Animal welfare, certifications available in Italy and worldwide

Organic farming is, to date, the only certification scheme of animal welfare based on mandatory rules throughout the European Union. Alongside it operate two national quality systems, SQNBA and SQNZ, and a growing number of private, European and international certification schemes, with very different requirements and levels of guarantee.

For operators in the livestock supply chain ‘from stable to table‘ it is important to understand what each scheme actually certifies, who controls it, and what added value it brings to the reference market. This article provides a map, from organic to national and private systems, up to the rules on consumer information.

EU rules and consumer expectations

The law of theEuropean Union on animal welfare remains anchored to the sectoral directives of the years 1998-2008 (general farming, laying hens, calves, pigs) and Regulation (EC) 1/2005 on transport. An overall reform, announced in the strategy Farm to Fork of 2020, has remained blocked for years; Regulation (EU) 2026/1818 on dogs and cats, adopted on June 17, 2026, is the only act completed so far. On the table remain the proposal on laying hens and the broiler chickens, expected by the end of 2026, and that on pigs, scheduled for the second quarter of 2027, while the revision of the regulation on transport it is still stalled in the AGRI-TRAN committee at the European Parliament, as Food Times reconstructed in the state-of-the-art analysis on animal welfare rules (Dongo, 2026a).

The demand of consumers meanwhile runs faster than the regulation. TheEurobarometer special 533 (European Commission, 2023) reports that the84% of EU citizens ask for a better protection of farm animal welfare in their own country, 60% declare themselves willing to pay more for products respectful of animal welfare, although the ‘willing to pay‘ must be verified at supermarket checkouts. 84% requests that imports respect the same EU standards or that thelabel gives clear evidence. It is in this space, between binding regulations that apply only to organic and a market expectation apparently much broader, that national quality systems and private certification schemes described in the following paragraphs are positioned.

Organic, the only standard defined by mandatory rules

Regulation (EU) 2018/848 on organic production is the only European regulatory act that imposes requirements of animal welfare binding, detailed and subject to severe sanctions, valid in all Member States. Article 4, letter ‘e’, sets the general objective: to contribute to a high level of animal welfare, respecting the specific behavioral needs of each species. Annex II, Part II, translates the objective into a series of obligations:

• ban on cages, stalls or slatted floors for animal rearing (point 1.6.8);
• permanent outdoor access for herbivores and other species, except justified temporary restrictions (point 1.7.3);
• ban on keeping animals tied or in isolation, with an exemption for cattle on farms up to 50 heads (point 1.7.5);
• transport duration minimized (point 1.7.6) and suffering minimized during all operations, including slaughter (point 1.7.7);
• mutilations allowed only exceptionally (point 1.7.8), with anesthesia or analgesia for painful procedures (point 1.7.9);
• prohibition of electrical stimulation during loading and unloading of animals (point 1.7.11).

In addition to these general rules are added specific requirements for individual animal species. Some examples:

• calves cannot remain in individual pens beyond the first week of life (point 1.9.1.2, letter ‘c’);
• bulls over one year old must have access to pasture (point 1.9.1.1);
• sows must be kept in groups, with nesting material at farrowing and opportunity to root (point 1.9.3.2);
• broiler chickens cannot be slaughtered before 81 days, except when using slow-growing breeds (point 1.9.4.1); live plucking is prohibited (point 1.9.4.3), and for poultry at least one third of the shelter's surface must have a solid floor with litter, at least one third of the animal's life must be spent with outdoor access, and lighting cannot exceed 16 hours per day with at least 8 continuous hours of darkness (point 1.9.4.4).

These are requirements above, on every point, the minimum standards of EU sectoral directives, and this is why organic remains the highest reference available on the market today, in livestock farming as well as in agriculture (Dongo et al., 2018). For a detailed study on inspections and supply chain data, reference is made to the previous article on organic farming in Italy and the EU.

SQNBA and SQNZ, the national quality systems

The National Quality System for Animal Welfare (National Quality System for Animal Welfare) was established by the interministerial decree of August 2, 2022, n. 341750, in implementation of article 224-bis of decree-law 34/2020, and the first specifications, for beef cattle, dairy cattle, cow-calf line, pasture, and for fattening pigs, were approved by decree on October 24, 2024, n. 563467.

The system is based on the risk classification of ClassyFarm — developed by the National Reference Center for Animal Welfare (National Reference Center for Animal Welfare) at the IZSLER (Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna), on behalf of the Ministry of Health — and is linked to eco-scheme 1, level 2, of the CAP from 2025. Despite access to direct payments, adherence remains marginal: less than 1% of Italian farms were certified SQNBA as of August 2025.

The National Quality System for Livestock (National Quality System for Livestock), introduced by ministerial decree on December 16, 2022 in implementation of regulation (EU) 2022/126, instead covers beef cattle supply chains, as well as egg, milk, and aquaculture production with specific specifications. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade) has dedicated specific articles to both systems and their application, also in the honey sector (Dongo, 2026b; Dongo, 2026c; Dongo, 2026d).

Other schemes, in Italy and worldwide

Alongside public systems, several private schemes operate. For an Italian company, the useful question is which of these are accessible and what are the related benefits.

Schemes of Italian certification bodies. CSQA, DNV, Bureau Veritas and other accredited bodies offer their own specifications, such as CSQA's DTP 130 on pig welfare, which requires a welfare management system in breeding, transport and slaughter (biosafety, responsible use of medication, training, ISO 22005 traceability) and supports communications about welfare on the label. Advantages: immediate availability, audit in Italian, integration with other company certifications (e.g. SQNBA, antibiotic-free, IFS, BRC). Limits: non-public specifications andbrands little known to consumers.

ISO/TS 34700:2016. The ISO technical specification, confirmed in 2025, defines the requirements of an animal welfare management system aligned with the Terrestrial Animal Health Code of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) for farms, transporters and slaughterhouses of beef cattle, dairy cattle and broilers. In Italy it is certified by bodies such as Bureau Veritas and DNV, with a three-year certificate and annual audits. It is not a consumer-facing certification mark but is useful for companies that export or supply large retailers as a system proof, internationally recognized, and as a basis for second-party audits.

Certified Humane (United States). Program of Humane Farm Animal Care, active since 2003 in more than thirty countries, with annual audits; among the certified producers are already Italian cured meat companies, such as Principe di San Daniele. It is the most practicable private scheme for those who export to the United States, Canada and Latin America, where the related mark is recognized by distribution.

Housing system (Germany). It is not a certification but a five-level classification, from the barn (1) to organic (5), applied by German large retailers on labels of products derived from pigs, chickens, turkeys, cattle, ducks and rabbits. The Italian supplier accesses it through schemes recognized by the German customer. Organic certification grants the highest level of recognition.

Beter Leven (Netherlands). The star label of Dierenbescherming is also open to foreign companies which, like Dutch ones, are checked every year by a recognized body (Control Union, Kiwa VERIN, SGS, Producert, Qlip). One star means more space and enrichment material, two stars outdoor access, three stars full freedom of movement; eight species covered.

Other schemes. RSPCA Assured (United Kingdom), Global Animal Partnership (five levels, fourteen species, United States) and Animal Welfare Approved (only for animals raised outdoors for their entire life) are tied to their respective markets and do not offer, today, an ordinary path for Italian companies. Foraquaculture, the standard Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) includes fish health and welfare and is already widespread among Italian farms oriented towards export.

Welfare Quality® is instead a European project, developed between 2004 and 2009, which defined a scientific system for assessing animal welfare based on four principles and twelve criteria, privileging the indicators animal-based. It is not a brand but a scientific reference for numerous assessment systems, including ClassyFarm.

Communicate with transparency

The information on animal welfare in label and advertising are subject to the prohibition of misleading information on food (EU Regulation 1169/2011, article 7) and the rules on unfair commercial practices (Directive 2005/29/EC, Consumer Code). Whoever declares ‘animal welfare‘ must be able to prove it, and third-party certification is the strongest proof.

Directive (EU) 2024/825, transposed in Italy with Legislative Decree of 20 February 2026 n. 30 and applicable from 27 September 2026, does not concern animal welfare as such: the new rules actually apply to environmental (and social) claims. Nonetheless, if the operator uses a brand or a generic declaration of sustainability, such as ‘sustainable farming‘, they must base such declaration on a certification system:

• open to all compliant operators, defined with stakeholder consultation, equipped with procedures against non-compliance and verified by independent third parties, or
• established by a public authority.

Certifications organic, SQNZ and SQNBA meet these requirements by definition; private schemes meet them if they have regulations, accredited third parties and transparent access rules.

For high-value livestock chains this is anopportunity rather than a constraint. Showing consumers how animals are raised — with public regulations, independent controls and verifiable data, to which perhaps public visit opportunities can be added — responds to a need inherent in the relationship between man and the animals he breeds, and which precedes any regulation: the care of those who feed omnivorous human beings. Certifications transform that care into information, and information into trust.

Conclusions

The framework of animal welfare certifications is now layered. Organic remains the only binding, comprehensive, and recognized standard throughout the Union. SQNBA and SQNZ offer an intermediate public route, credible but still little known and followed. Private, Italian, European, and international schemes, in turn, offer various levels of guarantee and visibility, to be evaluated case by case based on destination markets.

Operators who adhere to the indicated certification schemes — even outside the main organic route, which requires greater efforts, among other things, for the supply of organic feed — can help restore citizens' trust in livestock supply chains, whose reputation is often threatened by investigations on isolated incidents and criminal organizations that should all the more be excluded.

Dario Dongo

Credit cover Dario Dongo

References

European Union normative sources

Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 30 May 2018, on organic production and labeling of organic products. Consolidated text as of 25 March 2025. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2018/848/2025-03-25

Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 25 October 2011, on the provision of food information to consumers. Consolidated text as of 1 April 2025. http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/1169/2025-04-01

Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 11 May 2005, concerning unfair commercial practices of businesses towards consumers in the internal market. Consolidated text as of 28 May 2022. http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2005/29/2022-05-28

Directive (EU) 2024/825 of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 28 February 2024, amending Directives 2005/29/EC and 2011/83/EU regarding consumer empowerment for the green transition. OJ L, 6.3.2024. http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/825/oj

Italian normative and institutional sources

Legislative Decree 20 February 2026, No. 30, implementing Directive (EU) 2024/825. Latest consolidated version: 24 March 2026. Normattiva. https://www.normattiva.it/eli/id/2026/03/09/26G00047/ORIGINAL

MASAF – Ministry of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry. (n.d.). SQNBA – National Quality System for Animal Welfare. https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/18448

Institutional documents and certification schemes

ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) Standards. https://asc-aqua.org/

A Greener World Animal Welfare Approved. https://agreenerworld.org/certifications/animal-welfare-approved/

Bureau Veritas Italy ISO/TS 34700 Certification. https://www.bureauveritas.it/needs/certificazione-isots-34700

ClassyFarm https://www.classyfarm.it/

Dierenbescherming Beter Leven quality mark, frequently asked questions. https://beterleven.dierenbescherming.nl/zakelijk/aanvragen/veelgestelde-vragen/

European Commission (2023) Special Eurobarometer 533: Making our food fit for the future – Citizens’ expectations. https://malta.representation.ec.europa.eu/

Global Animal Partnership https://globalanimalpartnership.org/

Humane Farm Animal Care. Certified Humane, who’s certified. https://certifiedhumane.org/whos-certified/

Initiative Tierwohl. Housing system. https://initiative-tierwohl.de/

International Organization for Standardization. ISO/TS 34700:2016, Animal welfare management — General requirements and guidance for organizations in the food supply chain. https://www.iso.org/standard/64749.html

RSPCA Assured. https://www.rspcaassured.org.uk/

Welfare Quality. (2009, 14 October). Welfare Quality project. CORDIS. https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/FOOD-CT-2004-506508

In-depth articles

Dongo, D. (2026a, 7 September). Animal welfare in the EU, the unfinished work. FT (Food Times). https://www.foodtimes.eu/it/sistemi-alimentari/benessere-animale-ue-2026-gabbie-trasporti-cani-gatti-strategia-allevamento/

Dongo, D. (2026b, 25 June). SQNBA Certification, animal welfare and CAP. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/certificazioni-e-analisi/sqnba-certificazione-benessere-animale-allevamenti/

Dongo, D. (2026c, 5 May). SQNZ, the certification of sustainable farms in Italy. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/certificazioni-e-analisi/sqnz-certificazione-allevamenti-sostenibili-italia/

Dongo, D. (2026d). Honey, SQNZ Certified Quality. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/miele/miele-sqnz-disciplinare-qualita-certificata-analisi/

Dongo, D., Pinton, R., Torre, G. (2018, 7 May). Organic meat, ABC vs. fake news on La Stampa. FT (Food Times). https://www.foodtimes.eu/it/pianeta/carne-biologica-abc-vs-fake-news-su-la-stampa/