| For a long time,domestic farmers have pursued the production of animal-derived food products too much and have adopted a factory farming model,resulting in a serious lack of farm animal welfare in China.The traditional "command-and-control" approach,which is dominated by government regulation,is not an effective solution to the real-life barriers to farm animal welfare in China.In addition,China also suffers from inadequate laws and regulations and an inadequate protection system.This paper draws on the farm animal welfare labelling system in the United States and analyses the current situation of farm animal welfare in China to provide ideas for the construction of a farm animal welfare labelling system in China.Firstly,a review of the laws,policies and other texts issued by the US in response to this system revealed that the traditional approach to farm animal welfare protection appeared impotent and that the market-based regulatory route had insurmountable shortcomings in farm animal welfare protection.Ultimately,the United States has taken a creative approach to farm animal welfare labelling based on limited lawmaking.Specifically,in the federal legislation,the Humane Slaughter Act provides for farm animal welfare labelling,and the states have also started to experiment with local legislation,with specific laws on labelling such as the Egg Labelling Act,the Poultry Labelling Act and the Meat Labelling Act being introduced one after another,gradually forming a system of farm animal welfare labelling.Secondly,this paper analyses the physical and procedural structure of the US farm animal welfare labelling system to find the internal logic of the US farm animal welfare labelling system.Specifically,the physical structure of the farm animal welfare labelling system is elaborated by analysing the composition of the organs of the regulatory body,the certification body and their powers and responsibilities,and the rights and obligations of the application body.By sorting out the relevant laws and regulations,this paper divides the procedural structure of the farm animal welfare labelling system into: application for labelling,change of labelling,approval of labelling and labelling penalty procedures.Again,this paper analyses the current status of legislation and implementation of the US farm animal welfare labelling system,and then explains the problems that exist in the system in terms of labelling regulatory bodies,labelling certification procedures and labelling penalties.For example,the misleading and ambiguous nature of farm animal welfare labelling in the US has prevented the labelling system from functioning fully and effectively.Finally,by exploring the underlying causes of the problems in the US,it is concluded that China can learn from the experience of the US farm animal welfare labelling system and ultimately provide new ideas for the establishment of a market mechanism for farm animal welfare protection in China,alleviating government pressure and reconciling the contradictions between economic development and farm animal welfare protection.Although the implementation of the US farm animal welfare labelling system has faced many challenges and has been criticised by many scholars,it is undeniable that it has far-reaching significance for the protection of farm animal welfare in the US.Based on the objective reality that China and the United States have similar backgrounds and objectives for farm animal welfare protection,and that the causes of farm animal welfare losses are the same,this system is feasible in China.Specifically,firstly,a market-based mechanism for farm animal welfare should be established;secondly,the farm animal welfare certification process should be clarified in order to promote the process of farm animal welfare protection in China;and finally,a corresponding farm animal welfare supervision and management system should be established in order to guarantee the better operation of the system and to achieve sustainable development of farm animal welfare protection. |
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