EU Livestock Strategy backs equivalent welfare standards for imports

Animal Policy International is encouraged by the European Commission's new Livestock Strategy, and in particular its commitment to apply equivalent animal welfare standards to imported products. It is a significant step, but the detail will determine how much it delivers. Here is our read on what it gets right, and what still needs work.

The EU's new Livestock Strategy, released on 7 July 2026, marks an important step forward in how animal welfare is treated in EU trade policy. The Strategy states that "reciprocal requirements" should apply to certain imported animal products, meaning that imports would have to meet the same welfare standards the EU already requires of its own farmers.

We are pleased that clear timelines have now been set for the long-awaited animal welfare legislation revisions, with proposals on laying hens and broilers expected by the end of 2026, and on pigs in Q2 2027.

Why effective import requirements are critical 

A significant share of the animal products the EU imports are produced using practices that would be illegal within its own borders. 

For example, in 2025 around 90% of egg and egg product imports to the EU came from countries that widely use conventional battery cages to confine laying hens, which were banned in the EU in 2012. 

The Strategy highlights the cost of these lower welfare imports to both EU producers and consumers. It acknowledges that they “[disadvantage] EU producers commercially” by undercutting the standards they’re held to and that safeguards are needed to protect them from harmful imports. 

The Strategy also recognises that the status quo runs counter to public opinion and expectations. In a 2023 Eurobarometer, 93% said imported animal products should be required to meet EU welfare standards. The Strategy notes that EU citizens expect the same standards to apply to all products on the EU market, wherever their origin.

The revision of the EU’s animal welfare legislation currently underway is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to tackle lower-welfare imports. The Commission has been consulting on equivalent import requirements, discussed particularly in the context of plans to phase out the remaining cage systems in EU livestock farming. The ‘End the Cage Age’ European Citizens’ Initiative, backed by 1.4 million signatures, showed how strongly Europeans oppose caged production, and strong import measures would ensure those expectations are met rather than undercut by lower-welfare goods produced abroad. At the time of its positive announcement on End the Cage Age, the Commission had also set out intentions on tackling imports. 

Where the policy detail still needs work

1. Defining "equivalence" and getting the scope right.

The Strategy commits to introducing “equivalent” import requirements but does not define what falls within their scope. Close to a third of the EU’s egg imports arrive not as shell eggs but as liquid or dried “egg products”, almost all from battery cage systems overseas. If equivalence measures fail to capture these products, they would leave a major share of lower-welfare imports untouched and continue to support practices the EU has long deemed unacceptable. 

2. Prioritising import legislation as the most effective route to addressing lower welfare imports

The Strategy names two vehicles for “introducing equivalent animal welfare requirements for imported products, in line with WTO standards": the modernisation of the EU's animal welfare rules, and the EU's trade agreements. The first is the revision now underway, with proposals for laying hens and broilers due by the end of 2026 and for pigs in Q2 2027. The Commission consulted on the revision in mid 2025, with equivalent welfare import requirements included. Delivering equivalence requirements through unilateral legislation is the most effective route to address lower welfare imports: it is efficient, applies a single consistent standard to every trading partner, and is compatible with WTO rules under the "public morals" exemption (GATT Article XX), which allows countries to restrict imports on moral grounds, including animal welfare. 

The second, trade agreements, cannot address the issue of lower welfare imports comprehensively. They are bilateral, negotiated one by one, so any welfare conditions apply only to the specific partner at the table, leaving imports from every other country untouched. It is possible for some welfare provisions to be secured this way, as with the exclusion of feedlot beef from reduced tariffs in the EU-New Zealand deal, but they enter as bargaining chips to be traded away rather than fixed as firm, predictable requirements, and tend to attach to whichever products the negotiation allows rather than those where welfare impacts are greatest. As the primary function of trade agreements is to expand market access rather than protect standards, they are the wrong instrument for ensuring EU welfare standards are consistently upheld.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Our recommendations

1. Get the scope right. Equivalence must be clearly defined and carefully scoped to cover all relevant imports, for example, not only shell eggs but processed egg products such as liquid and powdered egg. These are a major and largely invisible route for imported cage eggs into the EU, and measures that overlook these products would leave this route open.

   
   

2. Deliver the commitment to equivalent welfare requirements through clear, unilateral legislation. The forthcoming revision of the EU's animal welfare rules should introduce robust legislation requiring imports to meet standards equivalent to the EU's rather than leaving the question to trade agreements.

"This is an important moment for animals, farmers and EU citizens," - Tashi Thomas, Head of Policy at Animal Policy International. "With 93% of EU citizens in favour of import requirements, and farmers and animal advocates also behind them, there is a clear mandate for change. The priority now is to get the specifics right, ensuring import standards are set in strong unilateral legislation."