Document type: audit report published by the European Commission
Author: the European Commission
Preview:
This report describes the outcome of an audit of France, carried out remotely on 13 November and on the spot from 19 to 21 November 2025 as part of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety work programme. The objective of the audit was to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the measures in place to prevent injury or undue suffering to animals (cattle, sheep and goats) during transport by livestock vessel to non-EU countries. France had a similar audit in 2020, which found that the controls on approvals for vessels and pre-loading were inadequate to minimise the animal welfare risks. The report included five recommendations which were accepted by the French authorities. Therefore, this audit focused mainly on the follow-up of those recommendations and France’s implementation of new legal requirements laid down in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/372 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/842.
The audit found that the French authorities carry out the controls at port effectively to minimise the risk of injury or undue suffering to animals during transport by livestock vessel to non-EU countries. However, the controls are done in a manner deviating from EU legal requirements. In particular, the team of inspectors carrying out approval and pre-loading inspections does not include the required official veterinarian and maritime expert. In addition, there is no provision for an official veterinarian to carry out official controls on board the vessel during the first voyage following approval. In 2025 all voyages from France included the presence of a stockman to monitor the welfare of the animals on board. These observers report their findings from the voyage to exporters and importers. This scheme is considered good practice. The report contains three recommendations to the competent authorities to address the shortcomings identified.
Link to the report (.pdf)
