Document type: DG SANTE audit report 2021-7245 of the European Commission
Author: DG SANTE
Preview: This report describes the outcome of an audit of Poland, carried out remotely from 24 May to 2 June 2021 as part of Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety work programme.
The objective of the audit was to assess the effectiveness of official controls to ensure the protection of the welfare of laying hens at all the stages of production.
The report concludes that the system for official controls on animal welfare of laying hens has put arrangements in place, in particular:
- the competent authority has an adequate level of staff competence which can be strengthened with further training and verification;
- appropriate allocation of resources for the performance of the official controls on the welfare
of laying hens (including a high proportion of the farms inspected);
- procedures and checklists, which are consistent, among different voivodeships; and
- the official controls at laying hens farms were comprehensive and paid attention to the assessment of the physical conditions of the laying hens.
The competent authorities can further improve the system by addressing the following issues:
- insufficient coverage of the areas of activities of breeders, day-old chicks and pullets farms;
- the lack of detailed methodology for risk-based planning of official controls as well as of a detailed methodology for the control verification procedures and the evaluation of the effectiveness of the official controls at the farms; and
- the effective implementation of the official controls as well as the verification activities so that the system enhances its capacity to identify shortcomings and address animal welfare issues that may exist.
The combination of certain deficiencies in the official controls noted on this audit with the absence of non-compliances during farm inspections in some areas (for a long period), may indicate a reduced capacity of the system to identify shortcomings and address animal welfare issues that may exist. The system will enhance its impact with further developments and improvements in some of those arrangements and their implementation.
The report contains recommendations to the competent authorities aimed at addressing areas in which further improvements are required or to address the shortcomings identified.
