B+ Animal Welfare Commitment, the seal that places Spain at the global forefront
No company is obliged to undergo audits that certify that it exceeds the tough requirements of the IAWS Technical Regulation for animal welfare and biosafety. And yet, more than 60% of Spanish white-coated pork production is currently certified.
In total there are 163 certified operators and more than 7,700 farms, information that can be consulted with complete transparency on the website: https://www.
Thanks to the commitment of these companies, and the positive response and support of large distribution chains, today millions of consumers throughout Spain have animal welfare certified meat at their disposal.
What distinguishes the B+ Animal Welfare Commitment seal?
There are three main arguments that create the distinctive character of the seal created by INTERPORC:
Firstly, the already mentioned voluntariness of the pork sector , which self-imposes to comply with animal welfare conditions higher than those established by law.
Second, it has been prepared by a Scientific Committee of recognized prestige in animal welfare.
Finally, it is certified by accredited external entities.
The modern, precision livestock farming that characterizes Spain's white-coated pork sector works according to the European production model, one of the most demanding in the world. However, when you have a calling to be a leader, conformism has no place.
It is necessary to go even ahead of the demands of society and legal requirements. This is what the INTERPORC Animal Welfare Spain (IAWS) Technical Regulations do, which sets out the conditions that must be met to obtain the seal, and is even more demanding than Spanish and European legal regulations.
This imposes an additional effort and, let us not forget, voluntary, in such important issues of food production as traceability, biosafety, animal health and sanitation, food safety, adherence to the National Antibiotic Resistance Plan and the accommodation of the animals.
In this way, companies that are certified incorporate into their work system a holistic vision of animal welfare that benefits them and drives them in their search for excellence in all areas.
INTERPORC brought together a Scientific Committee of animal welfare experts to develop the INTERPORC Animal Welfare Spain (IAWS) Technical Regulations. A committee of which today 19 institutions from the university and research fields are part.
These experts are the ones who guarantee the seriousness of the regulation, as well as its transparency and scientific rigor, in addition to being responsible for keeping it updated. That is, it responds at all times to the growing social and legal demands related to animal welfare.
In its work, the committee followed the guidelines on animal welfare of the World Organization for Animal Health (WHO), which describes it as the physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions in which it lives and with respect to five freedoms: to be free from hunger, thirst and malnutrition; free from fear and anguish; free of physical and thermal discomfort; free from pain, injury and disease; and free to manifest natural behavior.
In addition, they established eight control areas that cover all aspects related to the breeding and development of animals, transportation and slaughter, covering the entire life of the animals.
The maximum credibility and transparency of the entire process is obtained by the fact that, to obtain the seal, compliance with the Regulation must be verified by a certifying company outside the pork sector and accredited by the National Accreditation Entity (ENAC), which in turn will supervise the work of the companies through its demanding evaluation process.
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