Liaison Group of Animal Welfare Advisory Bodies

The Liaison Group evolved as, and is, a forum for discussion and coordination amongst the chairs and Secretariats of the independent animal welfare advisory bodies: the Animal Procedures Committee (APC), the Companion Animal Welfare Council (CAWC), the Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) and the Zoos Forum.  It facilitates information sharing and discussion particularly about issues relevant to animal welfare across all sectors and has operated in this guise since 2006 with encouragement from officials.

A discussion paper by the Liaison Group of Animal Welfare Advisory Bodies, on Animal Welfare Surveillance, was published on 13 December 2010.

Terms of Reference

• To consider any matters relating to animal welfare and, in particular, to discuss and to share information on all matters relevant to all sectors and, where appropriate, to organise meetings on these subjects and/or to provide reviews, opinion and/or advice on them.

• To address questions from Government and others, as appropriate, on matters relating to animal welfare across the sectors and to provide advice to Government, other bodies and the public as appropriate on matters relating to animal welfare.

The terms of reference of the APC, CAWC, and the Zoos Forum are available at: apc.homeoffice.gov.uk, www.cawc.org.uk, and www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/zoos/zoos-forum.htm, respectively.

In contrast to the situation in the UK, where there are separate advisory bodies for farm, companion, research and zoo animals, many other EU and other countries have a single advisory body, which covers all animals.  To facilitate liaison between the bodies and their European counterparts, the European Forum of Animal Welfare Councils (EuroFAWC) was established a few years ago.  This meets annually and is an important forum for independent advisory bodies to share information and discuss animal welfare at a European level.  Its website can be found at www.EuroFAWC.com

Contact

Secretariat to the Liaison Group of Animal Welfare Advisory Bodies is provided by the FAWC Secretariat.  Any queries can be directed to:

FAWC Secretariat
Area 8B, 9 Millbank
c/o 17 Smith Square
LONDON, SW1P 3JR

Tel. 0207 238 5124 / 6340 / 5016
Fax. 0207 238 3169

E-mail: fawcsecretariat@defra.gsi.gov.uk