Meat sector and government put profits before welfare: report

The Dutch meat industry and the government are both failing to protect animal welfare, and put profits first as the laws are vague and hard to enforce.

“The system is failing to protect animal welfare: the government and the sector are falling short,” the committee, chaired by former transport inspectorate chief Jan van den Bos, said in its final report.

The agriculture ministry set up the panel in 2024 to review oversight of the meat chain. It found that food safety and animal health are well protected.

Welfare is harmed on a large scale even when companies follow the law, the committee said, because legal standards are vague and current production methods and costs are always the starting point when they are set.

Some 535 million animals are slaughtered in the Netherlands every year, more than 518 million of them chickens. Inspection figures cited in the report show that around 3 million birds arrive at slaughterhouses injured each year.

Two-thirds of 170 pig farms checked in 2023 and 2024 by the food and product safety watchdog NVWA were breaking welfare rules. The watchdog spends just 8% of its capacity on animal welfare.

The committee said the agriculture minister gives the sector too little direction and repeatedly delays decisions.