In the context of the Common Fisheries Policy reform, in particular its market organisation rules for imported fish and aquaculture products, the European Parliament and Council both called for social and environmental standards to be applied to imports, equivalent to those applied to EU products, to create a more ‘level playing field’ between EU and imported fish products.

An article about the EU–Chile Association Agreement shows how these types of standards – on animal welfare in this case – have been introduced in the agreement 10 years ago and gradually implemented since then.

In 2003, with the objective of developing standards, the EU requested the introduction of a reference to animal welfare in the EU–Chile Association Agreement. Chile, an important meat exporter to the EU, agreed to the proposal. This became the first bilateral trade agreement to mention animal welfare in the annex on sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS). The implementation was undertaken by the EU–Chile FTA Joint Management Committee, which monitors the implementation of the agreement and provides recommendations for modifications.

The article explains that ‘equivalence for trade purposes’ has been a key notion in the work of the Joint Management Committee – something which is also put forward by the EU institutions when it comes to imported fish and aquaculture products.

The provision on animal welfare in the Chile–EU agreement triggered the institutionalisation of animal welfare in Chile, through the development and implementation of relevant new legislation. Chilean stakeholders (producers, scientists, institutions, NGOs) were involved in the process.

The article comments that although Chile originally saw the inclusion of animal welfare as an EU demand, the bilateral agreement brought benefits to both parties: “The EU and Chile worked together to build a common understanding on the application of animal welfare standards, exchange of expertise, and informal harmonisation of their position at international level. There is also strong collaboration between the EU and Chile at the institutional and academic levels through the organisation of joint seminars … The respect of animal welfare also clearly brought new economic opportunities for Chilean meat producers, which saw a growth in exports to the EU.”