Draft version of the German Animal Husbandry Label: The five living conditions (one of which ticked) inside a box with rounded corners
The label is a black and white rectangle with rounded corners.
Tierhaltungskennzeichnungsgesetz - TierHaltKennzG (Act on Animal Husbandry Labelling)
Bundestag
  • Gesetz zur Kennzeichnung von Lebensmitteln mit der Haltungsform der Tiere, von denen die Lebensmittel gewonnen wurden
Territorial extentGermany
Enacted byBundestag
Enacted16 June 2023
Assented to byBundesrat
Assented to7 July 2023
Signed byPresident of Germany
Signed17 August 2023
Effective24 August 2023
Committee responsibleAusschuss für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft
Status: In force

Animal Husbandry Labelling (German: Tierhaltungskennzeichnung) is the mandatory labelling of the living conditions of livestock animals originating in Germany. It is in force for pigs during their fattening period since August 2023. The law (federal Act on Animal Husbandry Labelling) was developed by the Greens-led German ministry of agriculture, BMEL, under Cem Özdemir.[1][2]

Label

The labelling Act, which follows the cabinet draft,[3] stipulates that only animal products need to be labelled that both originate in Germany and are also sold in Germany. Labelling is to be phased in gradually, starting with pig meat.[4]

The label only describes the animals' living conditions during their "productive period". For pig meat, this refers to the fattening period, and ignores living conditions during piglet and sow rearing.[5] The label distinguishes the following five living conditions (from best to worst):

Criticism

Requiring a label only from German producers disadvantages them compared to foreign ones selling in Germany, Peter Hauk of the Christian Democrat opposition argued during the Bundesrat discussion of the cabinet draft. The Bundesrat demanded that foreign producers also be forced to use the label.[6]

However, forcing the label on foreign producers would violate European Union and World Trade Organization law. The planned label can be used voluntarily by foreign producers.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cabinet Adopted Draft Act on Animal Husbandry Labelling". BMEL. 2022-10-12.
  2. ↑ tagesschau.de. "Kabinett billigt Tierhaltungskennzeichnung: Kritik von Landwirten und Tierschützern". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-14.
  3. ↑ "Deutscher Bundestag - Bundestag beschließt ein staatliches Tierhaltungslabel für Schweinefle..." Deutscher Bundestag (in German). Retrieved 2023-07-31.
  4. 1 2 "Future-proof animal husbandry - Cornerstones for the introduction of mandatory state animal husbandry labelling" (PDF). BMEL.
  5. 1 2 "Fragen und Antworten zur Einführung einer verpflichtenden staatlichen Tierhaltungskennzeichnung". BMEL (in German). 2022-10-12.
  6. ↑ Michel, Johanna (2022-11-25). "Tierhaltungskennzeichnung: Bundesländer unterstützen Özdemir". agrarheute (in German). Retrieved 2022-12-14.
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