Animal Welfare and Global Trade Policy

International trade agreements can either entrench low welfare standards or drive improvement through the inclusion of animal welfare conditions in market access requirements.

Key Facts

The EU's Farm to Fork strategy aims to include animal welfare standards in trade agreements as market access conditions
Post-Brexit UK trade deals have faced criticism for potentially importing food produced to lower welfare standards than UK domestic requirements
The Australia and New Zealand trade deals have no binding animal welfare provisions despite concerns about live export and mulesing
The WTO does not currently recognise animal welfare as a legitimate technical barrier to trade
Consumer labelling of imported food with production standards remains inconsistent and often absent
Country-of-origin labelling helps consumers identify imported food but does not require welfare standard disclosure

Welfare Considerations

Trade policy is a powerful but underutilised lever for improving global animal welfare. When high-welfare producing countries allow imports from lower-welfare competitors without welfare disclosure requirements, they undermine domestic producers and global welfare standards simultaneously. Welfare conditions in trade agreements, robust country-of-origin labelling, and border carbon/welfare adjustment mechanisms are all potential tools for using market access to drive welfare improvement globally.

What You Can Do

Contact your elected representatives to advocate for animal welfare conditions in trade agreements
Support labelling campaigns requiring welfare standards to be disclosed on imported food
Advocate for country-of-origin labelling to be mandatory and clearly displayed on all animal products
Support UK farmers who meet high welfare standards in competing fairly on global markets
Engage with trade policy consultations when animal welfare provisions are being negotiated