A petition has been launched to stop imports entering New Zealand from countries that allow farming practices that would be illegal in this country.
The petition, by animal law expert and University of Auckland Associate Professor Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere and supported by Animal Policy International, was launched at an event at Parliament.
It urges the government to enact legislation ensuring all imports meet New Zealand’s domestic animal welfare standards.
“In my view, allowing imported animal products with lower standards than NZ undermines the spirit and effectiveness of our laws and our commitment to animal welfare, and creates an unfair double standard that privileges overseas producers over domestic farmers,” Ferrere said.
Animal Policy International investigated egg farms in India earlier this year, filming hens confined in battery cages, raising concerns about these eggs or egg products imported into the New Zealand market at a time when NZ and India discuss the potential for a bilateral trade agreement.
The footage showed overcrowded conditions with up to 10 hens crammed into cages typically used for 2-3 birds, hens with injuries, swollen glands and beaks, dead birds left lying around the cages and insufficient and poorly maintained water access points.
Battery cages have been banned in NZ since 2023 due to animal welfare concerns.
Animal Policy International co-executive director Rainer Kravets said after he witnessed the conditions in India for himself, he was sure New Zealanders would be horrified at what those hens endured.
“New Zealanders have made it clear that they don’t support cruel farming practices like battery cages. Allowing cruel imports produced under conditions we’ve banned here undermines our values and undercuts our farmers. It’s time to close this loophole and ensure all products in our market meet our ethical standards.”
New Zealand imports a large number of products produced under conditions that are illegal domestically, such as the use of battery cages for egg-laying hens, sow stalls for pregnant pigs, and the mulesing of sheep.
This was highlighted in a report released in March, Closing the Welfare Gap: Why New Zealand must apply its animal protection standards to imports.
NZ Pork chief executive Brent Kleiss backed the report’s findings, saying they align with what the organisation has been advocating for some time.
“We import pork from 22 countries and those countries – they are providing pork that’s been raised to lower standards of care than what we expect of our own producers,” he said at the time.
