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Background
In Europe, organic livestock production has experienced rapid growth in the past decade. This development has not been without problems. Whilst emphasising the importance of a systems approach to animal health and welfare protection, organic livestock production standards place considerable restrictions on the use of many animal health inputs that are routinely used in conventional production systems.
Recommended practices in the European Organic Livestock Standards (EU Regulation 1804/1999) such as closed herds and flocks and improved health security on farms, also include extensive produc-tion systems (e.g. free range production) that expose livestock to increased disease challenge.
An EU-funded Concerted Action project, Network for Animal Health and Welfare in Organic Agriculture (NAHWOA) identified in 2001 that organic livestock production faces major challenges with regard to harmonisation and successful integration of organic animal husbandry into the whole organic production system. Major questions about food quality and safety exist, in conventional, as well as organic livestock production. These issues have not been a focus of any previous EU research initiatives.
Common EU standards for organic animal production were implemented only a few years ago (Regulation 1804/1999). The implementation process will be an ongoing effort to harmonise the standards under widely differing circumstances and farming conditions in the member states.
Significant diversity between farming systems, e.g. between the southern and northern European countries, should be taken into account in developing farming systems that all comply with common EU standards, but are in harmony with their geographic and cultural localities.
Furthermore, the introduction of candidate member states from Central and Eastern Europe into the EU will increase the need to harmonise standards and make them practically applicable in these countries.
As the development of organic livestock production standards should be driven and informed by research that reflects the practice and experience of organic farmers in each locality, it is important to create and maintain opportunities for the research and wider stakeholder community to exchange views and information.
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NAHWOA
The NAHWOA-network successfully produced a number of recommendations and guidelines on animal health and welfare.
However, consumers, human health aspects, and the food safety were not covered in NAHWOA.
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Regulations
There is a urgent need to focus on these aspects and relate them to animal health and the farm situation, the living conditions of animals, and the choices and sometimes compromises that are necessary to make.
Furthermore, the EU-regulations need to be put into perspectives seen from a food safety angle.
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