January 11, 2010

FVO advises Belgium to improve animal welfare legislation

The European Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) advises Belgium to better maintain animal welfare legislation as deficiencies have been spotted in both pig and poultry facilities.

The FVO visited Belgium in May last year and attended inspections at several pig and poultry production sites and slaughterhouses. The office conducted the mission in order to ensure that official controls are carried out according to the multi-annual national control plan (MANCP).

One of the main issues was that farms ignored the area requirement rule. Too often, layer hens were found to be located in cages while in pig farms, troughs were counted as surface area, a practice which is not permitted.

Furthermore, the FVO audit found that surgical operations such as beak clipping, tail docking and tooth clipping were not performed in line with the rules. In some pig farms, chains were considered as proper 'toys', an action which is not in accordance with European guidelines. Additionally, ill or wounded animals were sometimes left to suffer while the preferred choice of euthanising them was not implemented.

According to the FVO, Belgian inspectors often ignored the irregularities that were found. It said a fixed timeframe to solve the irregularity was often absent.

The FVO inspectors also criticised the controls on animal transport and slaughter. Particularly in poultry transports, too many animals were put in trucks. In addition, the controls to driving, resting times, ventilation, feed and water supplies were inadequate.

Meanwhile, animal welfare during slaughter, especially stunning efficiency, had not been improved since the last FVO inspection in 2006. The Belgian inspectors had failed to detect the malfunctioning of a water bath stunning method at a poultry slaughterhouse.

The audit report concluded that there have been improvements made in official controls on the farm animal welfare sector since the last mission on this topic in 2006. However, the laying hen sector does not have the required improvements regarding the overstocking of cages while enforcement of non-compliances in the pig sector is not consistent.

The FVO also conducts checks in Italy, Switzerland, Argentina and China.