Realisation of animal welfare goals in Norways food sector.

ANIWEL has produced knowledge about how to improve food producers' fulfillment of the Animal Welfare Act's purposes. The Animal Welfare Act's purpose is to promote good animal welfare and respect for animals. The act thus establishes one goal regarding animals ("good animal welfare") and one goal regarding humans' attitudes to animals ("respect for animals"). Because legislation can promote animal welfare only by regulating human behavior, we believe that social science is required to understand how the abovementioned goals can be reached. The project combines knowledge of the challenges (socially, politically, administratively and economically) of implementing animal welfare regulation, with knowledge of public administration, regulatory frameworks and the effectiveness of different public instruments. The project is thus firmly based on the Call's focus on public administration research, including evaluations of the choice of public instruments used to fulfill the purposes of the Animal Welfare Act. The project includes in-depth studies of the practices and attitudes of food producers and animal welfare inspectors with regard to the implementation of animal welfare regulations. The Project consists of three work packages: 1) Managing animal welfare in primary industries - poultry, sheep; 2) Managing animal welfare in slaughterhouse facilities and on animal transports; 3) The Public regulatory framework for animal welfare. Interviews with a large selection of primary producers within relevant productions have been carried out within different geographical areas. Interviews have also been conducted with relevant inspectors from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Moreover, field observations have been carried out at two slaughterhouses. These observations have included inspections, farm work and transport. In connection with the field observations. A number of interviews have been conducted with employees at the slaughterhouses, as well as with transporters. Interviews have also been conducted with employees and managers of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority at the same two slaughterhouses, as well as at one more slaughterhouse. Moreover, interviews have been conducted with the employees at the headquarters of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. One of the goals of ANIWEL is to compare the realisation of animal welfare goals in Norway and Sweden. Swedish researchers are therefore part of the project Group. A list of issues central to the Swedish discourse on animal welfare, as well as an overview of Swedish legislation and administrative organization in the field of animal welfare, have been prepared. In addition, an assessment has been made of how Sweden handles one particular type of problem, namely breach of rules that apply to transport from producer to the slaughterhouse. All these elements from the Swedish context enter into a comparison with Norway. Findings are presented in the antology from the project, which is published in Norwegian, as well as a peer reviewed article in English. ANIWEL has conducted three surveys: one targeting the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the second targeting primary producers, and the third targeting animal transporters. The first survey was conducted in the fall of 2017, the second survey in the fall of 2018, and the third in winter/spring 2019. The project team has conducted literature and document studies, including assessments and analysis of breaches of animal welfare rules and other relevant legal issues. An important part of ANIWEL is communication with key user groups. The aim has been to receive and discuss information about key issues of importance to stakeholders, such as public authorities, producers and the society as a whole. To achieve this, ANIWEL established a dialogue forum, which met in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. In this forum, the project group has presented a few selected issues and discussed these with stakeholders. A core focus of ANIWEL is the relationship between the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and food industry (primary producers, transporters, slaughterhouses). The extensive data collection represents the project's platform for producing knowledge about factors that affect this relationship. ANIWEL has revealed factors that explain the effectiveness (or lack of) associated with implementation and enforcement of animal welfare legislation. The aim is that the project will contribute to better management strategies for the Food Safety Authority and for food producers in the field of animal welfare. In the project period findings have been presented in user meetings, conferences and publications. ANIWEL has prepared the script for the anthology (which is specified as a major output), which will be published on Capplen-Damm late 2021/early 2022.

ANIWEL gir innsikt i hva som motiverer regeloverholdelse og hvordan relasjonen mellom tilsynsansatte og de det blir ført tilsyn med, kan påvirke praktisering av regelverk. Nytteverdien av ANIWEL illustreres gjennom en evaluering fra 2018 ("Utlysninger innen Forvaltningsforskning 2012-2017. En vurdering, Mattilsynet. Mars 2018"). Mattilsynet skrev: «Flere års dialog med prosjektet "Realisation of animal welfare goals in Norway's food sector (ANIWEL)" har gitt oss kunnskap som vi ikke hadde før og som vi ikke ville hatt uten dette prosjektet. Det har åpnet øynene for mange i organisasjonen om hvordan forskning kan hjelpe oss til å fornye forvaltningen.» (s.18) ANIWEL har dermed gitt virkninger på kort sikt, for arbeidet med å forbedre forvaltningsstrategier på dyrevelferdsområdet, og på lang sikt, som grunnlag for diskusjoner om og forskning på tilsynsformer. ANIWEL kan også få betydning som del av undervisningen om forvaltning og tilsyn generelt og forvaltning av dyrevelferd spesielt.

ANIWEL seeks to produce knowledge of how to improve food producers' fulfilment of the Animal Welfare Act's purposes. The Animal Welfare Act's purpose is to promote good animal welfare and respect for animals. The act thus establishes one goal regarding animals ("good animal welfare") and one goal regarding humans' attitudes to animals ("respect for animals"). Because legislation can promote animal welfare only by regulating human behavior, we believe that social science is required to understand how the abovementioned goals can be reached. The project combines knowledge of the challenges of implementing animal welfare concerns (socially, politically, administratively and economically) with knowledge of public administration, regulatory frameworks and the effectiveness of public instruments. The project is thus firmly based on the Call's statement that proposals should be focused on public administration research, including evaluations of the choice of public instruments used to fulfil the purposes of the Animal Welfare Act. The project includes in-depth studies of the behavior and attitudes of food producers and animal welfare inspectors with regard to the implementation of animal welfare regulations. The project is designed as three work packages: 1) Managing animal welfare in primary industries - poultry, sheep and farmed salmon; 2) Managing animal welfare in slaughterhouse facilities; 3) The public regulatory framework for animal welfare. At the core of the project is the relationship between the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and food producers (farmers, fish farmers, slaughterhouses). The project is designed to provide knowledge about the factors that affect this relationship and thus seeks to explain the effectiveness (or lack of effectiveness) of implementation and enforcement of animal welfare regulations. The project aims to contribute to improved management strategies for food inspection authorities-and food producers-in the area of animal welfare.