Regulation, Law and Animal
Health and Welfare
The role of legal regulation
GOLD John McEldowney, School of
Law, University of Warwick.
Regulation and Law
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EU Law and regulation
UK
Animal Health and Welfare Strategy
Science and Law
Regulation and its likely form
Conclusions
EU and Animal Welfare
• Article 2(21)Treaty of Lisbon (if ratified) will make animal health and
welfare part of the provisions of general application of the new
Treaty and counted as a Community competence;
• This will greatly strengthen animal protection from the current
Article 30 EC and also the Declaration on the Protection of Animals
under TEU (1992); the Protocol on the Protection and Welfare of
Animals (10 March 1976 and adopted by the Council (EEC)
78/923);
• Case law of the ECJ to date, the ECJ has been reluctant to elevate
animal welfare into any protection under Community law: Case C189/01 Jippes [2001] ERCI-5689;
• Today, however, there is general recognition that animal welfare is
a community interest and should be protected under community
law.This is a major shift in law and policy;
• EU Community Health Policy expected 2009 – UK legislation
expected by Autumn 2009.
Legal Regulation
• Consistency with EU and international
obligations;
• Risk assessment in terms of foreseeable risk;
• Sharing of costs to take account affordability
and competitive;
• Flexibility and the use of best science and
evidence.
Legal regulation: EU Policy and UK
Law
• EU Animal Health Strategy 2007 to 2013;
• Action plan in 2008: prioritisation of EU
intervention; UK Legislation in 2009;
• Improving economic competitiveness;
• Setting up an animal health regulatory
framework;
• Disease prevention and sustainable
development strategy.
• UK Legislation:
• Animal Health Act 2006-There are
requirements to take reasonable steps to
ensure that an animal’s needs are met;
• Welfare of Farmed Animals ( England)
Regulations 2007 codify much EU regulation
and law;
• Minimum standards are set and since 1997(
Treaty of Lisbon Protocol) full regard must be
given to policies and principles when
considering animal welfare.
Common Problems facing animal
health and welfare strategies
• Lack of coordination among farmers within
a nation state;
• Lack of co-ordination among states;
• The presence of a particular disease in
wildlife reservoir and there is limited
scientific understanding of the wildlifelivestock-pathogen interaction;
Eradication or disease control?:
a legal perspective
• Legal intervention may act as both a
regulatory mechanism as well as an
educative tool;
• The law requires some simplification and
codification- the UK and New Zealand have
shown the way in new legislation;
• The Jippes case limits the enhancement of animal
health – what is proportionate and necessary ?
• Legal regulation needs to be co-ordinated and to
facilitate policy implementation.
Regulating animal health: UK
Approach
• Issue of who pays?
• The role of law and lawyers;
• Litigation strategies and pressure groups.
Research Issues:
• Economic evaluation of disease control by farmers in
the light of their behavioural beliefs and of constraints;
• Economic evaluation of the role of government and of
market actors in farm-level disease control (i.e., role of
incentive structures);
• Evaluation of the degree of farmers’ behavioural
response to changes in the rate of farm level disease
prevalence;
• Evaluation of the change in the rate of disease
prevalence over time in response to farmers’
behavioural changes;
The role of law and science
• Science based decision making;
• The role of risk assessment;
• Public awareness and confidence in
science and in legal regulation;
• Risk assessment and science separated
from risk management and policy making;
• Regaining of public trust in science and
law and in the decision-making process.
Conclusions:
• Choice and design of an appropriate
regulatory system;
• Evaluating Legal Rules within the
context of EU Policy making;
• Designing the appropriate model of
regulation that fits national economic
and cultural norms.
Regulating in an EU and global
context
• Animal Health and Welfare Strategy places good
health and welfare as a sustainable necessity for
the livestock industry;
• The current legislation places responsibilities on
owners for a pro-active response to health care;
• This is also linked to cost sharing, the role of
vets; the role of good risk assessment and
sound science;
• A regulatory approach, with a potential role for a
regulatory structure for animal health might
encourage public confidence and ensure sound
science is at the centre of good decision-making.