The global livestock trade moves billions of animals annually across international borders, creating welfare challenges from extended transport, cultural transitions, and regulatory gaps.
The global livestock trade is unique in combining the welfare harms of long-distance transport with the transition to regulatory environments that may apply far lower welfare standards. Animals exported from countries with developed welfare law to those with minimal enforcement face a double welfare failure: transport stress followed by confinement under lower-standard conditions. The most welfare-protective trade policy replaces live export with chilled carcass trade.