Imports to meet UK animal welfare standards (Animal Ask)

OVERVIEW

Whilst working with Animal Equality UK on their Ask Prioritisation, we saw an avenue for further exploration and prioritisation of asks within the wider UK context. We want our research to be as useful to as many groups as possible and as such, decided to run a simultaneous research process for the full UK context outside of the limitations of Animal Equality UK’s scope. We contacted all major animal advocacy organisations in this region and they were keen to understand the results of this UK-wide scoping following our research. We would like to thank the experts we looked to for guidance in this report.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This ask requires meat and animal products imported into the UK to meet the UK's standards on animal welfare during production. This could be achieved through a ban on importing products that do not meet the UK's welfare standards (whether all welfare standards or a set of core welfare standards). Such a ban would cause UK consumers to purchase less lower-welfare products and more higher-welfare products. This, in turn, would mean that there is an overall increase in higher-welfare production, improving the lives of farm animals. Additionally, when there are future welfare improvements made in the UK, this ask would also restrict the import of products that do not meet those future standards. Other versions of this ask include a ban on particular products (e.g. foie gras) or placing lower tariffs on higher-welfare products.

Our cost-effectiveness analysis suggests that this ask has the potential to benefit a large number of animals. This analysis also suggests that most of the benefit would come from improving the lives of chickens who are raised for meat in Thailand and, to a lesser extent, Brazil. Given this, it could be a useful strategy to focus specifically on improving the welfare conditions of chickens destined for import to the UK. However, such a strategy may cause harm to people by reinforcing xenophobic ideas and causing jobs to be lost in those countries, and so the wellbeing of people would also need to be ensured.

This ask's tractability is uncertain, although we are cautiously optimistic given the right campaign. Public support is very high, with public opinion surveys generally finding that 75% or more of respondents are supportive. This ask also has the support of the farming industry, many non-governmental organisations, and some government departments. However, the support of MPs is more complex. There is a partisan divide, with Conservative MPs generally opposed, while MPs from all other major parties and most minor parties are supportive.

Some additional uncertainties remain. First, it is unclear what proportion of imports this ask would apply to. The trade deals that account for most of the UK's imports are already finalised. If this ask only applies to future trade agreements or to trade outside current agreements, then only a minority of the UK's imports would be affected. However, the UK has not yet negotiated trade agreements with the US, the Mercosur countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay), or Thailand. Each of these deals offer scope for animal welfare improvements. Second, there is some uncertainty as to whether an import ban would survive a challenge under international law, although most legal analyses have concluded that such a ban would survive.

Overall, we conclude that this ask has the potential to be high-impact and benefit the lives of many animals. We recommend that organisations in the UK consider this ask for a future campaign. We believe that it would be most effective for organisations to focus on securing commitments from parties in their manifestos for the upcoming general election, for which there is a window of opportunity open now (mid-2022). We also believe that it would be effective to focus on collaborating with the farming community, and possibly building support among Conservative MPs. Corporate campaigns may also offer a way to achieve this ask.