After our presentation in Madrid on April 26 at the headquarters of the European Commission Representation in Spain, the next day we went to no less than the European Parliament itself, where we also had the opportunity to present the three-year proposal with which the Spanish and Hungarian Interprofessional Sheep and Goat Interprofessionals (Interovic and JTT) and the Spanish beef interprofessional (Provacuno) will promote and disseminate animal welfare and accredited certifications with which consumers will be able to recognize sheep meat at the point of sale, goat and beef meats that have been produced in compliance with strict parameters that guarantee in a solvent, transparent and scientifically rigorous manner, the health and welfare of the animals.
For this occasion we had the invaluable collaboration of the MEP and Coordinator of the Socialist Group in the Agriculture Committee, Clara Aguilera. On this occasion, the event was aimed at parliamentarians and entities of the sector. During the course of the event, the interprofessionals proceeded to present the contents of the campaign preceded by the intervention of Miguel Angel Higuera, president of the Animal Health and Welfare Working Group of Copa-Cogeca and member of the subgroup on animal welfare labeling created by the European Commission within the framework of the EU Platform on Animal Welfare.
During the welcome, the MEP, Clara Aguilera, stressed the importance of having certifications based on scientific criteria, traceable, guaranteed and measurable over time and stressed her great satisfaction «to see that two Spanish interprofessionals, along with its Hungarian counterpart, have taken the initiative and have been ahead of the requirements to be established from Europe in terms of animal welfare». Likewise, the deputy has pointed out the importance of adequately informing the citizenship since «the changes must be recognized by the consumer because all the changes suppose an effort and a cost and the consumers are not so conscious of all that it supposes, reason why they do not appreciate them in their true dimension».
For his part, the president of the Copa-Cogeca Animal Health and Welfare Working Group, Miguel Angel Higuera, stressed that this is a campaign that comes to respond to the demands of European citizens in terms of animal welfare since, «according to data from the Eurobarometer Attitudes of European citizens towards AW, 94% of Europeans believe it is important to protect the welfare of farm animals and, in addition, public opinion demands and requires more information on the conditions in which they are raised».
In this sense, the president of Interovic, Raúl Muñiz, pointed out that the «European Animal Welfare Commitment is an initiative promoted by Interovic and Provacuno together with JTT and which aims to promote accredited certification seals in animal welfare that are not only in accordance with the principle of «The five freedoms» and with all the legislative requirements in this area demanded by the EU and national authorities, but, «They have wanted to go a step further, adding an important number of voluntary commitments, all of them objective and based on scientific criteria, which analyze in depth the animal, its environment and the relationship it has with the people who take care of it in order to fully guarantee the health and welfare of ruminants through the certification carried out by the certifiers, accredited for such purposes by a National Accreditation Entity».
During the reading of the Decalogue Animal Welfare Commitment, the director of Provacuno wanted to take the opportunity to announce that Interovic and Provacuno have made available to all European producers who require it, as has been the case of the Hungarian interprofessional JTT, all the work developed for the creation of their accredited certification seals, which will mean significant savings in costs and time in the implementation, for all European producers who are thinking of developing some kind of accredited certification in their country.
On the other hand, the president of Provacuno, Eliseo Isla, wanted to emphasize the importance and the differential value that an accreditation contributes to any certification since «the accreditation by third parties not only guarantees the transparency and the continuity in the time but, it supposes a guarantee so much for the consumer as for the own cattle dealer, Thanks to the requirements imposed by an accredited certification, the farmer undergoes a process of continuous improvement and can also have the peace of mind that the way he works and cares for his animals is adequate and will therefore be valued and appreciated by both the consumer and the institutions. The effort will have been worthwhile,» Isla concluded.
Finally, the presidents and directors of Interovic and Provacuno wanted to send a warm greeting and wish for a speedy improvement to their counterpart, the director of JTT who is convalescing, reason why he could not be present in any of the presentation acts. For these three interprofessionals, this act, undoubtedly, carried an important emotional charge, especially because they saw recognized the great effort and #commitment that these producers have acquired with the Animal Welfare and that encourages them to continue working in this path, which, undoubtedly, is the only one. Because if there is something that from Interovic, Provacuno and JTT is clear to us is that now is the time, because #NoPlanetB.
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