Animal welfare and developing countries: opportunities for trade in high-welfare products from developing countries

Summary :

Discussion on the potential for developing countries to develop trade in niche markets such as higher welfare standards has been highlighted with moves by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to set internationally agreed standards for animal welfare. This paper examines the existing and potential trade in value-added higher welfare products using case studies in the beef and poultry sectors from three countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. It shows that at present there is only a small trade in these products but that this can have a major effect at a national level. In the beef export trade from Namibia, the existence of the only assurance scheme in Africa setting standards in hygiene, veterinary care and animal welfare has created a trusted, safe and healthy product and ensured that Namibia has grown into Africa’s largest exporter of beef to the European Union. In Thailand, the broiler industry, which has enjoyed annual growth in the past 15 years, is developing value-added products to develop markets to counter competition from other countries.

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