Document type: Written answer from the European Commission
Authors: question: Ulrike Müller (Renew). Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission.
Question: Working conditions characterised by poor hygiene, close physical contact and overcrowding in collective accommodation have caused high infection rates among meat processing workers in several Member States and have made slaughterhouses in the EU hotspots for COVID-19. A number of slaughterhouses in Germany, France and the Netherlands have closed down. While these slaughterhouses have contributed to the health crisis, closing them down could also lead to serious animal welfare problems. In the United States and Canada, millions of chickens that cannot be slaughtered are being killed on farms using methods such as ‘ventilation shutdown plus’ (the ventilation is turned off leading to death from overhearing) in violation of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines. There are currently concerns in the EU about backlogs in the slaughter of vulnerable ‘slaughter’ sows, which are often in poor health.
- Can the Commission explain what emergency measures have been put in place to ensure that, in the event that livestock has to be culled due to lack of slaughter capacity on the farm, Member States will comply with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing?
- Can the Commission confirm that there can be no derogation from the requirements of that Regulation if it is decided to cull animals on the farm as a result of interruptions in the meat supply chain?
Answer: 1 Culling of animals for reasons of animal welfare is possible under the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 1099/2009. Member States have to ensure that the animal welfare conditions provided by the regulation are complied with. The Commission is in regular contact with the Member States to assess the situation and it has no indication of possible non-compliances with the rules on the protection of animals in the above context.
- Culling of animals on the farm is possible under the provisions of Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 1099/2009. It is not possible to derogate from the provisions of the regulation concerning the welfare of the animals at the moment of killing.
