Sustainability certification of meat: The Animal Welfare Initiative

The Initiative Tierwohl (Animal Welfare Initiative) was founded on 1 January 2015 in a concerted action by the agricultural sector - represented by the farmers' association together with slaughtering and meat processing companies and the large food retailers including discounters. On the one hand, the aim was to prevent binding legal tightening of animal husbandry through voluntary agreements. ^1,2 On the other hand, there was the fear that the increasingly critical attitude of the population could be reflected in declining consumption in the medium term.

The standard criteria were drawn up by a committee of experts with representatives from agriculture, the meat industry and food retail. At the beginning, the German Animal Welfare Federation and the animal welfare association ProVieh were also involved in an advisory capacity, but then ended their involvement due to insufficiently ambitious regulations in favour of farm animals. ^3,4

In the first two programme periods 2015 to 2017 and 2018 to2020, the catalogue of measures consisted of mandatory basic criteria as well as voluntary optional criteria (Initiative Tierwohl 2016). This changed in January 2021: With the start of the third programme period 2021 to 2023, the catalogue of criteria now consists exclusively of mandatory criteria.⁵

The husbandry criteria for pigs and poultry are above the legal minimum standards and relate to aspects such as space availability, feeding, stable climate, lighting conditions or the design of the stables. The criteria have been adapted several times over time - detailed information on the criteria can be found on the ITW website (in German).

In the first two programme periods, the financing model of the ITW was new and unusual. It arose from the dilemma that although society was making increasing demands on livestock farming, there was no willingness to pay for more expensive meat products as a result.

Because it was not possible to compensate for the additional costs of ITW products for more demanding farm animal husbandry through higher prices, the consortium developed a fund solution: for every kilogram of pork and poultry meat sold, food retailers initially paid 4 cents, and since 2018 6.25 cents, into animal welfare funds. The additional costs were thus passed on to the entire meat and sausage consumption.

At the beginning, the 4 cents per kilogramme of meat and sausage products from pork and poultry provided 85 million euros annually. In the second phase, the amount was increased to 6.25 cents/kg, so that about 132 million euros were available per year. The money was used to pay livestock farmers a basic payment for compliance with the basic criteria and an additional payment depending on compliance with the optional criteria in these two programme periods.

Initially, the funding model did not provide for the corresponding meat and sausage products to carry an animal welfare label. Critics therefore accused the Initiative Tierwohl of lacking transparency. Since 2018, traceability back to the farm can be guaranteed at least for many poultry products, which also made it possible to label the products as animal welfare meat. Since 2021, this is now also possible for pork, as both piglets and fattening pigs must come from ITW farms.

In the programme period 2021 to 2023, the financing model is to be changed from fund financing to market financing. This means that the animal welfare measures of the farms will now be remunerated directly by the slaughter companies or marketers with a surcharge.

Participation of a farm is associated with an initial programme audit. Thereafter, on-site inspections take place twice a year, one of which is unannounced. The ITW obliges livestock farmers to participate in the QS scheme.

The company "QS Qualität und Sicherheit GmbH" was founded in 2001 by the agricultural and food industry for food inspection. It is responsible for the inspection of meat and sausage production along the entire value chain and has almost all agricultural enterprises with animal husbandry under contract. At ITW, QS is responsible for the organisation and implementation of the controls.