Animal Welfare Verification System
Animal Welfare Verification System
Farm animal welfare is an increasingly important topic in public debate. This is also reflected in consumer preferences as 60% of Europeans look for labels verifying the state of animal welfare when purchasing animal-based products. However, communicating animal welfare to consumers is challenging due to inconsistency of animal welfare data collection and availability. The aim of this project is to develop an operational national Animal Welfare Verification System for assessing, verifying, and communicating animal welfare. The system shall bring added value to animal-based products which meet high animal welfare criteria, and respond to the demands of market and consumers. The system is based on scientifically validated on-farm assessment protocols for cattle and third-party auditions. It will generate new business opportunities and enable expanding Finnish animal product trade to new customer segments and regions while strengthening its position in the current markets.
The common goal of the project consortium is to develop a system that enables: 1) Scientifically valid assessment and verification of animal welfare in the dairy and beef primary production, 2) Collection, maintenance and supply of commensurable, certified data describing animal welfare status, 3) Traceability of responsibility attributes throughout the entire food production chain, 4) Granting and presenting a data-based welfare label for consumer use, 5) Utilization of sensor technology as part of animal welfare verification.
The animal welfare verification system is based on an on-site audit carried out by a third party, which in the future may be complemented with data produced by sensor technology. Welfare data is managed and used to calculate welfare indicators within the Naseva system, where it is also directly accessible to farms and herd health veterinarians for improving animal welfare at the farm level. The welfare data is also made available to food companies, which can use it for their own self-monitoring purposes. Standardized animal welfare claims are linked to the final product, ensuring that welfare information is also passed on to retailers and consumers.
