The ministers were debating a proposed five-year plan to improve treatment of animals and its suggestion of a label to help consumers choose between "minimum" and "higher" welfare standards for the meat, milk or eggs that they want to buy.

"Labelling is important not only for welfare but also to inform the consumer. We're talking about a competitive edge," Dutch Agriculture Minister Cees Veerman told other ministers.

EU marketing standards for eggs and poultry meat already include some rules on animal welfare labelling but no formal EU welfare label exists as yet.

A majority of ministers called for the European Commission, which authored the five-year blueprint, to carry out a full impact assessment on the idea of a welfare label and more scientific analysis before any decision was taken.

While agreeing on the need for minimum animal welfare rules, they also warned against raising mandatory standards so high that the EU livestock industry was burdened with extra costs that would end up being passed onto consumers.

"We have to have everyone's interests in mind," said Poland's Agriculture Minister Andrzej Lepper.

"In countries that entered the EU in 2004, and more so in countries that are about to join in 2007, people are not going to able to buy these products," he said, referring to Bulgaria and Romania, the latest candidate countries for EU accession.

Ireland and Italy, for example, were concerned about reams of technical requirements that might restrict the EU's livestock production and processing industries -- and possibly encourage cheaper imports from countries with lower welfare standards.

RABBITS AND FISH

Apart from general laws on animal and farm welfare, the EU only has specific legislation on veal, sows and laying hens. The plan also suggests that new rules are needed for other species, like beef and dairy cattle, sheep, turkeys and ducks.

Several ministers suggested that more animal species be included in this list, such as rabbits and fish.

The Commission's plan also calls for the EU to look at alternatives to animal testing, particularly for the cosmetics industry, how to control the trade in dog and cat fur and improvements in satellite navigation systems to monitor vehicles transporting animals long distances across the 25-nation region.