The farmers should not be left with billions in costs for better conditions for the animals in the stables. But how can more money be organized? A push comes from Lower Saxony.
There is movement in the dispute over secure financing for farmers when converting animal husbandry to higher standards.
In a position paper, the Lower Saxony FDP parliamentary group called for an “earmarked animal welfare tax on meat products”. As parliamentary group leader Stefan Birkner explained, the paper has also been coordinated with “leading heads” of the federal FDP. Grocery retailers are responsible for “keeping the burden on customers as low as possible and ideally bearing all of the additional costs”. In the traffic light coalition in Berlin, the FDP recently made it clear that it rejects price surcharges for consumers in view of the high inflation.
The agricultural policy spokesman for the FDP in the Bundestag, Gero Hocker, told the German Press Agency that his parliamentary group had not yet stood in the way of a proposal “that can be implemented under constitutional and tax law, serves animal welfare and does not fuel inflation”. The Lower Saxony FDP parliamentary group is absolutely correct when it sees trade as a central responsibility and that it has to bear all the additional costs. “In this way, additional burdens for customers could be avoided, especially in times of rising food prices.”
Tax should not exceed 40 cents per kilogram
Lower Saxony parliamentary group leader Birkner said that Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) would have to discuss the amount of the levy with those involved. However, it must not exceed 40 cents per kilogram. “From our point of view, that is certainly the maximum that can be talked about.” With a consumption of 7.4 million tons of meat per year, this corresponds to income of almost three billion euros, which should flow into an animal welfare fund by federal law. The levy should apply to all countries of origin and also to wholesalers.
For the FDP in the Bundestag, Hocker said that the basis for more animal welfare remains a comprehensive labeling of husbandry and origin, which is agreed in the coalition agreement. However, the draft submitted by Özdemir still has significant gaps and questions. “For example, why gastronomy should not be recorded, why the origin is not marked and what should justify a separate organic level”. So far, there has also been a lack of any initiative for the necessary building law simplifications. Efforts for national solo efforts and additional requirements will be clearly rejected by the FDP.
With regard to the paper by the Lower Saxony FDP parliamentary group, Greens expert Renate Künast welcomed the fact that the FDP had given up its resistance to appropriate financing of the barn conversion. “This is important support for more animal welfare and fair competition.” Lower Saxony is an agricultural state: More than half of the German fattening chickens and roosters are kept there (60 percent), one in three pigs (33 percent) and about one in five cattle (21 percent).
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
