BVO - Boletín Veterinario Oficial. SAG

E N T R E V I S T A

Dr. Andrea Gavinelli, jefe de la Unidad de Bienestar Animal de la Dirección General de Sanidad y Protección de Consumidores, Comisión Europea.

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1.	The bilateral agreement with Chile was the first to include cooperation on animal welfare within its scope in 2003; in this context, *how this issue has contributed to international relations between the European Commission, in particular DG SANCO, and third countries?*
	The inclusion of animal welfare in the bilateral agreement between the EU and Chile represented an international milestone to achieve a shared understanding on international animal welfare standards. Moreover, it happened before any other agreement was taken in this area at international level and even before the adoption of the OIE animal welfare standards in 2005. The technical collaboration within the bilateral agreement with Chile is seen as an example of a successful modus operandi between trading partners. It raised the interest on animal welfare of many other countries not only in the Latin American Region. For example, the EU/Chilean agreement inspired the organization of an international congress on animal welfare in Uruguay in 2007 that saw the participation of governmental and stakeholders representatives from all the countries of the Region. This was the first international animal welfare event organized in the Region with the support of the European Commission. In my views, the Chilean experience has definitely helped to highlight the added value of animal welfare to livestock production and trade.
2.	What are the contributions of the work done at the annual meetings of the Working Group on Animal Welfare (AW-WG) in the framework of the EU-Chile SPS Agreement?
	The EU-Chile Animal Welfare Working Group plays a vital role in the implementation of the collaboration on animal welfare, as mandated by the EU-Chile Joint Management Committee. Since the agreement was signed back in 2003, seven annual meetings took already place leading each year to the development and implementation of a joint action program. Thanks to the work of the EU-Chile AW-WG during these years, the EU and Chile reached a number of important achievements such as the establishment of a longstanding scientific collaboration, the development of specific animal welfare research programmes and training initiatives for veterinarians and operators in Chile. The establishment of the Chile-Uruguay OIE Collaborating Centre on Animal Welfare Research marked an important achievement for research, while the adoption of a new animal welfare law in Chile brought Eu and Chile even more closer in this policy area.
3.	What do you think, as a representative of DG SANCO, about the regulatory development by Chile in the last ten years in the area of animal welfare?
	We have a strong appreciation for the work that Chile has been doing and for its multi-stakeholder approach. I am personally very impressed by the number of achievements reached in terms of technical capacities and regulatory developments in Chile. Chilean legislation is very helpful to reinforce the work of the AW-WG and contributes to a promising future. I am sure that the collaboration with Chile and the EU will lead to other successful results in the future.