Document type: article published by Les GDS de Poitou-Charentes
Author: GDS
Summary: Please find below the annual heatwave warning issued by the DGAL to DDPPs and professional partners.
"Weather forecasts for France predict a major heatwave, with the Charente-Maritime region being placed under an orange heatwave alert (Charente, Deux-Sèvres and Vienne are also affected) from 12 noon on Friday June 20. The intensity of this heatwave calls for particular attention to animal welfare when transporting animals.
For transport within France:
- no "avoidable suffering" (Article 3 of European Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport, regulation attached) including, in particular, temperatures inside vehicles that are deemed to be excessive, regardless of the hour or outside temperature;
- no transport between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. in accordance with the Decree of July 22, 2019 "restricting the transport by road of live vertebrate animals during heatwaves" (see attached, possible derogations exist, depending on the fitting of vehicles with specialist equipment and whether the transport destination involves a place of veterinary care, or an abattoir with individual authorization)
For transport within the EU, or to third countries outside the EU:
- no long journeys should be planned at those times of the year when weather conditions are almost always unsuitable. -> Article 5 of Regulation 1/2005: "The transport organizer must ensure that welfare conditions are not compromised by insufficient coordination of the various stages of the journey, and that account is taken of the weather conditions at the start and throughout the journey" (including that part of the journey that takes place within France )
- professionals who choose to ignore these recurrent warnings will be denied the right to load animals at the point of departure by the DDPP export certification services (unless the former can demonstrate that the transport conditions permit sufficient mitigation of the risks associated with high temperatures) on the grounds of unnecessary suffering (1/2005, Article 3)."
Further information
A webpage is available that provides details of the rules to be followed for such animals during a heatwave: https://www.interbev.fr/canicule
Order concerning heatwaves and animal transport: Arrêté_du_22_juillet_2019_canicule
Regulation on the protection of animals during transport : R_UE_1-2005_transport_BEA
