Overview
- The Bundestag voted to shift the compulsory start from March 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027, marking a second postponement from the original August 1, 2025 date.
- The Union–SPD coalition will redesign the system and aims to extend mandatory disclosure to restaurants and canteens around mid‑2027, with Minister Alois Rainer calling for simple rules and cautioning against cluttered menus.
- Lawmakers also want the requirement to cover imported meat, a step previously avoided over EU legal doubts.
- Retailers’ voluntary ‘Haltungsform’ labels remain widespread, with 2024 data showing beef in Stage 1 falling from 75.6% to 62.4% and Stage 3 rising from 5.6% to 16.7% in self‑service counters, while poultry shifted toward higher stages and pork stayed mostly at Stage 2.
- Initiative Tierwohl will launch two premium programs in 2026 to boost Stages 3 and 4 as roughly 13,000 farms participate in the current Stage 2 scheme, while farmers welcome the delay over bureaucracy concerns and animal‑welfare groups warn against weaker standards; a Civey poll finds 49% say a restaurant label would affect their choice and 53% would avoid the lowest stage.