Overview: Animal welfare governance at the international level is fragmented — there is no binding global animal welfare treaty. Yet multiple international organizations, frameworks, and trade mechanisms increasingly shape animal welfare standards globally. This page maps the international animal law landscape.
WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health)
The Primary International Standard-Setter:
WOAH (formerly OIE) is the intergovernmental organization responsible for improving animal health and welfare worldwide. Its Terrestrial Animal Health Code contains animal welfare standards that member countries are expected to implement:
Transport welfare: Standards for road, rail, sea, and air transport
Slaughter welfare: Pre-slaughter handling and stunning standards
Working animals: Welfare of horses, donkeys, and mules in working contexts
Aquatic animals: Fish welfare standards (increasingly detailed)
Limitations: WOAH standards are not legally binding; member compliance is voluntary; enforcement relies on national implementation. Standards sometimes lag behind scientific evidence due to consensus negotiation among members with varying interests.
UN and Human Rights Frameworks
No UN treaty directly addresses animal welfare, but several instruments are relevant:
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Biodiversity protection indirectly protects wild animal welfare through habitat and species conservation
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES): Regulates wildlife trade; welfare provisions limited but trafficking restrictions have welfare implications
UN Sustainable Development Goals: SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land) have relevance to animal welfare through ecosystem and species protection
Human rights law: Some scholars argue animal welfare intersects with human rights through Indigenous peoples' rights to traditional practices, and rights to food
Trade Agreement Animal Welfare Provisions
Growing Trade-Welfare Linkages:
Recent free trade agreements increasingly include animal welfare provisions:
EU-New Zealand FTA (2023): Includes animal welfare chapter — first such provision in a major trade agreement; requires parties to promote animal welfare and not use welfare as a disguised trade barrier
EU-Australia FTA negotiations: Animal welfare provisions under discussion
EU-Mercosur: Animal welfare concerns used by EU Parliament as justification for delays
EU uses market access conditions to require importing countries to meet certain welfare standards
Australia's live export bans use welfare conditions on receiving countries as preconditions for trade
Regional Frameworks Beyond EU
Council of Europe European Convention for the Protection of Animals: Covers farm animals, transport, slaughter, and experimental animals; applies to Council of Europe members (broader than EU); some provisions binding on signatories
ASEAN: No regional animal welfare framework; individual state development
OAS (Organization of American States): Some regional declarations on animal welfare; not binding
The Case for an International Animal Welfare Treaty
Why Current International Law Is Insufficient:
No binding international animal welfare standards — WOAH standards are advisory
Global supply chains allow welfare arbitrage — production shifted to least-regulated jurisdictions
Wild animals crossing borders have no consistent protection during transit
Illegal wildlife trafficking creates welfare harms that national law alone cannot address
Marine animals in international waters are largely unprotected
Proposals for an international animal welfare treaty have been advanced by academics (Peter Singer, Steven Wise), advocacy organizations (World Animal Protection), and the Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) campaign — a proposed UN General Assembly declaration that has attracted support from over 40 countries. Critics argue a declaration without enforcement mechanisms would have limited impact.
Key Actors
World Animal Protection: Primary advocate for UDAW; technical partner for WOAH welfare standard development
FOUR PAWS International: Campaigns on specific international welfare issues (bear bile, live export)
Eurogroup for Animals: EU-level advocacy on implementing and improving EU welfare law
Compassion in World Farming: Farm animal welfare in international trade policy