Legambiente and Ciwf are calling for more transparent milk labelling to encourage the transition towards farming systems that respect animal welfare. Legambiente and Ciwf are calling for more transparent milk labelling to encourage the transition towards farming systems that respect animal welfare.
When we buy eggs, we know how the hens that laid them were reared. So why not do the same with milk? Legambiente and Ciwf (Compassion in World Farming) have launched a milk labelling proposal that, through a table, would make it easy to identify the different cattle farming methods, beyond the images and claims that can be misleading.
The two organisations believe that milk labelling according to cattle farming method is necessary — labelling that is voluntary, unambiguous and national, and that makes consumers key players in the transition towards more sustainable farming systems. Legambiente and Ciwf have also stressed the importance of phasing out tethered systems, where cows can spend their entire lives tied up, in favour of access to pasture, which allows cows to express the natural behaviours of ruminants.
The proposed labelling defines six farming systems, each corresponding to six levels of animal welfare. Level zero would be assigned to organic farming, level 1 to loose housing with permanent access to pasture, level 2 to loose housing with access to pasture for at least four months, level 3 to loose housing without access to pasture but with more space for dairy cows; level 4 to tethered housing with cows tied up and access to pasture for at least 120 days per year; level 5 to intensive farming.
On the subject of the transition towards sustainable farming, the Council of the European Union approved last December a number of pillars for improving the welfare of food-producing animals, and invited the European Commission to put forward a proposal for an EU label on animal welfare with standards more stringent than those currently required under EU legislation, and which would progressively cover all livestock species throughout their entire life cycle (including transport and slaughter).
In Italy, on 15 February the draft certifications for the "Sistema di qualità nazionale benessere animale" were presented, introduced by Legislative Decree 34 of 19 May 2020, converted with amendments by Law 77 of last July, with the aim of defining a basic national production scheme to strengthen the environmental, economic and social sustainability of products of animal origin, foster a recovery of competitiveness in the farming sector, improve the sustainability of production processes, and guarantee transparency for consumers.
The presentation, promoted by the ministries of Health and of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies in collaboration with Accredia, the Italian accreditation body, has so far failed to convince the organisations working on animal welfare: Ciwf, Essere Animali, Lav and Legambiente have expressed concern over a lack of transparency in the sharing of the draft documents describing the conditions required of farms in order to be certified on animal welfare through a voluntary logo.
"For example," the organisations write in a statement, "for the certification of indoor pig farming — the only one presented — sows and piglets were not taken into account, which means that pork labelled with the 'animal welfare' claim could come from sows kept in cages, and from piglets that have undergone teeth clipping, a very painful procedure." And furthermore: "The voluntary national certification for animal welfare must prevent greenwashing, and even more so the funding of mere cosmetic makeovers of intensive farms; with citizens' money from the Common Agricultural Policy and from Next Generation EU, the certification must instead effectively support the informed choices of citizens and of farmers who wish to commit to improving animal welfare."