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According to Flemish Minister of Animal Welfare Ben Weyts, the new animal welfare label "Better for animals" (Beter voor dieren) will be found on pork this year and the poultry and cattle sectors will receive the label in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
The label was developed by the non-profit organization Association for the Promotion of the Welfare of Farm Animals and is an answer to Minister Weyts' request to develop a system that aims to improve and monitor animal welfare in the food chain in Flanders. To this end, the non-profit organization draws up specifications for livestock farmers, transporters, and slaughterhouses and develops a system to monitor compliance. Structural collaboration is being developed with the sector, independent scientists, and the organization Beter Leven, which manages a similar label in the Netherlands.
The label is awarded to products that make extra efforts for animal welfare beyond the legal requirements, for example: avoiding unnecessary transport, offering extra enrichment, or giving extra space to animals.
The quality mark has three gradations, whereby limited extra efforts receive one plus, increased efforts receive two pluses, and three pluses when the producer goes above and beyond the legal requirements. The specifications and criteria for exactly what each plus stands for are still in the process of development.
January 23, 2024/ Vilt/ Belgium.
https://vilt.be/nl/
