Annex 2
Letter to Chief Executive of the BEIC
from Rt Hon Richard Caborn MP, Minister for Trade, DTI
Thank you for the copy of your letter of 17
January to Nick Brown and the fax of 9 February to my office
regarding the welfare of laying hens and suggesting a meeting.
I am replying in view of my responsibility for trade policy.
In your letter you raise the specific issue
of changing WTO rules to take account of animal welfare standards.
I would hope that your next meeting with Nick Brown will provide
an opportunity to raise this issue. In light of this, and the
current difficulties in making progress in the WTO on animal welfare
issues, I regret that I am not able to accept your offer of meeting
in person.
As you may be aware, I met recently with a number
of animal welfare groups to discuss the issue of animal welfare
standards and WTO rules. The meeting included representatives
from Compassion in World Farming and the Royal Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who I see that you work together
with on this issue. As I explained at that meeting, at the unsuccessful
Seattle WTO ministerial conference last year, the UK and EU pressed
for animal welfare considerations to be included in negotiations
for a new Round of multilateral trade negotiations. However, we
met with considerable opposition from other WTO Members. Discussions
in the WTO on other issues, such as how to reflect environmental
concerns in trade rules, have shown how difficult it is to make
progress while there is not a wide international consensus. Many
developing countries suspect that the EU's real motives are protectionist.
In addition, and unlike in the area of the environment or labour
standards, there are no internationally accepted standards or
agreements on animal welfare.
The UK will continue to press for WTO work on
animal welfare, including the built-in negotiations on agriculture
which are proceeding despite the lack of agreement on launching
a Round at Seattle. However, we do not believe that it is realistic
to expect any significant progress on animal welfare issues in
the WTO for the time being.
23 February 2000
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