Presidency ensures better standards for treatment of animals

At the very end of its term the Czech Presidency managed to successfully round off the negotiations on a proposal for a regulation which thoroughly revises the rules on the treatment of animals at the time of slaughter and killing. The new rules emphasise the responsibility of slaughterhouse operators. They are based on the latest scientific evidence on animal welfare and make it possible to adapt the concrete rules on the treatment of animals during slaughter flexibly in accordance with the scientific development.

The final compromise text allows for the implementation of a harmonised approach taking the latest scientific findings and expert conclusions into consideration. Among other things, it gives the Member States flexibility when adapting their concrete parameters and rules on stunning methods to future developments. It revises the technology used at slaughterhouses and the procedures for the treatment of animals. The regulation emphasises the responsibility of slaughterhouse operators, including guarantees that their personnel is competent.

“On the road to the final wording of the proposal we stumbled upon a number of question marks when dealing with highly sensitive issues, such as, for instance, religious rituals and cultural traditions, domestic customs in different Member States or the way the internal market works,” Minister Šebesta comments. “We stuck to the fundamental premises that freedom of religion is one of the values of the European Community, and that animals should be treated as living and sensitive creatures that deserve respect and protection.”
According to the Minister it will take some time to put some of the requirements of the new regulation into practice. However, the result will be an optimal adjustment of the ambitious welfare standards in an economically acceptable context.

“What is fundamentally new, is that slaughterhouse operators are given greater responsibility. All activities connected with the process of slaughtering animals at slaughterhouses will require attending specialised training,” First Deputy Minister Ivo Hlaváč points out. “The regulation also adjusts the issue of the treatment of animals during emergencies such as eradication of infectious diseases or emergency slaughter.”

An important issue, which also concerns domestic interests, is the possibility to continue traditional slaughtering, i.e. the well-known Czech pig-slaughtering feasts. Initially, the Commission and some Member States were somewhat reserved, but a solution was adopted which, in some respects, is even more favourable than the current legislation. The Czech countryside, therefore, need not fear any dramatic changes and the idyllic paintings of Josef Lada, in which the appetising work of old Czech master butchers warms up quiet Czech winter landscapes, will not become a mere nostalgic memory.