Animal welfare washing in agriculture supply chains: regulatory gaps, trade incentives, and ethical risks

Abstract

Animal welfare has become an increasingly prominent attribute in global food markets, embedded within sustainability narratives, quality claims, and ethical branding strategies. However, the proliferation of animal welfare claims has not always been matched by equivalent improvements in on-farm welfare outcomes. This paper conceptualises animal welfare washing (AWW) as a systemic phenomenon in animal-based supply chains, whereby welfare narratives, standards, and certifications create the appearance of ethical production without delivering measurable improvements in animal welfare. Drawing on the interdisciplinary literature from animal welfare science, sustainability studies, trade governance, and food policy, this conceptual essay examines how AWW emerges from the interaction of industrial farming systems, fragmented public and private regulations, trade incentives, and information asymmetries. The analysis shows that AWW undermines ethical commitments to animals, regulatory credibility, and food quality governance. Welfare claims frequently operate as credence-based quality signals, despite weak links to verifiable welfare outcomes. Together, these conditions enable symbolic compliance and regulatory arbitrage across global value chains. As a result, genuinely higher-welfare producers face distorted competition, while consumers encounter diminishing trust in sustainability labels. It is argued that addressing AWW requires a shift toward outcome-based measurable welfare standards, stronger enforcement, improved integration with food quality regulation, and trade-compatible governance frameworks that reward performance rather than symbolic claims. By situating AWW within broader sustainability and trade dynamics, this paper advances debates on ethical food governance.