Ukraine plans to adopt European standards for keeping farm animals and birds
In Ukraine, it is planning to introduce European standards for the maintenance of farm animals, synchronizing our current laws with the norms of the European Union, writes Kurkul.com. After signing the EU Accession Agreement, Ukraine pledged to adapt one’s legislation to its norms as much as possible.
We would like to remind you that on February 24 the draft order “On Approval of Requirements for the Welfare of Certain Animals” was published on the official website of the Ministry for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture of Ukraine (hereinafter — MDETAU). This project is currently under review (with some limitations due to the coronavirus situation).
According to the aforementioned draft order, the owners of Ukrainian livestock farms should review the conditions of keeping animals and birds and, if necessary, improve their care and feeding. The most important thing for farmers is to respect the humanity of the animals and to prevent any cruelty or suffering in their keeping
In Ukraine, there are two laws in force: the Law on the Protection of Animals against Cruelty, and the Law on Veterinary Medicine, which regulate the standards of animal treatment. However, there are currently no governing regulations that control humanity of the private farm or production owners to the pets or birds that they keep.
“The draft ordinance establishes requirements for the keeping of certain species of animals in agriculture, sets minimum standards for the conditions in which animals are kept, including systematic care and feeding, requirements for facilities for keeping animals, prevention of diseases, humane treatment of animals”, — stated in the explanatory note to the draft order.
If Ukraine aligns EU regulations with its current legislation (acts related to the control of sanitary and phytosanitary measures, food and feed safety, good health and welfare and humane treatment of animals), then the livestock farms themselves and the state inspectors that conduct the audits will face the simplification in the audit process. Due to this, quality and safe dairy and meat products will be delivered to the domestic market and for export. We emphasize that the new order establishes sufficiently clear requirements for the keeping of animals and reduces the risks of inhumane treatment of animals in aiming to get as much profit as possible.
“The organization of activities to ensure that the requirements for animal welfare are met, and the responsibility for that is the business of the relevant market operators”, — said representatives of the MDETAU.
However, some experts predict that many farms will need to invest significant resources in retrofitting and adapting production to meet new requirements. How will it affect the average consumer? Meat and dairy products may become more expensive. But do we want to live by European standards? This requires change, and the path of change is not always straightforward.
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