Document type : Press release from the French Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Author: Julien Denormandie's Press Office
Preview: Julien Denormandie, the French Minister for Agriculture and Food, is today launching a three-part "abattoir plan" that will strengthen monitoring, and penalties where necessary, and will provide support and very substantial investment in abattoirs.
France is fortunate in having a network of more than 1,000 abattoirs providing regional connections and local solutions that need to be supported and modernised. There can be no local meat without local abattoirs. Entire designations of origin depend on them. This "abattoir plan" comprises three parts.
- Supporting investment
This plan ultimately depends on the France Relance plan to support investment in abattoirs. The aim is to modernise and improve working conditions and animal welfare in abattoirs. With a budget of €115 million, this measure from France Relance has already made it possible for 123 modernisation projects to be selected across the country. This substantial success is testimony to the need for the scheme. Among these projects, it should be noted that 44 include video surveillance systems. It has also made it possible to set up the first mobile abattoir in France. Grants have ranged from €3,000 to €2 million, with an average of €500,000.
- Monitoring
In addition to existing controls, new universal and coordinated controls of slaughter animals across all abattoirs of will be launched from September 2021. These are intended to monitor a particular point in the slaughter chain - for example the transport of animals - in all abattoirs both simultaneously and unannounced, creating an exhaustive record of any failures in conformity followed by the implementation of adapted and harmonised corrective measures. It will be ensured that assessment and close follow-up of the corrective measures are carried out to guarantee their effective implementation. In addition, a national inspection force for slaughterhouses, the "FINA", has been created. Six agents will be on call, ready to intervene at any time and anywhere in the country so as to manage the most difficult cases, particularly when asked to do so by local police chiefs or the DGAL. This initial inspection force may be expanded once feedback can be analysed.
- Penalties
Because the excesses of a few should never be allowed to tarnish the reputation of an entire profession, the Minister will be sending a letter to all police chiefs this week to remind them of the principles of animal protection in abattoirs and to ask them to act firmly when the situation requires it. Since July 2020, work has been suspended in six abattoirs. Four of them have resumed their activities after being brought up to standard and two are still closed.
For Julien Denormandie, "there can be no local meat without local abattoirs. Our animal sectors depend on these abattoirs. It is because we need these abattoirs that we must constantly continue to upgrade them and show great vigilance over what they do. That is why I want concrete and sustainable measures to be put in place. That is the purpose of this action plan. We are taking unprecedented measures in terms of strengthening monitoring practices. We are putting 115 million euros to work in the form of concrete investments in the modernisation of our abattoirs. Such an investment, which is unprecedented in scale, has already made it possible to support 123 abattoirs across the country. It is through such investments that we are able not just to modernise working environments but also improve animal welfare in abattoirs.
Press release leading to :
- an article in L'Alsace on 3 July 2021: Abattoirs: le plan du gouvernement pour durcir les contrôles
- an article in Ouest France on 4 July 2021: Investissements, contrôles: ce que prévoit le plan du gouvernement pour les abattoirs
- an article in Le Monde on 4 July 2021: Maltraitance animale : vers un durcissement des contrôles dans les abattoirs
- a press release on the OABA website on 5 July 2021: Plan abattoirs : « un nouveau plan ambitieux » qui manque d’ambition…
- from an article on the sudradio website on July 6, 2021: Julien Denormandie: "We need slaughterhouses to consume locally"
