Green Party List MP Steve Abel has added a new Member’s Bill to the biscuit tin to ensure any product sold in New Zealand meets this country’s animal welfare standards, even if it’s produced overseas.

“We shouldn’t allow on our supermarket shelves what we wouldn’t allow on our farms,” Abel says.

“This is about fairness for animals and for farmers.

“We’re proud of our animal welfare laws here in New Zealand, but right now those laws have a glaring loophole.

“Currently, products which come from animals who have been kept or slaughtered in conditions which would be illegal here, like in sow stalls or battery cages, are still able to be imported and sold in our supermarkets.

“New Zealanders don’t want to see our welfare values undermined by a loophole that allows cruelty to enter through the back door.

“My Bill will ensure that imported products meet the same basic standards we expect on our own farms.

“We can set a global standard that says robust animal welfare doesn’t stop at our borders.

“New Zealanders have been clear that they don’t want animals to suffer here or overseas.”

A recent poll shows 83 per cent of Kiwis want the Government to act to align import standards with domestic laws.

“I will be working across the House to turn this Bill into law,” Abel says.

“If it’s too cruel to produce here, it should be too cruel to sell here.”