DEPARTMENT FOR
ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS News Release (News Release ref
:218/07) issued by The Government News Network on 17 July 2007
The Government has
today published its response to the Farm Animal Welfare
Council's report on the welfare implications of animal
breeding and breeding technologies.
Defra has accepted or partially accepted several of FAWC's
eight recommendations, including that surveillance systems should
be established to monitor on-farm welfare problems associated with
breeding, and to monitor farms where new breed types or new
breeding technologies are first introduced into commercial practice.
In the response Defra has also recognised the improvements made
since the FAWC report was published. For example, a new EU-wide
code of practice for animal breeding technologies is now in place.
The breeding industry now routinely incorporates animal health and
welfare considerations into breeding programmes.
Minister for Food, Farming and Animal Health, Jeff Rooker, said:
""FAWC put forward eight recommendations to us. We
have accepted or partially accepted four of these as we agree that
they form a sensible approach for addressing the issue of breeding
and breeding technologies in the future.
"Of those that we have rejected, we have done so as we
believe that they are already addressed by current legislation, a
new EU-wide breeding code, and the breeding industry's
increasing recognition of the importance of animal welfare.
"We look forward to working with the breeding industry in
the future on further improvements."
The Government's response to the FAWC report can be found at
http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/farmed/breeding_response.pdf
The FAWC Report on the Welfare Implications of Animal Breeding
and Breeding Technologies in Commercial Agriculture can be found at
http://www.fawc.org.uk/pdf/breedingreport.pdf
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