Baroness Gale

The Labour Manifesto commits to “partner with scientists, industry, and civil society as we work towards the phasing out of animal testing”. The Government will publish a strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods later this year, which will consider economic impacts including benefits.

Building on the UK’s strengths as home to world leading research and pharmaceutical businesses, the strategy will support the UK to capitalise on the global non-animal technologies market, estimated to be worth $29.4 billion by 2030, and on the scientific and economic advantages of more human-relevant methods for product development and testing.

The National Procurement Policy Statement, published in February, underscores the Government's commitment to increasing the procurement of food that meets higher environmental standards, supporting local suppliers and upholding ethical sourcing practises across public sector contracts. This includes sourcing products from all farmed animals which have been raised to high UK welfare standards as defined in current animal welfare legislation.

The Government is committed to resetting our EU relationship, including by seeking to negotiate an SPS agreement. We have been clear that an SPS agreement could boost trade and deliver significant benefits on both sides. It’s too early to discuss any specific areas in detail and we will not be providing a running commentary on discussions with the EU.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation.

A public consultation on proposals to improve and extend current mandatory method of production labelling was undertaken last year by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare and want to work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards.

The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue which we are currently considering very carefully.

A public consultation on fairer food labelling was undertaken between March and May 2024 by the previous Government. We are now carefully considering all responses before deciding on next steps and will respond to this consultation in due course.

This Government is committed to resetting relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU). As part of this, the government is seeking to negotiate a veterinary/ sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers on both sides. The UK and EU are like-minded partners with similarly high standards.

This Government was elected on a mandate to introduce the most ambitious plans to improve animal welfare in a generation. That is exactly what the Government will do, and we will be outlining more detail in due course.

We are carefully considering the recommendations in the Animal Welfare Committee’s report on the welfare implications of carrying methods for poultry to ensure the highest standards of animal welfare and will set out next steps in due course.