Document type : Regulation/Certification

Technical Instruction giving details on the implementation  of the 2023-24 on-farm visit programme for pig welfare.  The visits are intended to check that farmers are familiar with the relevant regulations, to give them advice tailored to their farms, to make them aware of the risks involved in tail docking and to remind them of the regulations concerning tail docking, on-farm welfare advisors and the cessation of castration of piglets without anaesthetic.

Answer to a question on whether the Commission intends to include the issue of animal welfare in the report on the functioning of the common fisheries policy.

Written answer to a question concerning exemptions to the law prohibiting the culling  of male chicks. These relate to chicks intended for animal feed, and permit an alternative to the use of ovosexing for white eggs intended for processing. Additionally, female ducklings are exempted from the law.

Written answer to a question on whether the European Commission is aware of online sales of poison baits for cats and dogs under the misleading term "repellents", asking what measures it intends to take to prevent them.

Information note from eight European Union countries, including France, opposing the ban on the transport of live animals from member countries. The reasons given are 1. that this would favour imports from third countries with less stringent animal welfare standards, and 2. the difficulty of maintaining the cold chain when transporting meat. The eight countries recommend that enforcement of EU legislation should be strengthened and EU expertise should be shared with third countries to improve animal welfare during transport.

DG SANTE audit report concluding that, despite numerous checks on livestock transport carried out by the Spanish authorities, as implemented, these official controls made it impossible to either verify or confirm compliance with welfare requirements for the transport of unweaned calves over long distances.

Answer to a question on the Ministry's plans to encourage alternatives to pig castration and whether it intends to end this practice.

Order specifying the slaughter methods and strains of the Gallus gallus species intended for the production of eggs for consumption for which the killing of chicks to be used in animal feed is authorized.

Report by DG SANTE on the implementation of animal welfare regulations for laying hens in Greece. It describes its strengths and a number of weaknesses and suggests routes for improvement.

Report from DG SANTE concluding that animal welfare regulations for laying hens in Sweden are stricter than those in the EU, and that the effectiveness of the official controls and the internal audit programme on welfare controls is good. It describes the system's the strengths and opportunities for improvement.