The European Animal Welfare Forum meets in Brussels

Miguel Angel Higuera, Director of Anprogapor, summarizes the highlights of the meeting organized by DG Sante and held on June 16-17.

On 16 and 17 June, the 15th meeting of the European Platform for Animal Welfare was held in Brussels, organized by Director General Santi and of whom Anprogapor Director, Miguel Ángel Higuera, is one of the selected experts.

During the two days of the meeting, various proposals for improving animal welfare, both in livestock and in companion animals, were updated. Among the topics discussed, we highlight the following:

Summary of the Belgian presidency

Belgium summarized the work at presidential level, which focused mainly on the animal welfare file for dogs and cats. The Transportation Welfare File was submitted by Commission Services and document review began without significant progress toward the issues of greatest concern to ranchers.

The next presidency will be the Hungarian one that has shown the spirit of continuity in the work of the current presidency with the aim of completing the file of dogs and cats and continuing to read and analyze means of transportation.

Authority mandates

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) updated the terms of reference of the Committee, with the latter focusing on welfare in fattening livestock and animal welfare in small species. It is important to note that the procedures for taking an opinion have changed and more information will be provided by external experts through consultation Call for evidence And then with the meetings. This means that FRA reports can reflect on all current progress, both practical on farm and published.

Reference centers in the field of animal welfare

There are 4 reference centers in the European Union: pigs, poultry, small animals, ruminants, horses and finally fish. The reference centers aim to assist the competent authorities in interpreting the regulations by providing them with the necessary supporting scientific knowledge. Both visit and subscribe to the corresponding web pages Newsletters They are useful tools for staying up to date.

Other health topics

At the WHOA (World Organization for Animal Health) level, not only are ground rules on animal welfare being developed, but progress is also being made on certain important topics such as animal care in disasters or in the event of a mass disaster Slaughtering of animals for health reasons .

BTSF Training Program

The BTSF training program was introduced by the European Commission (Better food safety training) which is used to train auditors/inspectors (SSVVOO), although its goal will be to open it so that information and knowledge related to the coordination of compliance with European regulations reaches all links.

New sub-working group

DG Santé introduced the new sub-group called Policy indicators, which selected 10 experts from the European Union to advise the Commission in this regard: 3 experts from Member States, 4 professional experts, 2 non-governmental organizations, and 1 independent expert. Among the four professional experts, Miguel Angel Higuera, Director of Anprogapor, was selected as one of them.

The future of animal welfare platform

The platform finishes its mandate this year and a report is being prepared on its use and contributions so that it can evaluate with the new Commission whether or not a meeting point to discuss animal welfare in Europo is necessary.