Frequently asked questions

The Federal Government’s ambition is to make livestock husbandry in Germany future-proof. A future-proof animal husbandry system must create more transparency for consumers, take into account animal welfare and climate change mitigation and offer farms good economic prospects. The overall future-proof animal husbandry project comprises four key elements: 

• A binding state animal husbandry label; 
• Improved animal welfare legislation; 
• Adjustments to regulatory approval and building law; and 
• A strategy for funding the conversion of livestock buildings, including long-term prospects for farms. 

The animal husbandry label is a government label and is mandatory for food originating from Germany. It provides transparency for consumers buying their groceries from butcher's shops, supermarket meat counters and refrigerated goods, and when shopping online. It enables consumers to make informed purchasing decisions and consciously choose between different types of animal husbandry. At the same time, this type of label highlights the efforts farmers are making to increase animal welfare. Holdings from other countries, particularly from EU Member States, can participate in the labelling system on a voluntary basis. 

When German consumers buy meat in butcher's shops or supermarkets, they want to know what kind of life the animals used to produce the meat had. While there are currently a number of private animal welfare labels in place in Germany, there is no statutory labelling requirement that provides uniform and reliable information on the types of husbandry. 

We are now establishing long-overdue transparency in this area. The introduction of mandatory state animal welfare labelling will enable consumers to make a conscious choice between different types of animal husbandry. 

Animal husbandry labelling creates a binding, reliable and transparent framework that is guaranteed and supervised by the state. The perspective of expanding the existing animal husbandry label to include away-from-home consumption (e.g. canteens and the restaurant and catering sector) represents another essential advantage vis-à-vis existing private labels.

Five different husbandry types will be subject to labelling:

• Indoor housing; 
• Indoor+space; 
• Indoor with fresh air; 
• Outdoor runs/free range; 
• Organic. 

For details on the types of husbandry please click here. 

No, because regardless of the type of husbandry every animal deserves to be handled responsibly during transport and slaughter. The necessary improvements of slaughter and transport conditions therefore need to be governed by regulatory rules so that they apply equally to all animals. Labelling the duration of transport would, in principle, be helpful; and is practised on a voluntary basis by a series of labels that are available on the market. On the other hand, agricultural enterprises in areas outside the main livestock regions would then run the risk of being at a disadvantage, despite the fact that it is a particular policy goal to maintain livestock husbandry in these areas. 

It is intended to include piglet and sow husbandry in the animal husbandry labelling system in the future; to do this, some complex issues have to be solved. By way of example, a mandatory label for piglets from non-German farms is currently inadmissible due to EU legislation. In addition to this, individual stages of pig production frequently take place in different establishments, which drives up costs for mandatory labelling. Animal husbandry labelling will therefore focus on the fattening period first, which, compared to the early husbandry phase, represents the largest part of the pigs’ life cycle.  

During the introduction of a state animal husbandry label, different, higher legal requirements apply at federal and EU level than would apply for voluntary labelling. This is why the mandatory animal husbandry label will be phased in gradually, starting with fresh pigmeat, whether it is chilled, frozen, packaged or unpackaged, and will apply to food retailing, butcher’s shops, online trade and other points of sale. Other marketing channels, in particular restaurants and away-from-home catering, will be included in this animal husbandry labelling scheme step by step, as will other animals species.  

Mandatory animal husbandry labelling, which will first be introduced for fresh pork, will make the type of husbandry transparent for consumers, also in butcher's shops. The implementation of the labelling system will result in costs, whereby, in the case of non-prepackaged foods, the label may be affixed on the food or in close proximity to the food. If a butcher wants to label foreign meat, the establishment needs an authorisation for the labelling. No authorisation is required for labelling meat produced in Germany. 

In many respects, private labels and the mandatory animal husbandry label complement each other. It is important that consumers are not given any contradictory information and are hence not deceived or misled.

The federal state authorities will carry out their controls within the scope of official monitoring. This corresponds to the division of responsibilities between the Federal Government and federal states (Länder) on the basis of the German Basic Law. 

Farmers will inform the authority of their types of housing, that is livestock buildings, outdoor areas etc., and provide information on the conditions under which the animals are kept there. They will also add supporting documents such as plans, photos and certificates, so that the authorities can verify whether the requirements for the type of husbandry system used are met. The state authorities will assign an identification number indicating the husbandry system to each notified husbandry facility, and keep registers of the farms’ husbandry facilities. Violations of the rules laid down in the Act on Animal Husbandry Labelling are liable to fines as regulatory offences. The state authorities have the possibility to confer surveillance and control responsibilities on private organisations. The decision whether the controls for animal husbandry labelling should be integrated into existing animal welfare controls or into controls under food law lies with the federal states. 

Consumers can go to this webpage for comprehensive information on animal husbandry labelling. As soon as the first labelled products are available on the markets, consumers will also be able to access the website using the QR code on the label.

Animal husbandry labelling must not lead to restrictions on the European internal market or disadvantage products from other Member States. The draft legislation is therefore designed in a way that complies with the EU legal framework. Products from EU Member States and third countries therefore have the option of voluntary labelling. The Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) is responsible for controls.

For the purposes of comprehensive consumer information, the Federal Government would have liked to introduce a binding label for all products (including imported products). EU legislation and WTO law, however, do not allow for more leeway. Producers from other EU Member States and from third countries are given the opportunity to use the husbandry labelling system to label their products on a voluntary basis. 

For consumers this means that, when buying products with the state label, they can be certain about the type of husbandry no matter where the products come from. 

Consumers not only attach importance to more welfare-oriented animal husbandry, they are also increasingly interested in the issue of regionality. Large parts of the food retail sector have already announced that by 2030 they intend to only sell meat obtained from animals that have at least had access to an outdoor climate or outdoor runs. It is essential that food retailers and farmers in Germany pull in the same direction.  

Origin labelling and husbandry labelling are two projects that are independent of each other. 

The Federal Government has set itself the goal of introducing comprehensive origin labelling for food. In certain cases, origin labelling is already required, for instance for prepackaged fresh, chilled or frozen pork, which means that the labelling of origin and husbandry can already be combined today. 

Germany intends to extend the existing origin labelling requirements as far as it can under EU legislation. The cabinet has adopted an ordinance to this effect, regulating the mandatory origin labelling for non-prepackaged fresh, chilled and frozen pork, sheep, goat and poultry meat; this will, for instance, apply to meat bought at meat counters. Following the consent of the Bundesrat, the ordinance will be able to take effect in spring 2024. 

The next step planned is to regulate origin labelling for meat in the away-from-home catering sector. 

In addition, the Federal Government supports the European Commission’s plans to extend mandatory origin labelling to include more foods throughout the EU, including milk, milk as an ingredient and meat as an ingredient.

The amended Federal Building Code took effect on 1 October 2023. The new law facilitates the conversion of existing animal installations that are no longer privileged under current legislation; they may be able to rebuild the outdoor areas if the conversion facilitates the introduction of the “indoor with fresh air”, the “outdoor runs/free range” or the “organic” husbandry system. The installation may be expanded to the extent necessary to maintain the same livestock population after the conversion to the new type of husbandry. Instead of a conversion it is also possible to dismantle the building and build a new one corresponding to the desired type of husbandry. In the future, it will also be possible to change to farming a different animal species. 

It is also intended to facilitate the construction or refurbishment of livestock housings under the applicable administrative provisions of the Federal Immission Control Act, the so-called Technical Instructions on Air Quality Control. It is planned that in the future less stringent immission control regulations will apply for the approval of “indoor with fresh air”, “outdoor runs/free range” and “organic” husbandry systems. In order to ensure legal certainty and remove barriers to converting livestock housing, the Federal Government is cooperating with the federal states to draw up workable instructions for implementation. In addition, a parliamentary working group did not identify any impediments posed by immission protection law barriers that would run counter to an animal welfare-oriented conversion of housing.

To make labelling workable for companies, the rules were simplified during the legislative procedure, in particular for “mixed” foods such as minced meat.

If the food consists of at least 80 % meat from one type of husbandry and no more than 20 % meat from another type of husbandry, the label will indicate the main type of husbandry. 

Examples: 

• a minced pork product consists of 80 % meat from animals kept in the “indoor housing” husbandry system, and of 20 % meat from animals kept in the “indoor with fresh air” husbandry system. This would be labelled as “indoor housing”.
• A minced pork product consists of 80 % meat from animals kept in the “indoor housing” husbandry system, of 10 % meat from “indoor+space” husbandry and of 10 % meat from “indoor with fresh air” husbandry. This would be labelled as “indoor housing”.
• If minced pork consists of 50 % meat from animals kept in the “indoor housing” husbandry system, of 20 % meat from “indoor+space” husbandry and of 30 % meat from “indoor with fresh air” husbandry, the label would need to include each of these husbandry types.