p. 29: Recommendation 3 - Relating to the consideration of animal welfare
"A reframing of selection criteria is gradually moving towards better consideration of animal welfare. These efforts to improve the welfare of livestock must be maintained, or even intensified, as recommended by the Inra-Cirad Joint Consultative Ethics Committee in its 2015 Opinion: "[T]he Ethics Committee recommends that work on genetic improvement of animals should not focus solely on the characteristics governing livestock productivity, but should include the study of traits affecting welfare and should lead to a better understanding of an animal's behaviour as a sentient being. Animal selection, however carried out, must not have the effect of reducing the welfare of the animals or of diminishing their capacity for well-being". (2015, p. 21). The members of the Committee agree with this recommendation, which they reiterate in the context of this opinion. In particular, they stress that applications of genome editing for genetic improvement in animal production should not reduce the welfare of production animals, irrespective of any other considerations. They maintain that the conservation of animal welfare must be a guiding principle in all work related to the genetic improvement of farm animals within the three institutions. Furthermore, they are of the opinion that genetic modification of farm animals should not be directed solely towards increasing productivity and adaptation to farming conditions."
