DEFRA Secretary, Kerry McCarthy.  Following the highlighting of the issue in the national media DEFRA has decided to retain the existing statutory codes.  It is not yet clear whether these will be updated and what role, if any, the industry will have in this process.