ABSTRACT
Every year, around 60 billion mammals and birds are reared for food on farms worldwide; this number does not include farmed fish and invertebrates. In parallel with and partly as a result of this intensification there has been increasing consideration in many countries for the welfare of farm animals. This has resulted in the restriction of some practices deleterious to welfare, or conversely, has led to the introduction of standards for the protection or promotion of welfare, albeit very unevenly. This chapter outlines the economic basis and implications of such standards. It then considers the question of whether such standards are compatible with the increase in international trade and competition between countries, which tends to increase the pressure for cheap food production. Programmes setting standards for farm animal welfare have increased markedly in recent years, varying in strength from cosmetic to demanding, and in the agencies establishing them from individual farmers to intergovernmental organizations.
