Sarah Stewart, special counsel for international trade policy for Humane Society International, spoke at the World Trade Organization's annual public forum about the importance of including animal welfare provisions in international trade policy and agreements. This year's theme was "Trading into the Future."
HSI participated in a panel titled "Challenges and Opportunities facing the WTO: Can Farm Animal Welfare Standards be WTO-compatible?" In her remarks Stewart stressed that the international trading system can be used as one mechanism to strengthen animal welfare standards and practices, through policy, rules and on the ground trade capacity building and technical assistance programs.
Stewart emphasized the following points:
- Consumer demand for products made according to better animal welfare standards and practices is catalyzing reform of the farm production sector in the developed world; both developed and developing countries can take advantage of these market opportunities by implementing stronger animal welfare standards.
- Better animal welfare standards can result in a number of significant benefits, including expansion of domestic and international trade opportunities, enhanced food safety and quality, premium pricing, and mitigation of the spread of infectious diseases like Mad Cow disease and Avian Flu.
- International trade rules and agreements can facilitate better animal welfare standards and practices by clarifying and establishing rules and standards, enforcing compliance with domestic and international laws, eliminating government subsidies to industrialized production systems, increasing transparency and public participation, and providing trade capacity building and technical assistance.
Other panelists included Fábio Coelho Corrêa de Araújo, member of the Technical Group on Animal Welfare of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture; Gustavo Idígoras, minister counsellor, Agricultural Affairs, Embassy of Argentina to the EU; and Adolfo Sansolini, trade policy advisor for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, World Society for the Protection of Animals, Compassion in World Farming, and Eurogroup for Animals. The panel was moderated by Jaana Husu Kallio, director general, Finnish Food Safety Authority.
To read the paper HSI submitted to the WTO, Animal Welfare, International Trade and Sustainable Development, click here.
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