0
Research in animal welfare is one of the focus areas in Department of Animal Science at Aarhus University, Foulum. Therefore, it is not coincidental that three animal welfare researchers from the department have joined European Food Safety Authority, EFSA’s expert groups, in the preparation for the revision of the animal welfare legislation.
Animal welfare is an integrated part of EU’s new “Farm to fork (F2F)” strategy, the purpose of which is to make farming more sustainable. At present, a thorough assessment of existing knowledge on animal welfare is being conducted. This work is the first step in a revision of the EU’s present animal welfare legislation.
Three AU researchers are part of EFSA’s advising expert groups
In this context, EFSA has five so-called mandates, each covering central parts of EU’s animal welfare legislation: Keeping calves, keeping pigs, keeping laying hens, keeping broilers, and animal transport.
The latter is very comprehensive and has thus been divided into two subgroups: transport of poultry and rabbits (kept in crates while transported) and transport of un-crated animal species (horses, pigs, cattle, sheep and goats). From Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Margit Bak Jensen participates in the expert group focussing on calves, Anja Brinch Riber participates in the expert group focussing on broilers, and Mette S. Herskin leads the expert group focussing on transport of un-crated animals.
Since September 2020, Mette S. Herskin has been member of EFSA’s “Animal Health & Welfare” panel consisting of a group of independent scientific experts who are to provide scientific advice within all aspects of diseases and welfare within food-related animal production.
“Creating overview of the existing and especially new knowledge within these areas in order for decision-makers to more easily make use of this, is in my opinion very important. Therefore, I am really glad to have the opportunity to do this on a European level within the framework of EFSA – and especially within animal transport in which research has been limited so far but now is increasing,” says senior researcher Mette S. Herskin.
“It is a fantastic task – being part of transforming research-based knowledge into recommendations on how to improve animal welfare. You can draw on very much new research-based knowledge... It is also a very educative task because it focuses on which types of research that best form the basis of specific recommendations for welfare improvements,” says senior researcher Margit Bak Jensen.
Professor and head of section for Animal Welfare at Department of Animal Science, Jan Tind Sørensen, says the following about the welfare researchers’ task:
“EU has a detailed and thorough legislation within animal welfare. At the same time, EU focuses on the harmonisation and streamlining of the animal welfare control. The animal welfare researchers from Department of Animal Science participate in two out of three EU reference centres for animal welfare, focussing on poultry and pigs, respectively, and have thus insight in and influence on EU’s implementation of animal welfare legislation. EFSA’s expert groups within animal welfare play a central role for developing the EU legislation within animal welfare. The three welfare researchers’ l placement in EFSA’s expert groups gives insight in and influences the future framework conditions in livestock farming. At the same time, it is a big international acknowledgement of the three researchers’ scientific level.”
EFSA’s work with creating an overview of the knowledge on animal welfare must be finished in 2023.
February 3, 2021 - Aarhus University
