Letter from Eurogroup for Animals

Saatja: Daniel Pérez Vega <[email protected]> Saadetud: 23.01.2023 18:00 Adressaat: <"MKM info"> Teema: Letter from Eurogroup for Animals Manused: Letter from Eurogroup for Animals_Jarvan.pdf Dear Minister Järvan, Please find enclosed a letter from Reineke Hameleers, Eurogroup for Animals' CEO. With best regards, -- Daniel Pérez Vega Programme Officer Trade & Animal Welfare +32 (0) 456 29 94 76 Subscribe to our Magazine Kristjan Järvan Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology of the Republic of Estonia Stenbock House Rahukohtu St 3, 15161, Tallinn, Estonia Brussels, 23 January 2023 Extending the new and revised animal welfare legislation to all products placed on the EU market, regardless of their origin. Dear Minister Järvan, As we are starting a new year, we want to wish you a great and successful 2023. I’d also like to take the opportunity to celebrate the progress made for animal welfare in Europe and around the world. The coming months will be crucial to ensure that the proposals that will be made to upgrade the EU legislation on animal welfare are up for the task. As reflected by the success of the recent European Citizen Initiatives on banning cages and fur farming, the expectations of European citizens are high. Their wish is clear: they do not want their consumption to fuel cruel practices in the farming system, either in the EU or abroad. Beyond the enactment of an ambitious set of rules, it will thus be crucial to impose these rules on all products placed on the EU market, regardless of their origin, therefore including on imported goods. Back in 2016, a Eurobarometer survey already found that 93% of Europeans wanted to see imported products respect animal welfare rules applied in the EU. It is high time to make this happen. We followed with interest the Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting of last 12 December and we welcome the support you expressed on this matter. Yet, several Member States will need to be convinced, both of the legal feasibility of such a project and of its desirability in the current context. This is why we wanted to share, together with our best wishes for 2023, a report that could prove to be very useful in coming discussions with your colleagues. It includes both a legal opinion on the compliance of including imports within the scope of the future EU rules on cages with international law, as well as statistics on third countries it will affect. The analysis is clear: ethics has to be our compass. In a nutshell, the EU could either rely on recent case law at the World Trade Organisation that has allowed differential treatment of products when consumers view them as being different and are not willing to substitute one for another. If this difference is not recognised, the EU could still rely on exceptions listed in WTO rules permitting trade Rue Ducale 29, 1000 Bruxelles Tel : +32 (0)2 740 08 20 [email protected] eurogroupforanimals.org  restrictions that are not arbitrary or discriminatory. In particular, it could refer to the exception aimed to protect public morals (article XXa), which WTO case law has confirmed encompasses animal welfare concerns. Including imports within the scope of EU legislation will also make the rules fairer for our farmers, but this should be seen only as a positive side effect rather than as the objective of the measure. Adopting import requirements on animal welfare would also reaffirm the EU’s role as a global leader in animal protection and may also lead to a positive “trickle-down effect” in partner countries. Producers targeting the local market could increase their welfare standards, influenced by those exporting to the EU. Indeed, animal protection organisations located in key EU trading partner countries (US, Brazil, Thailand and India) have expressed their support for the EU to establish stricter standards for imports. Animal welfare is not a concern only shared by Europeans, but globally. This was further demonstrated by the adoption of a resolution on the nexus between animal welfare, the environment and sustainable development at this year’s session of the UN environmental assembly. If well implemented, such import requirements should not be deemed protectionist. Member States can push the EU to complement the compliance with animal welfare standards with diplomatic actions promoting higher animal welfare standards at multilateral and bilateral levels. In addition, such initiatives could be coupled with strong cooperation efforts including targeted support measures, especially aiming at farmers in developing countries, such as technical assistance, transfer of technology, and capacity building on the different forms of higher welfare systems. We hope that you will find this document useful, and we look forward to receiving your comments and discussing them with your staff, in the hope that in 2023 we will demand together much higher animal welfare standards in the new EU laws, and the compliance with such standards by imports too. Yours sincerely, Reineke Hameleers CEO - Eurogroup for Animals Rue Ducale 29, 1000 Bruxelles Tel : +32 (0)2 740 08 20 [email protected] eurogroupforanimals.org Rue Ducale 29, 1000 Bruxelles Tel : +32 (0)2 740 08 20 [email protected] eurogroupforanimals.org