Animal Welfare (Hansard, 16 December 1998)

§ Dr. Naysmith
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he plans to take to persuade EU partners to include among the EU' s objectives for the next round of World Trade Organisation negotiations the need to revise the rules of the WTO and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade to take greater account of animal welfare standards; and if he will make a statement. [63490]
579W

§ Mr. Wilson
The Government are committed to improving animal welfare standards. At the Amsterdam Summit last year, we achieved our goal of giving animal welfare a special place in the European Union's priorities, formalised in a Treaty Protocol.
We will need to consult our EU partners closely to consider whether and how best to get the issue on the agenda for the expected new round of negotiations. This will not be easy. There are no widely accepted international animal welfare standards. The WTO is not a standards making body, and developing countries would see any attempt to impose such standards through the WTO as protectionist. Any EU proposal will have to take full account of their legitimate concerns.

§ Dr. Naysmith
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he plans to take to ensure that EU producers are not placed at a competitive disadvantage in respect of imports from countries with lower animal welfare standards; and if he will make a statement. [63489]

§ Mr. Wilson
As a result of initiatives we took in our Presidency, the European Commission has been charged with producing a report by June 1999 considering the relationship between EU and third country farm animal welfare standards. If the problem is not soluble under current world trade rules, the EU may need to raise the issue as part of the comprehensive trade negotiations we hope will start in 2000. However, the Government will be determined to avoid imposing EU standards unfairly on developing country producers.

§ Dr. Naysmith
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what recent representations he has received regarding the impact on animal welfare measures of the rules of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organisation; and if he will make a statement. [63491]

§ Mr. Wilson
Since the beginning of September, my Department has received more than 200 letters from MPs and members of the public on this matter. I have also met with animal welfare groups to discuss the issues.