Stakeholder meeting on the protection of animals kept for fur production: farming practices and data

Background

Animal welfare is an important part of EFSA’s remit. EFSA’s scientific assessments help risk managers identify methods to reduce unnecessary pain, distress and suffering for animals and improve welfare wherever possible. EFSA’s Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (AHAW) assesses factors such as housing and management, transport and stunning and killing of farmed animals. Our stakeholders play a central role in issuing recommendations and guidelines, identifying issues of concern and providing feedback on EFSA’s activities and our scientific approach.

Subsequently to the successful European Citizens’ Initiative “Fur Free Europe”, the European Commission has mandated EFSA to deliver a scientific opinion on the protection of animals kept for fur production, whose adoption is expected in March 2025 (mandate M-2023-00148). EFSA’s task is to review the available scientific publications and other sources to provide a sound scientific basis on the welfare of animals kept for fur production (mink, foxes, racoon dogs and chinchillas) for the European Commission to consider policy actions in response to the European Citizens’ Initiative. 

In line with our commitment to openness and transparency, and in response to the growing public attention around animal welfare, EFSA will engage with the interested parties throughout risk assessment. Our participatory process on the welfare of fur animals kept on farm kicked off with this technical meeting to set the scene for an open and regular dialogue between EFSA and its stakeholders from the early stages of the risk assessment process.

Scope and objectives

The event offered stakeholders the opportunity to learn about EFSA’s work on animal welfare and to engage in a technical discussion on the challenges and opportunities around this mandate, focusing on the available data and data sources that will inform EFSA's scientific advice on the protection of animals kept for fur production.

Next engagement opportunities

EFSA plans to engage regularly with stakeholders throughout the mandate until the publication of its scientific opinion.

As a next step after this stakeholder meeting, EFSA is going to launch a call for evidence to collect data/information to support the risk assessment. Stakeholders are invited to prepare their contribution based on the questions outlined in the closing presentation of the meeting (see Presentations). The call will be publicly announced and proactively notified by EFSA to all meeting participants.

Stakeholders who have provided relevant data/information may be invited to ad-hoc technical hearings of the EFSA scientific working group at any stage of the risk assessment.

In addition, before finalising its scientific advice, EFSA may run a targeted consultation on specific topics/sections of the draft opinion on which the Authority may still need the contribution of stakeholders to formulate its scientific advice. If such a need is confirmed by the EFSA AHAW Panel, the targeted consultation will be announced on the dedicated EFSA portal in the “Upcoming consultations” section. A public consultation of the full scientific opinions will not be carried out.

Once published, the scientific opinion on the welfare of animals kept for fur production will be presented in public webinars where EFSA will explain its conclusions/recommendations and clarify how the inputs of stakeholders throughout risk assessment contributed to shaping EFSA’s advice. Interested parties are invited to check the calendar of EFSA’s events regularly for information regarding EFSA’s upcoming public engagement initiatives.

EFSA will proactively keep the stakeholders who have registered to this meeting informed of the future engagement opportunities on the mandate on fur animals.

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