The Animal Husbandry Labelling Act introduced mandatory state labelling of the farming method for food of animal origin for the first time in 2023. The law is now set to be amended. The current draft bill provides for a comprehensive overhaul. Among other things, it will in future also cover imported goods, processed goods and food served outside the home. The draft is due to be notified to the European Commission in the coming days.
An expert report by academics from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Georg-August University of Göttingen has assessed the draft bill from a legal and agricultural policy perspective and examined its compatibility with constitutional, EU and international law. The authors conclude that the proposed further development is suitable for increasing market transparency, strengthening animal welfare in pig farming and improving the practical implementation of the system. Building on this, the report sets out specific options for further development.
“The planned reform is a decisive step forward. In particular, the fact that processed goods, catering and imported goods are to be included in future is central to the effectiveness of animal husbandry labelling. Only if all products on the market are covered can distortions of competition be avoided and a uniform level of transparency for consumers be ensured – an essential prerequisite for animal welfare preferences to be effectively translated into purchasing decisions,” says expert Jasmin Zöllmer from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
The authors also conclude that the planned inclusion of foreign food products is, in principle, justifiable under EU and international trade law.
“The task now is to successfully notify this legislative proposal to the European Commission and to have it swiftly adopted by the German Bundestag,” says Harald Grethe, Professor of Agricultural Development and Trade at the Thaer Institute of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. “In the long term, further improvements – for example, in the graphic design of the labelling – are desirable, but there should be no further delays now.”
Recommendations from the experts
For the upcoming EU notification, the expert report recommends placing greater emphasis on animal welfare as an independent, fundamental public interest objective in order to justify the intervention in the movement of goods within the EU. Similarly, functionally equivalent foreign husbandry and control systems should be recognised, provided that the level of protection pursued at the respective husbandry stage is achieved, so as not to create trade barriers.
“State animal husbandry labelling is not a feel-good label, but a legally binding instrument: it is intended to reduce information asymmetries, highlight higher animal welfare standards and, at the same time, be designed in accordance with EU and WTO law in such a way that it creates transparency without becoming a hidden trade barrier,” says José Martínez, Professor of Agricultural Law and Public Law at the University of Göttingen.
According to the report, examples from France, Finland and Switzerland show that origin and product information can also be provided in a practical manner in the catering and communal food service sectors. “It is crucial that the labelling is clearly visible directly at the point where the selection decision is made,” emphasises Achim Spiller, Professor of Marketing for Food and Agricultural Products at the University of Göttingen.
The draft bill is also viewed positively for including earlier stages of the pigs’ lives, such as piglet rearing, sow husbandry and procedures such as piglet castration under effective pain relief. The expanded possibilities for so-called “downgrading” are also generally welcomed. This allows meat from a higher welfare standard to be voluntarily marketed under a lower welfare standard.
The scientists see a particular need for long-term improvement in the design of the labelling to make it comprehensible and consumer-friendly.
About the report
The report was compiled by a team of scientists from Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Georg August University of Göttingen. Those involved were Jasmin Zöllmer, Prof. Dr José Martinez, Prof. Dr Achim Spiller and Prof. Dr Harald Grethe. It was commissioned by Lower Saxony’s State Animal Welfare Officer, Dr Julia Pfeiffer-Schlichting.
On the Animal Husbandry Labelling Act
The Act introduces, for the first time, mandatory state labelling of farming methods for food of animal origin. In future, consumers should be able to clearly identify how the animals were reared when purchasing fresh pork. Five rearing methods are envisaged: ‘stable’, ‘stable + outdoor access’, ‘open-air stable’, ‘free-range/pasture’ and ‘organic’. The draft bill is about to enter the notification procedure with the European Commission.