OIE and Animal Welfare

[westernvendor.com]

We just finished our newsletter, and we had a short article on this. It seems like something to keep an eye on, and if you don't know much about them, you might read up. They certainly could have an impact on the beef industry in the future. Below is part of our article (no link--want to make sure to follow forum rules)...

From gestation crates to cage free eggs, it is clear that public input on livestock management is here to stay. Special interest groups are often a driving force of these policies and thus receive a lot of focus from those involved in agriculture.
However, something that is often overlooked in the day to day conversation of animal welfare is the international community. Most would agree that the future of many agricultural commodities and markets in the U. S. will be at least somewhat dependent on the export markets. Thus, it seems reasonable that keeping a pulse on the international community should be of some interest.
For setting standards of animal health and welfare, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) is considered the authority by the World Trade Organization. One goal of the OIE is to "ensure that scientifically based standards govern international trade in animals and animal products", and the USDA is participating in shaping the OIE Animal Health Standards.

 

[dun]

One goal of the OIE is to "ensure that scientifically based standards govern international trade in animals and animal products", and the USDA is participating in shaping the OIE Animal Health Standards.[/i]

That's all well and good. The EUs science poeple even claim that the growth inplants we use in the US are safe and yet implanted beef is still not allowed to be imported there.

 

[westernvendor.com]

One goal of the OIE is to "ensure that scientifically based standards govern international trade in animals and animal products", and the USDA is participating in shaping the OIE Animal Health Standards.[/i]

That's all well and good. The EUs science poeple even claim that the growth inplants we use in the US are safe and yet implanted beef is still not allowed to be imported there.

I agree 100%. It it is very clear that the EU choice is politically driven. I would guess that it is their form of protectionism.

That was kind of the point of the article that we wrote. We tend to focus on the national trends in animal welfare, but US agriculture could be impacted by international animal welfare regulations. Certainly something to keep an eye on.

 

[john250]

Europe is loopy. They spend billions of euros to protect themselves from our (USA) influence on ag technology. The radical enviro Green party has a near veto on anything in Germany. Basically, if Americans invented something it is unwelcome in Europe. I like French bread, and German and Polish bread and Italian pasta. Having known hunger, Europe is willing to subsidize Ag to a far greater extent than the USA. If the USA would only ante up for Ag subsidies on the order of Europe we could all eat artisan bread with good wine at sidewalk cafes. Veal, bread, wine. Sounds like a workable diet to me.

 

[westernvendor.com]

Europe certainly has had some questionable policies. I do think agree that the level of subsidies is probably influencing a lot of their decisions. I think all of us in agriculture need to do a good job of "selling" ourselves to the US public so that when these types of things come up, the US citizens will be well educated on the issues. Lofty goal, but the current trends are somewhat scary.

We put our newsletter up on Facebook to hopefully stay within the board rule. This is not intended as a solicitation, but if you are interested in the short article we wrote, you can view it on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pag ... 908?v=wall click on "November Newsletter".

If Facebook links are against the rules, just let me know and I will take care of it.