The Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL) has adapted the draft of the Animal Husbandry Labeling Act and submitted it to the EU Commission for re-notification last week. Thomas Schröder, President of the German Animal Welfare Federation, sharply criticizes the adjusted draft and the attempt to push through these adjustments without public participation:
"The BMEL is only planning 12.5 percent more space in the 'stall+place' housing level instead of the planned, already insufficient 20 percent. We consider this a scandal and see our fundamental criticism confirmed. Even the mere 20 percent was not scientifically justifiable, and the 12.5 percent is even less. The planned 'stall' and 'stall+place' levels must be banned and not awarded by the state.
It is reasonable to assume that the Federal Minister of Agriculture has caved in to pressure from the FDP. This shows Cem Özdemir's inadequate ability to assert himself within the coalition and gives rise to fears for further tasks, such as the beak shortening ban for turkeys or closing gaps in animal welfare legislation. Animal welfare has obviously become a tactical playing field for the coalition partners, without any professionalism and without any desire to bring dynamism to agricultural animal husbandry. The planned state animal husbandry label does not bring any improvements for the animals and certainly does not initiate any development towards more animal welfare. The arbitrariness of the terminology and the lack of criteria for transport, slaughter and the upstream sector are further evidence of the fatal misconstruction of the Özdemir label.
We call on the SPD and the Greens in the Bundestag to take a strong stand against this in the interests of the animals. Otherwise, we stand by our demand: Better no animal welfare label at all than what has come out of the BMEL so far."
