Objectives and organization
Races de France

 Breeds and breeders for respect of the rural society and the consumers

The Federation gathers selection operators representing a wide range of breeds from commercial animals to pets. All share a similar passion for their breeds and for maintaining their biodiversity. Beyond existing differences, the Federation aims at being a link between all these operators.

Practically, Races de France:

• Federates Selection Organizations of different breeds
• Represents its members and defends their interests towards national and European public institutions, towards national and European organizations dealing with animal breeding (value chain organizations, technical institutes, professional and trade unions) as well as towards organizations in charge of farm products and local development
• Coordinates and support the missions of its members, notably within their regulatory mandates
• Advocates a concept of animal farming where biodiversity effectively contributes to local development and fosters industry performance
• Acts for biodiversity conservation and development (zoogenetic resources)

The Federation also constitutes a network which, on turn, also contributes to:

• An animal health network: either on specific programs or through its role with the Ministry of Agricutlure or as member of ACERSA.
• An European network: as a founding member of the European Confederation of the National Federation of Breed Associations (UNEGAS).

 Races de France French Federation of Selection Organizations

The federation Commitee of Herd books (Comité fédératif des Livres Généalogiques) created in 1947, was replaced by the National Union of Herd books (Union Nationale des Livres Généalogiques - UNLG) in 1959.

They are the ancestors of France UPRA Selection and acted as technical consultants for the farmer associations and the ministry for agriculture (other technical bodies didn’t exist in the beginning).

In 1998, UNLG was replaced by France UPRA Selection, which was in turn replaced by Races de France in 2009, as a consequence of the Agricultural Orientation Policy.

 The selection Organizations : Parliament of each breed

These breed institutions work together for the promotion of the breed and are in charge of:

• Herd book keeping, establishing the breed specifics leading to the definition of the breed code and confirmation of racial status for quality industries. The selection organizations define document templates for genetic material and provide official documents for reproducers.
• Defining breeding objectives (variables, economic weights, qualification thresholds for reproducers). This work is done by taking into account the different interests of the partners and overseeing the within breed genetic variability and the breed adaptation to farming systems and industry expectations.
• Supervising the morphology scoring of animals (traits to score, course and qualification of linear scorers) and managing the recording and exchanges of this data.
• And finally, constituting the institutional representation of the breed.

For sheep and goats in a global management prospective, the selection organization is able to coordinate or even instigate actions towards genetic improvement.