Portugal is part of a consortium that wants to investigate animal welfare
“Portugal, through the hands of the Portuguese Federation of Pig Farmers Associations (FPAS), leads the candidacy of a European consortium that brings together 17 pig producer associations in 19 European countries, from the largest to the smallest, from North to South, covering 90 % of European pig farms, which will work together with 10 universities and four research institutes across the European Union to carry out research focused on the parameters of animal welfare”, reads a note from the initiative ‘ Let’s talk about pork from Europe’.
According to the same note, the Welfarmers consortium submits an application for a ‘European call, under the Horizon Europe program, which includes the creation of digital platforms to measure levels of animal welfare, through integration systems of previously used data in human health.
The project will also create platforms to quantify the level of animal welfare on livestock farms in different countries and monitor the adaptation of producers to the new standards, as well as assess the socio-economic impacts on the supply chain.
This study will focus on pigs and will subsequently serve as a model for other livestock sectors in the European Union.
“At the basis of the motivation of the Wealfarmers is animal welfare on farms, which can only be achieved if it represents all aspects of sustainability, social (human and animal welfare), environmental (discharged) and economic (viability) farms) “, he said.
Pig producers thus want to improve production systems and contribute to the ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy being put into effect.
The implementation of measures, however, requires investment in farms, an “efficient management […] where an investigation will play a key role”.
On the other hand, they pointed out that production conditions are different from North to South Europe, due to factors such as climate and production structure.
However, “these differences cannot justify different levels of well-being in the European space and research must be able to provide solutions to achieve homogeneity”, he noted, providing that it is “fundamental” to investigate new production techniques and disseminate the results to all European producers.
Producer associations, through their European representation (COPA-COGECA), send to the European Commission a proposal to amend European legislation in terms of animal welfare.
The ‘Let’s Talk About Pork From Europe’ initiative clarifies the pork production model in Europe.
This campaign started in July of last year and decoration until the same month of 2022, in Portugal, Spain and France.