The European Commission has made proposals for stricter guidelines on animal transport and pets, however campaigners have lambasted a lot of loopholes, whereas massive elements of the initially envisaged animal welfare overhaul have been left to the following mandate.
Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič and Animal Welfare Commissioner Stella Kyriakides offered proposals on Thursday (7 December) to update and tighten EU laws on the transport of dwell animals, in addition to the welfare of cats and dogs throughout breeding and buying and selling.
The proposals are available lieu of the great overhaul of all EU animal welfare laws that the Commission had initially promised as a part of the Farm to Fork Strategy however has now given up on tabling earlier than the top of the mandate subsequent yr.
“The work is ongoing,” Šefčovič informed a press convention when requested concerning the omission of enormous elements of the initially envisaged bundle. “We have to realise that it is extremely technical and demanding.”
However, for the reason that EU govt doesn’t plan to make additional proposals on animal welfare earlier than subsequent June’s EU election, will probably be as much as the following Commission to determine anew about when and which initiatives needs to be tabled.
Meanwhile, Kyriakides careworn the relevance of the revamp of animal transport guidelines the EU govt now tabled by pointing to the truth that the present laws on the matter is nineteen years old.
Rules on journey occasions and temperatures
The proposed new guidelines for animal transport embrace a most journey time of 9 hours for animals meant for slaughter. Currently, there isn’t any EU-set restrict for the way lengthy the journey to a slaughterhouse can final.
For different dwell animal transports, the Commission proposes a most journey time of two occasions 21 hours, with 24 hours of relaxation in between, throughout which animals have to be fed and given water.
However, these most journey occasions don’t embrace sea transport, that means that, on sea vessels, animals might be transported for longer.
“For a normal sea voyage under normal conditions, the risks are smaller [than for road transport], and the animals can move around more,” a high-ranking Commission official stated in justification of the exemption.
The Commission additionally proposed limits on journeys in excessive temperatures, together with a provision that when day temperatures are above 30 levels Celsius. transport is barely allowed at evening.
No third-country export ban
Meanwhile, the proposal doesn’t embrace a ban on dwell animal exports to non-EU international locations – a step animal welfare campaigners and a few lawmakers had known as for, and which Germany and Luxembourg have already applied to the fullest extent attainable on the nationwide stage.
“According to our impact assessment, this would not be an efficient policy measure,” Kyriakides stated when requested concerning the omission.
A ban, she argued, would imply third international locations would import dwell animals from different international locations which might be additional away and have decrease animal welfare requirements than the EU, whereas it might additionally “have a negative impact on the EU production chain”.
But animal welfare organisation Compassion in World Farming known as the proposal on animal transport a “missed opportunity.”
“The draft EU animal transport law shows some desire to improve EU animal protection rules, yet it manifestly lacks ambition,” stated Olga Kikou, head of the organisation.
Apart from the choice to not embrace a dwell export ban, Kikou additionally criticised “new loopholes” created by omitting sea transport from the principles on most journey occasions.
A step ahead?
Meanwhile, Green lawmaker Thomas Waitz made related criticisms however took a extra optimistic stance.
“Every single improvement means less animal suffering on Europe’s roads,” he stated in a press release, including the proposal is “a step forward but lacks ambition regarding maximum transport times for ship transports, rules on extreme temperatures and more precise regulations on exports to third countries”.
Meanwhile, Animalhealth Europe, which represents producers of animal medicines, welcomed the inclusion of latest applied sciences, corresponding to digital monitoring programs, within the animal transport proposal, saying this might permit for “greater transparency”.
And within the view of EU farmers’ affiliation Copa-Cogeca, the proposal contains “restrictive rules that are far from the practical experience, counterproductive to animal welfare, and discriminatory to some member states.”
In a press release, the organisation additionally warned a nine-hour restrict on transport occasions would imply that “farmers in some member states would immediately lose access to many slaughterhouses.”
Germany’s Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir, then again, bemoaned the truth that massive elements of the initially envisaged bundle weren’t tabled.
“It is regrettable that, contrary to its promise, the Commission has not presented any proposals for greater animal welfare in animal husbandry and slaughter,” he stated in a press release.
Tentative steps on residents’ fur farming initiative
Meanwhile, Kyriakides and Šefčovič additionally addressed the residents’ initiative “Fur Free Europe,” during which 1.5 million EU residents known as for a ban on fur farming within the EU.
The Commission didn’t desk a legislative proposal on the matter at this level. Instead, the commissioners introduced that the EU govt has tasked the EU Food Safety Authority EFSA with “a scientific opinion on the welfare of animals farmed for fur”.
A choice on legislative motion is then set to be taken on the idea of this opinion, which, nevertheless, is barely attributable to be finalised by March 2025.
[Edited by Natasha Foote/Zoran Radosavljevic]
