Document type: written answer to question 5240 published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française
Authors: question: Serge Muller (RN - Dordogne) Answer: Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Question: Mr. Serge Muller draws the attention of the Minister of the Interior and Overseas Territories to the issue of animal abuse. Indeed, the latter has just proposed a plan to combat this scourge which, while offering welcome additional means to do so, overlooks some issues that are nevertheless essential. Thus, the problem of ritual slaughter, i.e. without prior stunning, causes very serious suffering and therefore constitutes animal abuse. Notwithstanding respect for each individual's religious convictions, it seems entirely abnormal that consumers should not be informed of the method by which the animals whose meat they buy have been slaughtered. At a time when, according to an IFOP poll of January 2022, 69% of French people consider animal welfare to be an important issue and 82% of them consider that "the slaughter of fully conscious animals is uother small companion animalsceptable, whatever the circumstances", this lack of information seriously penalizes consumers, the vast majority of whom do not wish to buy meat produced by this method of slaughter and who therefore do so without their knowledge. The practice of labeling must involve consensus, as in the case of eggs from "free-range" hens. Therefore, he asks whether [the minister] intends, as part of his action plan against animal abuse, to introduce a label bearing the words "slaughter with stunning" or "slaughter without stunning", so that all consumers may be fully informed in their purchases, thus advancing the cause of animal welfare.
Answer: According to Council Regulation (EC) No. 1099/2009 of September 24, 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing, the stunning of animals is mandatory before slaughter or killing. However, when this practice is not compatible with the ritual requirements of the free exercise of religion, the same regulation provides for the possibility of a derogation from the requirement to stun the animal, under certain conditions. Through these provisions, the European Council wished to retain the derogation from the stunning of animals prior to slaughter, while leaving a certain degree of subsidiarity to each Member State. This is what the Court of Justice of the European Union referred to in its judgment of 17 December 2020, when it emphasized "that the European legislature intended to leave broad discretion to each Member State in the context of the need to reconcile the protection of the welfare of animals during slaughter with respect for the freedom to express one's religion". The slaughter of animals without prior stunning in France is governed by a prefectorial authorization provided for by Decree No. 2011-2006 of December 28, 2011. To avoid the risk of abuse in the practice of slaughter without stunning, derogation from the obligation of stunning is authorised only for abattoirs that provide evidence of the presence of equipment suitable for the immobilisation of the animal until it loses consciousness, duly-trained personnel authorized to carry out ritual slaughter, procedures guaranteeing appropriate rates and levels of hygiene, as well as a recording system that makes it possible to verify that slaughter without prior stunning is only practised where it is justified by a sale or commercial order. This derogation may be suspended or withdrawn by the State services in the event of disregard for or non-compliance with the conditions of the authorisation or with the provisions laid down in the regulations. France thus ensures, within a clear framework, that certifying bodies are able to meet all religious requirements. The government remains committed to the rights of all citizens in the context of compliance with the regulations in force. For this reason, the Ministry of Agriculture initiated, in July 2021, an "abattoir plan" for the strict application of regulatory requirements, including those concerning animal protection during ritual slaughter without stunning.
