Schwarz Group supports national animal welfare label

More transparency for more animal welfare and environmental protection by improving existing structures: With its retail divisions Lidl and Kaufland, the Schwarz Group appreciates the plans of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to implement a mandatory national animal welfare label during the current legislative period. The key points of the Animal Welfare Label Act were presented by the Federal Ministry this Tuesday and will carry forward the established structures familiar to consumers, such as the ITW animal welfare initiative, whose founding members are Lidl and Kaufland.

Lidl developed the welfare compass in 2018, thus laying the foundation for the current animal welfare label used in the food retail sector. The mandatory national animal welfare label is now the next logical step to ensuring the continuation of the ITW initiative as well as successful market-oriented structures. In doing so, the federal government is playing a part in significantly improving animal welfare as a whole, which will also help all market players to develop product ranges in line with animal welfare standards. Here it will be important to incorporate existing programs that are already in place to ensure more animal welfare, such as contact with the outdoors and free-range husbandry. We are also supporting the prompt implementation of the initiative proposed by Federal Minister Cem Özdemir to extend the existing standards to the food service industry and catering, as well as other animals species that are already included under the existing animal welfare label for the food retail sector.