Brexit has created both opportunities and risks for UK animal welfare legislation, with the potential to raise standards beyond EU minimums and the risk of standards being diluted in trade negotiations.
Post-Brexit UK animal welfare legislation has delivered some genuine improvements - the sentience act and the livestock exports ban in particular - while creating ongoing risks around trade policy. The central welfare concern is that trade agreements that allow imports produced to lower welfare standards effectively undercut UK farmers who meet higher standards and expose UK consumers to lower-welfare products. Maintaining the welfare standards UK farming has achieved requires not only domestic legislation but also import standards that match those domestic requirements. Vigilant advocacy for import equivalence in welfare standards is essential to prevent Brexit creating a race to the bottom in animal welfare.