It was presented with the IAWS-Commitment Welfare Certificate of Interporc seal with registration number 001.
The company was awarded the seal as it “reinforces strict compliance with food safety standards, animal welfare , biosecurity and traceability that are governed by the Technical Regulation of Animal Welfare and Biosafety - Interporc Animal Welfare Spain, the most demanding of the European Union”.
It was lauded for being committed to animal welfare and to the sustainability of the livestock sector and the rural environment.
The seal, announced in April of this year, is designed to bring together all meat interprofessionals (Interporc, Asici, Provacuno, Interovic, Intercun and Propollo) and includes compliance with the regulations that have been developed in collaboration with companies in the sector, certifiers, scientists and animal welfare experts. It is endorsed by a high-level scientific committee, and has been tested by animal protection and defense organizations.
The objective of the initiative is to “harmonize the certification in animal welfare so that the consumer can recognize a single seal - similar, but with slight changes and different colors depending on the species - that guarantees good practices in this area throughout the entire animal life process”.
Each body will have its own technical regulation adapted to the productive reality of each species in which requirements more stringent than European and national regulations will be set in relation to each of the five principles of animal welfare established by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE): animals free from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; free from fears and anguishes; free from physical or thermal discomfort; free of pain, injury or illness; and free to express their own behavior patterns.
To ensure compliance with the required requirements, audits will be carried out in livestock facilities, in loading, transport and unloading operations, and in meat companies that process and produce products for final marketing, which allows covering all phases, both livestock and industrial.
Through this initiative, the Spanish meat sector is hoping to anticipate the growing demands of consumers in terms of a production that respects animal welfare and contributes to the distribution in its lines with products with seals that guarantee best practices in this area.