Authors: Question: Annika Bruna (ID), Sylvia Limmer (ID), Jean-Paul Garraud (ID), Gianna Gancia (ID), Virginie Joron (ID), Aurélia Beigneux (ID), Jean-Lin Lacapelle (ID), Gerolf Annemans (ID) Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission
Question: The festival of Eid al-Adha saw France and other Member States host multiple instances of the illegal ritual slaughter of sheep.
On the one hand, this practice is in breach of the rules governing slaughter and constitutes a hygiene and public health risk, unfair competition because of illegal labour and uother small companion animalsceptable animal suffering.
On the other hand, while these barbaric practices are becoming more widespread on an individual level, we can also see a rise in illegal organised breeding, import and illegal ritual slaughter operations involving hundreds of animals and creating a large-scale parallel economy.
I would like to ask the following:
- Does the Commission have any information on the development of this phenomenon in each Member State?
- Does the Commission condemn this illegal slaughter, and will it promote the combating of such practices?
- Will the Commission take further action to fight fraud with regard to the traceability of livestock?
Answer: 1. The Commission is not informed of any specific non-compliance as described in the question.
- Slaughter of sheep, other than emergency slaughter subject to strict conditions, can only be carried out in approved slaughterhouses in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 laying down specific rules for food of animal origin to ensure the hygienic and safe handling of the animals and meat. Verification of the implementation of these rules is the competence of national authorities, who are regularly audited by the Commission.
- The enforcement and control of the harmonised rules for traceability of kept terrestrial animals is the responsibility of the competent authority of the Member States, according to the Official Controls Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2017/625). This regulation provides a new set of tools to tackle fraud, including provisions for cooperation in case of violations spanning across borders and gives the Commission a role in coordinating and enforcing the effective application of these measures at EU level.
