Written question asked by Paul Farrelly (Labour) on Friday, 12 July 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 (named day). It was answered by David Rutley (Conservative) on Wednesday, 17 July 2019 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Poultry: Animal Welfare

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans he has to encourage (a) supermarkets, (b) restaurant chains and (c) hotel groups to sign up to the European chicken commitment.

Answer: The Government shares the public’s high regard for animal welfare, and the welfare of our farmed livestock in all systems is protected by comprehensive and robust legislation. After we leave the EU we will look to strengthen our world class welfare standards as new research and evidence emerges. In England, we intend to develop publicly funded schemes for farmers to deliver animal welfare enhancements beyond our high regulatory baseline that are valued by the public, but not sufficiently rewarded by the market. We also want to provide greater transparency and certainty for consumers, so that they have a clear understanding of the animal welfare standards applying to products. We note that the European Chicken Commitment initiative is also promoting enhancements beyond the regulatory baseline and we look forward to seeing how this voluntary initiative progresses.

Secondary information