1 Animal welfare - - Making of Public Policy and The Role of The Supreme Court - The Israeli Experience Eran Ettinger, Legal Advisor, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Israel THE ECONOMIC AND TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF POLICY RESPONSES TO SOCIETAL CONCERNS OECD WORKSHOP 2-3/NOVEMBER 2009

2 Animal Welfare (Protection of Animals) Act – 1994  Article 2(a): A person shall not torture an animal, be cruel to an animal or abuse an animal in any way;  Article 19: when issuing regulations, the Minister of Agriculture shall take “ agricultural needs ” into account;

The Case of "fights" Between a Man and an Alligator Supreme court: Article 2(a) of the Animal Welfare Act include three components: A. A. factual - causing suffering to animals; B. B. mental - awareness of the nature of the actions; C. C. legal - absence of necessity. Check is based on 3 components: The purpose, the mean, proportionality between purpose and mean;

4 The Supreme Court Ruled: "Fights" between a man and an alligator for amusement purpose are prohibited The purpose – amusement - doesn’t justify the suffering (even it’s not severe);

The Case of force-feeding of geese and ducks  Raising animals, including Long accepted agricultural practices, falls under the provisions of the Animal Welfare law;  In every given case, the relevant “ agricultural needs ” should be weighed against the suffering inflicted on the animal, as well as the type of suffering and its severity. 

6 The Supreme Court Ruled:  The Force-Feeding Geese Regulations deviate significantly from the purpose of the law. It has given excessive importance to the interest of “ agricultural needs ” and too little importance to animal welfare. Therefore the regulations are annulled;

The Case of Laying Hen The egg-laying – The egg-laying industry – 1. Covered by an overall planning framework [ 1. Covered by an overall planning framework [quotas, guaranteed price for farmers, regulated price for consumers]; 2. small & not efficient enough growers; 2. High percentage of small & not efficient enough growers; 3. Mostly long-standing enclosures with insufficient veterinary, health and environmental standards.

8 Investment support for relocating and rebuilding eggs enclosures Began in Original purposes are: I. Wide-ranging adjustment of veterinary, health and environmental requirements; II. A significant enlargement of egg- production units; III. Relocation of farms at new areas out of the villages in order to enable farmers to develop other sources of employment;

9 Original purposes [ continuation ] IV. Subsidy will be reduced gradually and will come to an end in 2012; V. Reduction of the regulated price for the farmers; Total investment in the reform is estimated to be 145 million EUR (USD 214 million), of which the government will cover 70 million EUR

10 And what about animal welfare?  The original reform has take into account the animal welfare aspect only marginally;  NGO’S forced the government to consider and check seriously the necessity of an improvement on the farm level;

11 Animal welfare at the laying-hen industry A professional committee learned and checked the common growing systems through 6 major considerations – A professional committee learned and checked the common growing systems through 6 major considerations –

12 Major considerations 1. Welfare of the hens at different growing systems; 2. Veterinary aspects - disease prevention; 3. Health requirements - eggs pollution; 4. Environmental – pollution of soil & water; 5. Area size needed; 6. Economic aspects - investment needed and influence on consumer price;

13 Government decision Base on the recommendations of the committee, government decided: Base on the recommendations of the committee, government decided:  To see the EU Directive as a guideline and reference;  Not to prohibit the use of battery-cages system, but to enlarge the hen’s space and add other facilities;

14 Government decision [ continuation ]  First stage of the improvement plan would be implement through incentives (investment support);  Only Second stage by compelling regulations;  To wait and learn from the European experience of implementation the EU directive;

15 New NGO’S Petition to the Supreme Court  NGO’S applied to the Supreme Court and request to stop the reform till the parliament will force the government to legislate regulations that will prohibit battery-cage system. The petition is being arbitrated in these days. The petition is being arbitrated in these days.

16 Comments and Questions The Issue is a typical societal concern:  Bottom-up process;  Strongly moved by lobbing groups;  Different ethical views;  Lack of agreed scientific knowledge;

17 Some major Questions Some major Questions  What are the pro’s&con’s of each way: improvement of the laying-hen industry by government incentives or by compelling regulations? [Or maybe we have to let the market talk?] [Or maybe we have to let the market talk?]  What Is the right arena to take the decisions? The Government? The parliament?  What is the right role of the court in policy making? Process control? Ruling among values?