Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007

rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007. The noble Lord said: My Lords, these regulations replace the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2000, as amended, and they will be made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which went through your Lordships’ House earlier this year. The Act represents the most important achievement in animal welfare legislation for over a century. It brings together and modernises the range of existing animal welfare legislation relating to farmed and non-farmed animals. It came into force in April. As part of the rationalisation, Part 1 of the Agriculture (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1968, under which existing farm animal welfare legislation has been made, will be repealed, as relevant provisions have been incorporated into the Animal Welfare Act. To preserve the requirements of existing secondary farm-animal welfare legislation, we have had to bring forward these replacement regulations under the new Act. For many years, farmed animals have been protected by the duty of care. The Animal Welfare Act introduces a duty of care for owners of all vertebrate animals, including, for the first time, pet animals. Previously, people had a duty to ensure that their animals did not suffer. Now, in addition, owners of animals must do all that is reasonable to ensure the welfare of their animals, with respect to, for example, diet, housing and the ability to express normal behaviour. In addition, the Animal Welfare Act gives enforcement bodies the ability to issue improvement notices to the owners of pet animals, which is a tool that has been used for many years to help improve the welfare of farmed animals. Improvement notices will help to explain clearly the steps needed to rectify welfare problems and a definite time limit to achieve that improvement. The Animal Welfare Act has an important role in allowing secondary legislation to be made under it; specific laws which will help protect animals in addition to the protective framework of the Act. One such piece of legislation is the Mutilations (Permitted Procedures) (England) Regulations 2007. The mutilation of animals is banned under the Act, and the regulations set out the limited circumstances in which mutilations are permitted and under what conditions. We debated those regulations earlier this year. The replacement on-farm welfare regulations before us today are also secondary legislation to be made under the Animal Welfare Act. The vast majority of the new regulations replicate the 2000 regulations. They continue to implement EU directives on the welfare of calves, pigs, laying hens and a general framework directive—98/58/EC—which sets down minimum standards for the protection of all farmed livestock. One change from the 2000 regulations, arising from the fact that the Animal Welfare Act covers all animals under the control of man, is that the new regulations will apply for the first time to livestock kept on common land. The new regulations remove any duplication that previously existed between the Animal Welfare Act and the existing regulations. For example, the duty of care provision and the powers of entry are not included in the new regulations, as they are now provided for in the Act. Likewise, the ability to issue improvement notices, which I referred to earlier, is now in the Act, and therefore a similar provision is no longer required in the new regulations. Thus, good practice that has been in farm animal welfare legislation for years now applies to all animals kept by man. I am sure that the Committee will agree that this is a significant step forward in the Government’s and in Parliament’s commitment to animal welfare. The new regulations will continue the important role of raising standards of animal welfare on farms. The Government have taken a lead in implementing improvements at home and have been at the forefront of pushing for progress at EU and international level. We took the lead on encouraging Europe to follow the UK in implementing a ban on the use of veal crates, which have been banned in the UK since 1990. A ban on the use of veal crates across the EU came into force at the end of 2006. The UK banned close-confinement sow stalls in 1999. The EU pig directive adopted in 2001 contained several key provisions to improve the welfare of pigs, such as minimum space allowances for sows and gilts, access to environmental enrichment for all pigs and a ban on the use of sow stalls across the EU by 2013. In 1999, a directive was adopted to protect the welfare of laying hens. The directive bans the barren battery cage from 2012 and introduces minimum standards for non-caged systems, such as barn and free range, as well as for enriched cage systems. In May this year, the UK was at the forefront of agreeing new rules to improve the welfare of meat chickens across Europe. I make no apology that the UK has a higher standard of animal welfare today than at any time during its history. We have among the highest standards anywhere in the world. It is about time that the British public recognised that when buying their meat and stopped buying cheap imports where the animals have not been looked after as well as they are in this country. You cannot have it both ways. That message has to go out loud and clear. We cannot run ““Buy British”” campaigns. It is not legal. The fact of the matter is that the British public need to have it rammed down their throats—if I can put it that way—that our animals are better looked after on the farm than virtually anywhere else in the world, and that they owe it to the industry to make sure they support the industry. By definition, the costs of production are in some cases increased. That puts our producers at a disadvantage in some ways to our competitors. As I say, we make no apology for having among the highest standards in the world; we just need to drag everybody up to our level. In the mean time, it would be helpful if the public gave more support in their buying habits. The regulations are an important part of maintaining standards. With that in mind, I commend the regulations. Moved, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Welfare of Farmed Animals (England) Regulations 2007 [19th Report from the Statutory Instruments Committee].—(Lord Rooker.)