Conclusion to Animal Welfare Governance in EU Agriculture. A contribution to global animal law

The EU cannot act alone to improve the welfare needs of animals in EU agriculture and in respect of imported produce; the resources of both the public and the private spheres of animal welfare standardisation are necessary in a global response, which direction this book has developed. Animal welfare is a moral and ethical concern in need of a regulatory solution which crosses State boundaries and the blurred public/private divide. The public and private trade models cannot go unchallenged; public/private hybridity in standard-setting ought not operate in a vacuum; and potential business-motivated aims of private standard and certification schemes and their private accreditors must be addressed and authentically re-directed. In the proposed ‘regulatory mix’ of hard and soft law, with public and private actors, at multi-levels, this work proposes an overarching soft law hybrid model of transnational animal welfare governance, and endeavours in the process to contribute to effective global animal law.