Document type : Written answer published in the Journal Officiel du Sénat
Authors: Question: Arnaud Bazin (Val-d'Oise - Les Républicains). Answer: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food
Question: Mr Arnaud Bazin draws the attention of the Minister for Agriculture and Food to the practice of stunning in the specification for Label Rouge beef cattle. He is aware of the answer to his question No. 12888 on this subject, published on 2 January 2020, but in light of the order of 6 August 2020 setting out the common production conditions (CPCs) for the production of Label Rouge "gros bovins de boucherie" as well as the CPCs in the same category, set by the orders issued on 27 July 2017 for calves and lambs, he would like to receive clarification. Indeed, concerning the CPCs for calves and lambs, the checkpoint for stunning before slaughter (respectively C64 and C37) corresponds to a target value clearly specifying that "immobilisation and stunning are carried out calmly". On the other hand, in the CPC for "large beef cattle" defined by the Order of 6 August 2020, the target value for checkpoint C43 makes no mention of the practice of stunning. Thus, he would like to have confirmation that the derogation that is available with regard to the obligation to stun animals (Article 4.4 of EC Regulation 1099/2009) is not applicable to the production of Label Rouge "large beef cattle".
Answer: The target value in the common production conditions (CPC) for "large bovines" of 6 August 2020 does not indicate, in item C43, any specific requirement for the stunning of these animals, so there is no additional requirement to those defined in regulation (EC) 1099/2009 for the stunning of large bovine animals. It is therefore the requirements of this latter regulation that apply in Label Rouge CPCs: slaughter must be carried out with prior stunning, except in the case of a derogation under the provisions of point 4 of article 4 of the same regulation.
