EUROPEAN LIVESTOCK AND MEAT TRADES UNION UECBV

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1 EUROPEAN LIVESTOCK AND MEAT TRADES UNION UECBV Slaughter of animals The role of industry organisations in the implementation of the Animal Welfare Standards Claudia Vinci Veterinary Advisor

2 Table of content 1. What is the UECBV? 2. The UECBV and the Animal Welfare 3. Scope 4. Recommendation VS Regulation 5. Different provisions 6. Conclusions

3 What is the UECBV? The united representative body of national federations of the: livestock trade, livestock markets, meat industry: slaughterhouses, cutting and preparation plants, wholesale meat trade, international meat trade. UECBV focuses on cattle/beef, horses/horse meat, sheep/sheep meat, pigs/pig meat. Today, UECBV represents 56 associations out of : 22 EU Member States as well as certain EFTA countries, EU candidate countries (Turkey) and EU accessing countries (Croatia) Other countries, EU trade partners in the meat sector, are also associated to the UECBV (Japan, Russia) In total, some 20,000 firms of all sizes and over 230,000 jobs are represented within the UECBV through its national member federations.

4 What is the UECBV? OUR GOALS To represent and defend the livestock and the meat trade, and the meat industry; To promote the Single Market; To promote the international trade; To combat distortions of competition.

5 UECBV and the Animal Welfare Animal welfare cannot be divided Our goals: - a common understanding of animal welfare; - harmonised legislation within the Member States of the European Union; - harmonised application, implementation and control of animal welfare regulations in the European Union.

6 UECBV and the Animal Welfare Calm and unstressed animals = Better meat quality Animal processed in high stress state = quality defects in meat = economic loss. Proper human handling: 1. Ethically appropriate / EU civil society expectation 2. Economic benefits: higher meat quality.

7 UECBV and the Animal Welfare 24 th October 2012: Conference on the protection of animals in slaughterhouses - Getting ready for 2013 Practical Guidelines to Assess Fitness for Transport of Adult Bovines

8 Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2012) Scope The Terrestrial Animal Health Code sets out standards for the improvement of animal health and welfare and veterinary public health worldwide, including through standards for safe international trade in terrestrial animals and their products. Slaughter of Animals Chapter 7.6 Killing of animals for disease control purposes

9 EU legislation Scope Reg. (EC) 1099/2009 (repealing Council Directive 93/119/EC) Art This Regulation lays down rules for the killing of animals bred or kept for the production of food, wool, skin, fur or other products as well as the killing of animals for the purpose of depopulation and for related operations. Reg. (EC) 1/2005 Art This Regulation shall apply to the transport of live vertebrate animals carried out within the Community, including the specific checks to be carried out by officials on consignments entering or leaving the customs territory of the Community. A Regulation shall be directly applicable in all Member States.

10 Recommandations VS Regulations Slaughter Of Animals EU relevant Regulations Reg.(EC) 1/2005 Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 These RECOMMENDATIONS address the need to ensure the welfare of food animals during pre-slaughter and slaughter processes, until they are dead. [ ] to ensure that their transport, lairage, restraint and slaughter is carried out without causing undue stress to the animals. In 2007, the () adopted the Terrestrial Animal Health Code which includes guidelines for the slaughter of animals and for the killing of animals for disease control purposes. Those international guidelines contain recommendations concerning the handling, restraining, stunning and bleeding of animals in slaughterhouses. Those international standards should also be taken into account in this Regulation. UECBV action: To change the wording killing into slaughtering.

11 Certificates of competences Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2099 Certificate of competence Competence 1. gained through formal training and/or practical experience. 2. demonstrated through a current certificate from the Competent Authority or from an independent body accredited by the Competent Authority. UECBV Action: To have the opportunity for the FBO to join training program (BTSF, e-learning platform) Art Member States shall designate the competent authority responsible for: training courses for personnel involved; delivering certificates of competence attesting the passing of an independent final examination; approving training programmes. Certificates of competence shall indicate which categories of animals, type of equipment and which of the operations the certificate is valid for. Art Until 8 th December 2015, the Member States may provide for certificates of competence, as referred to in Article 21, to be issued by way of a simplified procedure to persons demonstrating relevant professional experience of at least three years.

12 Guides to good practice Slaughter Of Animals UECBV and its members had an active part in drafting the guides to good practices. Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Development and dissemination of guides to good practice Member States shall encourage the development and dissemination of guides to good practice to facilitate the implementation. Developed and disseminated by organisations of business operators in consultation with representatives of non governmental organisations, competent authorities and other interested parties. Where organisations of business operators fail to submit guides to good practice, the competent authority may develop and publish its own guides to good practice.

13 Animal welfare officer Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Animal Welfare Officer The conditions of the animals should be assessed upon their arrival for any animal welfare and Business operators shall designate an animal welfare officer for each slaughterhouse. health problems. The condition and state of health of the animals in a lairage shall be regularly inspected by the animal welfare officer or a person having appropriate competence. UECBV Action: To create a network for the Animal Welfare Officer, in order to exchange information and harmonise the implementation. Art.17 Animal Welfare Officer : Designation, Position, Responsibilities, Training.

14 Mainteinance of the equipment Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 The competence of the operators and the appropriateness and effectiveness of the method used for stunning and the maintenance of the equipment are the responsibility of the management of the slaughterhouse, and should be checked regularly by a Competent Authority. (31) stunning and restraining equipment should be properly maintained, accurately calibrated. Business operators or any person involved in the killing of animals should therefore implement maintenance procedures. Art. 8 - Instructions for the use of restraining and stunning equipment. Art. 9 - Use of restraining and stunning equipment.

15 Indicators Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Operators should be able to recognise when an animal is not correctly stunned and should take appropriate action. The monitoring procedures shall include, at least, the following: indicators designed to detect signs of unconsciousness and consciousness or sensibility in the animals; criteria for determining whether the results shown by the indicators are satisfactory. UECBV and its members played an active part in the studies that will be performed in this issue.

16 Stunning methods: Penetrative captive bolt Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Species Cattle, calves, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, horses, pigs, camelids, ratites, poultry. Comments (Unsuitable for Specimen collection from TSE suspects). A back-up gun should be available in the event of an ineffective shot. Species All species Specific Requirements Not applicable

17 Stunning methods: Non-penetrative captive bolt Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Species Comments Species Comments Cattle, calves, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, horses, pigs, camelids, ratites, poultry. Presently available devices are not recommended for young bulls and animals with thick skull. This method should only be used for cattle and sheep when alternative methods are not available. Ruminants, poultry, rabbits and hares. Slaughter only for ruminants. Slaughter, depopulation and other situations for poultry, rabbits and hares. When using this method, business operators shall pay attention to avoid the fracture of the skull. This method shall only be used for ruminants of less than 10 kg of live weight. UECBV Action: To consider the NPCB method of stunning for ruminants of >10 kg

18 Stunning methods: electrical stunning (head only) Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Species Minimum current levels for h-o stunning Species Minimum current levels for h-o stunning Cattle 1.5 amps Cattle 1.28 amps Calves (< 6 month of age) 1.0 amps Calves (< 6 month of age) 1.25 amps Pigs 1.25 amps Pigs 1.3 amps Sheep and goats 1.0 amps Sheep and goats 1.0 amps Lambs 0.7 amps Chicken 240mA Ostriches 0.4 amps Turkeys 400mA

19 Stunning methods: electrical stunning (head to body) Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC) 1099/2009 Species Comments Species Comments Cattle, calves, sheep, goats, pigs, ratites, poultry. Ovine, caprine and porcine species. Slaughter, depopulation and other situations. The minimum currents for headto-body electrical stunning shall be 1 ampere for sheep and goats and 1.30 amperes for pigs.

20 Lairages Slaughter Of Animals Reg.(EC)1/2005 Chapter II-III-IV-V-VI-VII General Considerations Design Construction Provision for all means of transport Additional provision for transport by road or rail/vessels/air/containers Transport practices during loading/unloading/handling and during transport Watering/feeding interval/journey times/resting periods Additional provisions for long journeys Space allowances

21 Conclusions 1. The EU Regulations are much stricter than the Recommendations; 2. The meat industry is complying with the EU Regulations; 3. UECBV s main target is the full implementation of the provisions on the EU territory.

22 Thank you very much for your attention!