Animal welfare standards vary enormously between countries creating both welfare disparities and trade distortions. International frameworks are working to establish common baselines with mixed progress.
Global livestock welfare policy faces the fundamental challenge that economic competition between countries with different welfare standards creates pressure to lower standards in high-welfare jurisdictions. EU farmers subject to welfare regulations compete with imported products from countries without equivalent requirements. Resolving this requires either international standard harmonization or trade measures requiring import equivalence - both of which face significant political resistance. The WOAH standards provide a framework but lack enforcement mechanisms. The most promising path involves major importing markets using their market power to require welfare standards from exporting countries, creating economic incentives for welfare improvement without requiring difficult multilateral negotiations.