Ensuring animal welfare standards are upheld in international trade policy
Higher welfare standards shouldn't stop at the border. We work with NGOs, policymakers and industry to make sure the rules countries set domestically are also reflected in the products they import.
A growing number of regions - including New Zealand, the UK, and the EU - have implemented some higher animal welfare standards for farmed animals. These changes came about because the public demanded them.
But there is a gap. While domestic producers are required to meet these standards, imported products don't have to. The result is a double standard: local farmers carry the cost, while products from systems banned on home soil are sold right alongside theirs.
Most people don't know this is happening.
Low welfare imports
%20%C2%A9%20Farm%20Transparency%20Project_%20human_cruelties%20(3)%20(1)_j.jpeg)
Sow stalls: The majority of pork currently imported into the UK comes from countries like Denmark, Spain, and Poland that allow the use of sow stalls, in which mother pigs are confined to narrow cages where they cannot perform basic behaviours, such as turn around or build nests. The UK banned the use of sow stalls in 1999.
Sow in a sow stall in Poland (2022)
© Farm Transparency Project: human.cruelties
Battery cages: 86% of liquid egg imports into New Zealand in 2022 came from China and Australia where egg-laying hens can be kept in battery cages where there is less space than an A4 sheet of paper per bird leaving them unable to perform natural behaviour such as dust bathing and nesting. New Zealand’s ban on battery cages came into force in 2023.
86%
Egg-laying hens in an overcrowded battery cage in India (2023)
© Shatabdi Chakrabarti / FIAPO / We Animals Media
%20%C2%A9%20Luis%20Tato%20_%20HIDDEN%20_%20We%20Animals%20Media.jpg)
Foie gras: Producing foie gras in the UK by means of force-feeding has been effectively banned since 2007. Nevertheless, the importation of foie gras has continued, with an estimated 628 tonnes imported from the EU in 2023, a precipitous rise from just 28 tonnes in 2021.
Force feeding a duck for foie gras in Spain (2011)
© Luis Tato: We Animals Media
Live lamb cutting (mulesing): All of the wool imported to New Zealand in 2022 came from Australia where live lamb cutting is a widely used practice. It entails removing parts of the skin from live sheep without anaesthetic, causing severe immediate and long-term pain to lambs. In New Zealand performing mulesing can result in a criminal conviction
100%
Source of NZ import statistics: FAOSTAT (2022); and UK: International Trade Centre (2023)
Read the new report
Closing the Welfare Gap: Why the UK Must Apply Its Animal Protection Standards to Imports
This report reveals for the first time the current and future landscape of the UK's animal product imports. It identifies critical gaps in animal welfare standards between the UK and those that export to it and proposes a solution to require animal products imported into the UK to meet domestic animal welfare standards.
Solution
Animal Policy International works with other NGOs, farmers, industry bodies, trade experts, and policymakers to close the imports gap. Our research provides the evidence base for practical, legally sound trade policies that align with domestic welfare standards, international trade rules, and public expectations.
The principle is straightforward: if a country has decided a practice is unacceptable, that same standard should apply to products sold on its shelves.
News
Get in touch
We’re pleased to connect with you, whether you have a general inquiry or need specific information.
For Journalists: Our team can offer spokespeople, quotes, images, and background briefings.
Send us a message, and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can