Animals in transport require extra space, decrease temperatures and shorter journeys to make sure sufficient safety, in line with a brand new set of opinions put ahead by the European Meals Security Authority (EFSA), which is able to feed into the EU’s ongoing evaluate of animal welfare laws.
The 5 scientific opinions, which have been requested by the European Fee and printed on Wednesday (7 September), discover the safety of animals in transport, starting from small ruminants, equivalent to sheep and goats, to bigger animals equivalent to equids and bovines.
They establish the varied welfare penalties that animals might expertise throughout completely different phases of transportation, together with dealing with stress, extended starvation and thirst, resting issues and restriction of motion.
The opinions discovered that, total, offering extra space, decreasing most temperatures, and conserving journey instances to a minimal are all wanted to enhance the welfare of farmed animals throughout transport.
Furthermore, the idea of ‘health for transport’ lacks correct definition, the recommendation discovered, concluding that pointers and thresholds primarily based on animal-based measures needs to be established.
It additionally discovered that, for animals transported in containers, together with poultry and rabbits, the journey period needs to be thought-about as the entire time the animals are saved within the containers.
Guilhem de Seze, EFSA’s head of division for threat evaluation manufacturing, careworn in a press release that good animal welfare practices “not solely cut back pointless struggling, but additionally assist to make animals more healthy.”
“This can be a key aspect for the protection of the meals chain contemplating the shut hyperlinks between animal welfare, animal well being and food-borne ailments, according to the One Well being precept that EFSA is dedicated to,” he stated.
The One Well being precept goals at making a collaborative, cross-cutting strategy which recognises the interconnections between individuals, animals, vegetation, and their shared setting with a view to reaching optimum well being and well-being outcomes.
The present EU laws on the safety of animals throughout transport entered into pressure in 2005.
EFSA’s findings will assist feed into the European Fee’s ongoing evaluate of the animal welfare laws, which is being undertaken inside the framework of the EU’s flagship meals coverage, the Farm to Fork technique,
In doing so, the EU government goals to align laws with the newest scientific proof, broaden its scope, make it simpler to implement and finally guarantee the next stage of animal welfare.
The Fee’s proposal is predicted within the second half of 2023.
In the meantime, on the again of a sequence of current high-profile incidents of livestock being stranded at sea, the EU government can also be getting ready, underneath the prevailing authorized framework, tertiary laws to enhance official controls on livestock vessels, anticipated to be adopted on the finish of 2022.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
