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BEL

BEL SA

A family business for over 150 years, Bel is a major global player in the food sector.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Jérémy Decerle (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Jan 2023 · Etiquetage nutritionnel sur la face avant des produits alimentaires

Meeting with Jorge Pinto Antunes (Cabinet of Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski)

21 Sept 2021 · BEL Group nutritional commitments and specificities

Meeting with Karolina Herbout-Borczak (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides), Panayiotis Pourgourides (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides)

27 May 2021 · Exchange of views on the Farm to Fork Strategy, in particular the sustainability of the supply chain and the front of pack nutrition labelling

Response to Fitness Check of the EU legislation on animal welfare

28 Jul 2020

Animal welfare being a key pillar of Bel’s engagement in the field of sustainable farming, Bel welcomes the Commission’s proposal to revise and improve existing animal welfare legislation, as well as the proposal to consider options for animal welfare labelling. Bel works with all partner farmers globally to ensure dairy cow welfare and full compliance with existing local and international regulations and practices in line with the “Five Freedoms” of the World Organization for Animal Health. Bel has even received awards from CIWF (Compassion In World Farming) – an international NGO specializing in animal welfare - for its work with dairy producers in France and in Portugal. In order to go further we have developed our Animal Welfare Charter together with experts from CIWF. This Charter establishes best dairy farming practices to be implemented by all our partner producers around the world by 2025. The application of these best practices will be certified by an independent third party at all our partner farms. A strengthening of Directive 98/58/EC on the welfare of farmed animals, in particular with specific legislation on dairy cows, would be useful to achieve Bel’s goals, by helping to raise standards across the EU. It is a pity that there are no EU specific standards for dairy cows and so work in this field is left to the industry to develop locally. However, much very important work has been done by the industry, for example in the context of the KoeKompas in the Netherlands, or the Best Practices in Dairy Farming Charter in France. These tools could inspire EU legislation. The announced EU reference centre for ruminants and equines should also help provide technical support. Building EU-wide baseline indicators and monitoring as well as better coordination and exchange of best practices on animal welfare would not only contribute to improving standards but also help to create a level playing field for producers across Europe. Improved transparency and strict, well-enforced legislation concerning the transport and slaughter of calves and dairy cows would be useful to improve dairy animal welfare. Our partner farmers can meet high standards whilst animals are on the farm, but cooperation and efforts between industries across the whole chain, covering all stages in the life of a dairy cow, are needed. In particular, to be able to establish a complete assessment of the welfare of a dairy cow, Bel would need more systematic and precise information regarding the time spent in transport and the method of slaughter. Such transparency and inter-industry cooperation would also help to advance work towards a useful dairy cow welfare labelling system, by enabling actors like Bel to give a holistic picture of welfare, even once the cow has left the dairy farm. At the same time, work on labelling could also be a catalyst for better cross-industry cooperation and improved transparency. Bel is in favour of developing robust animal welfare labelling at EU level, to highlight practices that go beyond the minimum required by the legislation in a clear, comprehensive and harmonized way. There are many good practices that can improve animal welfare and one practice cannot replace or compensate for another. A single labelling system would help to build consumer trust, in a context where numerous localized labels and frameworks are emerging. Moreover, by allowing more responsible practices to be identified and rewarded, labelling could help ensure that sustainable practices add value – essential if producers and their partners are to be able to invest in improving standards – and improve the competitiveness of the EU agri-food sector. We look forward to forthcoming discussions to develop the details of a future labelling system, including in the context of the EU Animal Welfare Platform. We hope to be able to contribute the expertise Bel has gained through its work in the field of dairy cow welfare across Europe.
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Meeting with Jerzy Bogdan Plewa (Director-General Agriculture and Rural Development)

21 Nov 2017 · exchange of views