- Ehe common seal "B+ ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITMENT" gathers in a unified image all the meats and products certified by the different certification systems implemented in a coordinated manner by each sector.
- The Spanish sector thus responds to consumer demands for ethical production that respects animal welfare and contributes to the distribution of certified products identified with a single seal that guarantees the best practices in this area.
December 14, 2022. The Spanish livestock-meat sector represented by its six Interprofessional Organizations has presented the common seal "B+ COMMITMENT TO ANIMAL WELFARE", which gathers in a unified image all the meats and products certified by the different certification systems implemented in a coordinated way by each sector.
This is another pioneering initiative that reflects the commitment of the Spanish livestock sector to comply with the highest standards of livestock welfare and to consolidate Spain as one of the major international benchmarks in animal welfare, highlighting the efforts made by the sector, with the ultimate goal of responding to the demands of society and offering:
- To consumers: guarantee and confidence in the purchase of its certified products, produced through ethical production systems based on the support of production science and animal welfare.
- To commercial and specialized distribution operators: a certification system that includes requirements based on scientific and technical criteria that are more demanding than those required by European and national regulations.
The common seal "B+ COMMITMENT TO ANIMAL WELFARE" strictly guarantees the products of the operators that have been certified through the Procedures and Technical Regulations of the respective certification schemes of "Commitment to Animal Welfare", developed by the six Interprofessionals based on the criteria and elements established by ENAC (the National Accreditation Entity), to obtain their accreditable certification recognition. "B+ COMPROMISO BIENESTAR ANIMAL" and the respective certification schemes that support it are in a continuous process of verification and improvement, with the objective of recognition and accreditation by ENAC.
The common seal "B+ ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITMENT" was created to make it easier for consumers to identify, through a single seal, all products certified under these certification schemes in the white layer pork, Iberian pork, rabbit meat, sheep-goat meat, beef and poultry meat sectors, and to offer distribution companies and specialized distributors greater ease in managing their animal welfare requirements for their suppliers and customers.
The certification system of the six Interprofessionals that now culminates with the common seal "B+ ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITMENT" meets the "Five Freedoms" and the principles of Animal Welfare established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA). The best Spanish technical and academic specialists in this field have participated in its development, and it has been endorsed by high-level Scientific Committees, resulting in a certification system that includes requirements based on scientific and technical criteria more demanding than those required by European and national regulations.
The certificate developed by each interprofessional, provides recognition, strength and breadth and allows its adaptation to each livestock production, guaranteeing the good practices carried out in the areas of welfare, health, biosecurity, animal management and traceability in all links of the production chain, and is responsibly aligned with the "Farm to Fork" strategy and the Green Deal of the European Union, and therefore also committed to sustainability, quality and food safety.
Behind this seal "B+ ANIMAL WELFARE COMMITMENT" there are hundreds of thousands of farmers and workers in the sector who make a daily effort and fight for a commitment that they have all acquired, in order to transmit with transparency to the consumer and to the distribution all the criteria of welfare and ethical production that are applied in the good care of animals and in the attention to the demands received from society in this important aspect of food production.
ASICI. The Interprofessional Association of the Iberian Pig brings together producers and processing industries of Iberian products.
AVIANZA. The Spanish Interprofessional Association of Poultry Meat brings together farms and production centres as well as cutting and processing plants.
INTERCUN. The Interprofessional Organisation for the promotion of the rabbit sector is made up of representatives of the rabbit production branch and rabbit meat processing and marketing companies.
INTEROVIC. The Interprofessional Organisation of Sheep and Goat Meat represents the producers of this livestock branch and the industrialists and marketers who generate and distribute the derived products.
INTERPORC. The Organización Interprofesional Agroalimentaria del Porcino de Capa Blanca represents all the sectors of the value chain of the white pig: production, processing and marketing.
PROVACUNO. The Interprofessional Agri-Food Organisation for Beef and Veal is made up of the main organisations of the producer sector and the processing/marketing sector.
More information:
José Manuel Alvarez
Interprofessional Platform Coordinator
Livestock and Meat
