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Happy pigs on an organic farm in Vingåker in Södermanland. “Our common objective is that these measures together will provide the public Sweden confidence to make demands on animal welfare which are equivalent to Swedish law,” writes debaters
Animal welfare is important. As buyers of three million meals every day, Sweden’s public sector big opportunity to influence food consumption. In the new national food strategy greater demands placed on animal protection and environmental concerns, writes civilian Minister Ardalan Shekarabi (S) and LRF’s chairman Helena Jonsson.
Animal welfare is important. As buyers of three million meals every day, Sweden’s public sector big opportunity to influence food consumption. In the new national food strategy greater demands placed on animal protection and environmental concerns, writes civilian Minister Ardalan Shekarabi (S) and LRF’s chairman Helena Jonsson.
The public Sweden buys food for just under 10 billion each year. It served about 3 million meals each day in health care, education and care. Public procurement is essential to ensure that taxpayers are given the value of the paid taxes. It is therefore important that the tax revenue goes to public procurement as good food for our children, the elderly and the sick.
Municipalities, counties and other authorities have through their public procurement great opportunities to control purchases with a focus on organic foods. In public procurement is also a space to make special demands on the quality of the products to be purchased, for example, specific requirements for animal care.
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Our regulatory framework for public procurement is based on openness to the outside world in accordance with our line of free trade and our commitments to the EU internal market. It is also in line with Sweden’s policy for global development that we are pursuing an open trade against farmers in poor countries to sell their food to us. Transparency is something we must protect.
But in Sweden we produce food based on an ambitious animal protection legislation and Swedish farmers produce the world’s best animal welfare. Meanwhile, our children, elderly and ill served the public food from suppliers who do not behaved to the ambitious level of animal welfare, we actually have in Sweden during production. It is served including meat from areas which use large amounts of antibiotics as a preventive measure. Such use of antibiotics likely to contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance and the rise of multi-resistant bacteria. The Swedish model means that rather prevention of animal diseases through high animal welfare and good animal health, therefore we have the lowest use of antibiotics to animals throughout the EU.
In this background is it is incomprehensible how the public Sweden handled the issue of animal welfare requirements in tenders for the last few years. Although it is common for municipalities make demands on animal welfare in their procurement, we hear time and again reports about how Swedish farmers protested against the municipalities chosen food, who because of poor husbandry has a lower price, especially products that live up to the Swedish regulations.
We want to reverse this negative trend, where the major focus is on the price level. It is time to raise the level of ambition in this area. Sweden has one of the world’s best animal protection. It is something we should be proud of.
It is possible today to let other requirements than the price decide in public procurement, and now it becomes even clearer that there is room for other considerations such as environmental protection and animal welfare. The Government made two weeks ago a decision on a draft ratification bill with a new procurement law, where one of the aims is precisely to give contracting authorities and entities to make better use procurement to achieve common societal goals. One important such a goal is to ensure that standards at least equivalent Swedish animal protection applicable to all public contracts.
We have to ask ourselves how we should use public procurement to develop public operations. How do we work for the municipal sector will work more coordinated and well thought-out public procurements so as to enhance the quality of operations? To answer these questions requires a comprehensive approach. The Government will shortly launch work to develop a national procurement strategy. The majority of the purchase actually takes place outside in the municipal sector. Then it is incredibly important that we involve the local government sector in the future work which will be done. Within the framework of the national procurement strategy, our goal is that the starting point should be that all procurement should include environmental and social concerns.
A new procurement agency formed in 2015 to which the present procurement support moves. The new authority will have a broad perspective where environmental, social and innovations. The Government believes that local authorities and other public actors need support, information and guidance that can contribute to the well-performed the procurement of food of desirable quality.
The Government has also initiated a process to develop a national food strategy to create conditions for growth in the entire food chain and thus support increased Swedish food production and an increase in the proportion of Swedish and ecologically in the consumption of food. The strategy for food production should cover the entire value chain, from primary production to the consumer. This includes a strategy for agricultural development of the industry and how consumer interests should be safeguarded.
A greater proportion food of the public food that reaches our high animal welfare standards can contribute to creating more jobs in entire Sweden, provide open space and biodiversity. Public procurement can lead by example and show the way. That Sweden has done many times before, we can do it again.
Our common objective is that these measures together will provide the public Sweden confidence to make demands on animal welfare which are equivalent to Swedish legislation. The government is prepared to take further action if it would be warranted. Our farmers need greater extent than today, given the real opportunity to participate in public procurement on equal terms. It will be easy to do right when authorities procure food. The children in the school, old and sick people should be served good, qualitative and sustainable food that is produced in a fair way.
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