Document type : Answer from the European Commission
Authors: Question: Pascal Durand (Renew). Answer: Mrs Kyriakides
on behalf of the European Commission
Question: I welcome the commitment of the Commission with regard to animal welfare at slaughter and the setting up of official audits in this field in the coming two years. These audits will be extremely important in identifying existing problems and suggesting corrective measures. Recent investigations have revealed that Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 is frequently violated and that this leads to serious animal suffering. Problems can arise from different slaughter and stunning practices, including during killing operations carried out in the context of religious rites and without pre‑cut stunning. In those cases, serious welfare problems are highly likely to occur after the throat is cut, since the animal can feel anxiety, pain and distress and also suffer in other ways (European Food Safety Authority, 2004). It would therefore be appropriate for such slaughter operations to also be audited by the Commission.
In the framework of the planned audits, will the Commission also audit slaughterhouses carrying out slaughter without pre‑cut stunning in the countries listed in the work programme of Directorate F of its Directorate‑General for Health and Food Safety?
Answer: The Commission confirms that it intends to cover slaughterhouses performing and not performing stunning during all of its audits on animal welfare during slaughter in Member States. Since October 2020, the Commission has already audited this matter in France, Belgium and Slovakia.
