December 14, 2021

Members of European Parliament urge shift from live animal to meat-and-carcass transport

The ANIT committee, the European Parliament's inquiry into the protection of animals during transport, has concluded that EU provisions in this area are not always complied with in member states and do not fully take into account the different transport needs of animals.

Based on the findings, members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in the ANIT committee approved a set of draft recommendations including:

    - CCTV cameras on transport vehicles, especially for loading and unloading

      proper temperature (between 5ºC and 30ºC);

    - A ban on transporting very young animals;

    - Establishing journey time limits.

MEPs advocate a transition to a system that favours the transport of semen or embryos over breeding stock, and carcasses and meat over animals being moved for slaughter. They call on the European Commission to present an action plan to support this transition no later than 2023, including a proposal on a specific fund to minimise the socio-economic impacts of the changes that need to be made.

There is no control system in place, MEPs said, for the transport of animals to non-EU countries. They demand member states inspect all consignments to non-EU countries. Live animal export should be approved only if it complies with European animal welfare standards.

The full House is to discuss both documents and vote on the draft recommendations at the Strasbourg plenary session in January 2022.

- European Parliament