22 November 2023

Press Release

Today, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the EU-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. The deal sets a precedent in trade policy as it’s the first time the EU ratifies a trade agreement which conditions market access on the respect of animal welfare-related standards.

Under negotiation for five years, the deal liberalises trade in most animal based products, and should hence further stimulate animal agriculture in the EU and New Zealand. It does, however, include an unprecedented condition: the beef quota is reserved for grass-fed animals, explicitly excluding feedlots. And this condition is  motivated by both animal welfare and sustainability reasons.

This is only the second time the EU has negotiated an animal welfare condition in a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since the controversial EU-Mercosur FTA introduced the first one in relation to shelled eggs. Yet, while the volume of shelled eggs imported by the EU from Mercosur countries is quite low, in the case of New Zealand the EU managed to obtain an animal welfare condition for one of the most traded animal products between the partners. 

Eurogroup for Animals welcomes this animal welfare condition as feedlots, in addition to being a major source of soil, air and water pollution, are highly detrimental to animals: they can provoke respiratory and digestive diseases, the main causes of cattle death under such rearing conditions.

This animal welfare condition shows that with the right political willingness, the EU can take into account animal welfare concerns in its trade policy. As the latest Eurobarometer showed, this is well supported by EU citizens. This FTA should give the right impetus to repeat animal welfare conditions in other trade agreements, especially where a beef quota is negotiated. Why would a feedlot in Mercosur countries be sustainable, but not in New Zealand? Omitting such a condition when renegotiating the EU-Mercosur FTA would certainly be incoherent.

Reineke Hameleers, CEO, Eurogroup for Animals

The EU-New Zealand FTA is also the first EU trade deal integrating sanctions in its Trade and Sustainable Development (TSD) chapter. While this is welcome, the language is non-committal, specifically for provisions related to wild and aquatic animals, with words that focus on “acknowledgement” or “support”. This means that even in case of failure to comply with these provisions, no violation can be found.  

Apart from the animal welfare condition, the FTA also includes a chapter on animal welfare cooperation. Regrettably, the language in this chapter remains weak and also non-committal. This is unfortunate as the EU and New Zealand, two like-minded partners, could work together on issues such as banning live transport which is under discussion as highlighted by the European Parliament’s resolution. For these reasons, Eurogroup for Animals supports the European Parliament’s stand to “quickly establish the domestic advisory groups”, and remains ready to work in this fora to foster effective cooperation as soon as possible. 

Regards Mark

An injured white mink. The chilling exposé titled ‘This is Fur Farming in the EU’ lays bare the grim reality of fur factory farming across six EU nations

A white mink with part of its face missing

All pictures – HSI.

Link:

Horrifying truth of fur industry revealed in footage from largest ever undercover investigation involving dozens of farms where animals engaged in cannibalism, had limbs gnawed off and were left with maggot-infested wounds | Daily Mail Online

Horrifying truth of fur industry revealed in footage from largest ever undercover investigation involving dozens of farms where animals engaged in cannibalism, had limbs gnawed off and were left with maggot-infested wounds

Wounded animals can be seen battling to survive in cages. The harrowing material was captured by independent animal rights investigators in more than 100 farm visits

The horrifying truth of the fur industry has been revealed in footage from the largest ever undercover investigation on European fur farms.

The chilling exposé titled ‘This is Fur Farming in the EU’ lays bare the grim reality of fur factory farming across six EU nations.

The harrowing material, captured by independent animal rights investigators in more than 100 farm visits, shows animals including mink, foxes and raccoon dogs in disturbing conditions.

Read the full article and see video footage by clicking on the link above.

Regards Mark

Dear Mark,

Viva! Campaigns has investigated another large dairy farm in Wales and sadly documented some of the worst cases of physical violence against animals we have ever seen. At the time of filming, the farm, Tafarn Y Bugail, supplied one of the largest dairy cooperatives in the UK.

The first time we entered the farm, at the dead of night, the sight of a rotting cow and four calves hit us. Their bodies had been left outside, uncovered and accessible to wild birds and animals. As we crept closer, we could see that they had been eaten down to the bone – a clear indication that these animals had been abandoned and dead for some time.  

On another visit, I saw the pathetic sight of baby calves isolated in hutches. Some were less than 12 hours old. These babies had been ripped from their mothers and were confined and shivering in the bitterly cold night. They had no love, warmth, comfort or stimulation and nowhere to go. It was the middle of winter!

Inside the maternity pens, conditions were chaotic, noisy and disgusting. We were shocked to find a colony of feral cats sleeping in the straw beds. They were devouring afterbirth; it was like a scene from a horror film. The fetid stench was horrendous.

Shocking footage shows ‘half-eaten dead cows’ at UK dairy farm

Shocking footage shows ‘half-eaten dead cows’ at UK dairy farm | UK News | Metro News

The gentle mother, who simply didn’t know what was wanted of her, was pushed around and her tail twisted. The worker became angry very quickly, hitting the cow with increasing force to make her stand in position for milking. The cow had nowhere to escape, and it was absolutely harrowing to witness her pain.

A second cow was kicked in her already swollen udder – in a final act of indignity. The violence delivered to these poor animals was the worst I have seen, with blows landing on their legs, backs and to the sides of their faces.
In another instance, one of the farm workers used a knife to burst a huge abscess on a cow’s rump during milking. A stream of pus oozed onto the milking parlour floor for over three minutes. 

We saw 17 cows in the parlour wearing hobbles on their back legs. These chains are to stop cows ‘doing the splits’ when they have suffered damage from birthing or falling, usually on dirty, wet floors. These sad and ill animals could barely walk. But they were still being milked. 

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