Animal Welfare During Transport Commission recommendation letters State of play

1. Animal Welfare During Transport Commission recommendation letters State of play UECBV Livestock section meeting Brussels, Belgium – 6th April 2011 By Zeev Noga Veterinary Advisor UECBV

2. Table of Content • Introduction • Commission reply • Action

3. Introduction On 14 October 2010, the UECBV sent a complaint letter to the Commission services on: • letter [SANCO D5 DS/fr D (2009) 450334] which was sent on 4th September 2009 to Animals’ Angels • letter [SANCO D5 DS/dg D (2009) 450351] which was sent on 4th December 2009 to Member States

4. Introduction (cont.) Letter to Animals Angels • DG SANCO recommended the use of the text provided in the report of the Scientific Committee on Animal Health and Animal Welfare “The welfare of animals during transport (details for horses, pigs, sheep and cattle)” as a guidance in order to interpretthe provision under point 1.2 of Chapter II of Annex I to Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005. • DG SANCO gave for the first time indications about the height above animals carried during transport by road as recommendations for the transport of bovine animals (for cattle the space above the highest point of the animals should be 20 cm).

5. Introduction (cont.) Letter to Member States • The Commission recommended that, for practical purposes, calves could be considered as unweaned under the age of two months and lambs under the age of six weeks. • Transport of unweaned animals over long journeys should not be authorized if the outside temperature during the journey is likely to be below 0° C.

6. Introduction (cont.) UECBV requested • taking into consideration all interested parties when the Commission suggests recommendations; • a general dissemination of the recommendation letter is needed in order to provide an equal knowledge to all the parties involved in animal transport and to contribute to a harmonized implementation of the Regulation on the territory of the 27 Member States; • reconsidering the wording used in order to avoid unjustified burdens to operators and in a way that clarifies the Commission recommendation and could find a practical application; • basing the Commission’s recommendations upon scientific evidence.

7. Commission reply • The Commission replies to several requests of interpretation from MS and SH have been developed taking legal, scientific and practical aspects into consideration. • The recommendations of the Commission are developed with the objective of ensuring the proper enforcement of the Regulation and to smooth the functioning of the internal market without compromising the welfare of animals. • The internal height of the animal compartments and the age of reference for unweaned animals were based on scientific recommendations from the report of the Scientific Committee on AH and AW and on the experience gained by the MS. • Only the Court of Justice of the European Union is entitled to interpret EU law with final binding authority.

8. Action The UECBV will meet the Commission services on 6 May in order to discuss this issue.

9. Thank you very much for your attention info@uecbv.eu www.uecbv.eu