News item | 04-11-2022 | 15:20
Minister Adema of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) is taking the initiative to make agreements in a covenant on the development of animal husbandry. This covenant will contain agreements on future-proof livestock farming based on the needs of animals.
Minister Adema: “I want to work with various parties to shape future-proof livestock farming based on the needs of animals. In this, animals have the space to display natural behavior and standard physical interventions on animals – such as docking pig tails – are superfluous.”
Various parties from the agricultural sector and animal welfare organizations have been invited to participate. The covenant will be signed by the end of May 2023 at the latest and forms the basis for additional legislation and regulations.
As an independent chairman, former Member of Parliament and diplomat Bram van Ojik will set an agenda and lead the discussions with parties from the livestock sector, animal welfare organisations, the (market) chain and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. These will concern, among other things, the time horizon of the transition to animal husbandry, the instruments to be used and support from the market and government. Parties invited to participate in the discussions are: LTO, NAJK, Caring Farmers, Dierenbescherming, DZK (dairy chain), POV (pig sector), AVINED (poultry chain) and CBL (supermarket and food service sector).
Based on the results of the covenant, the Minister of LNV wants to lay down by law when a farming system is considered ‘animal-oriented’ and when husbandry systems must be animal-oriented. Agreements will be made about what is needed in terms of support and process to get there. The previous recommendations of the Council for Animal Affairs are taken as a basis.
Legislative change
In 2021, the House of Representatives passed an amendment to the Animals Act that aims to ensure that animals do not experience pain or injury, or harm to their welfare or health, due to the way they are kept. For example, the limitations of the needs of animals in stables or the routine performance of physical interventions on animals such as pig tail docking.
However, a legal analysis and consultation of the Public Prosecution Service, among others, has shown that further legislation and regulations are needed to determine what exactly is and is no longer allowed in concrete terms. In order to achieve the goal of animal husbandry in a way that provides clarity to livestock farmers and is also enforceable in practice, a new amendment to the current law has been drawn up.