United Kingdom | Animal Policy Int.

Our work in the United Kingdom

After Brexit, the UK has the ability to set its own trade policy for the first time in decades. That includes the ability to require that imported animal products meet the same welfare standards applied to UK producers. Polling consistently shows this is what the public wants: support for welfare-based import standards runs above 80% across all major party voter bases, and above 90% among UK livestock farmers.

Animal Policy International provides the research and legal analysis that supports the development of welfare-based import standards.

The Gap

The UK has banned some farming practices including sow stalls, barren battery cages, and fur farming on welfare grounds, in response to sustained public concern. These bans apply to UK producers but not to imports. Products produced using practices illegal on British soil continue to be sold on British shelves - undermining UK legislation, disadvantageing higher-welfare British farmers, and shifting demand to producers in jurisdictions with weaker standards.

The current picture

Almost all pork imported into the UK comes from countries that permit sow stalls - a practice the UK banned in 1999.
Though barren battery cages for egg-laying hens were banned in 2012, trade deals with countries like India and Mexico risk bringing these products to UK shelves.
Fur products continue to be imported in significant volumes over 25 years after UK fur farming was banned in 2000.

Source: API analysis of HMRC data, Closing the Welfare Gap report (2025)

Public and farmer support

89%

of the public believe the UK should have the power to decide on the welfare standards of animal products sold, including imports.

Bryant Research, 2025

92%

of UK livestock farmers and 85% of arable farmers back policies restricting low-welfare imports.

Bryant Research, 2025

80+%

Cross-party voter support is consistent: 80%+ across Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat voter bases.

Focaldata, 2022

This level of cross-spectrum agreement is rare in UK policy debate.

The Policy Context

The UK's post-Brexit trade agreements have shaped the imports landscape. The UK-Australia FTA, signed under the previous government in 2023, opened the UK market to Australian beef and lamb without welfare-based conditions. Australian sheep meat imports have since increased by 162%, despite the widespread use of live lamb cutting in Australian sheep farming (a practice banned in the UK since 2009).

The current Labour government has taken a different approach to trade negotiations. The Trade Strategy explicitly recognises concerns about production methods not permitted in the UK, including sow stalls and battery cages. In the India and Gulf Cooperation Council agreements, the government maintained existing tariff levels on sensitive products including chicken, eggs, and pork. But tariff protection is not the same as welfare-based import requirements: neither agreement requires that imports meet UK welfare standards.

The most significant live policy risk as of 2025/2026 is the UK-EU veterinary agreement. The exceptions currently included in the negotiating framework cover public health and biosecurity but not animal welfare. Without an animal welfare carve-out, the UK could be unable to apply its own welfare standards to EU imports, even as it raises domestic standards through the Animal Welfare Strategy's commitment to phase out cages and farrowing crates for UK producers.

Our approach in the United Kingdom

Our UK work has helped establish welfare-based import standards as an issue with cross-party and cross-sector support.

Research. Our report Closing the Welfare Gap, published with Compassion in World Farming and the RSPCA, was the first analysis of the UK's animal product imports and the welfare gap between UK standards and those of exporter countries. The parliamentary launch brought together over 50 MPs from every major party alongside industry representatives.

Advocacy. The issue has since been debated on the floor of the House of Commons with cross-party support, and the EFRA Select Committee has taken on board our recommendations on how the UK should approach the UK-EU veterinary agreement, calling for a Swiss-style carve-out on animal welfare. The Government's own Trade Strategy now explicitly recognises concerns about production methods not permitted in the UK, including sow stalls and battery cages, and commits to considering whether overseas produce has an unfair advantage.

Working with farming and welfare organisations. We are a member of the Trade and Animal Welfare Coalition and work alongside farming organisations and welfare groups on the case for import standards that level the playing field for UK producers.

Briefings and parliamentary engagement. We also submit evidence to parliamentary committees and brief parliamentarians and officials on the trade policy dimensions of welfare legislation.

Featured publication

LATEST REPORT · 2025

CLOSING THE WELFARE GAP: Why the UK Must Apply Its Animal Protection Standards to Imports

The first analysis of the UK's animal product imports, the welfare gap between UK standards and those of exporter countries, and a policy proposal for applying UK welfare standards to imports. Accompanied by a separate legal analysis on WTO compatibility.

Read the report →