EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 8.2.2016 COM(2016) 48 final REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on systems restraining bovine animals by inversion or any unnatural position



REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL on systems restraining bovine animals by inversion or any unnatural position 1.Background Article 27(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing provides that the " No later than 8 December 2012, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report on systems restraining bovine animals by inversion or any unnatural position. This report shall be based on the results of a scientific study comparing these systems to the ones maintaining bovines in the upright position and shall take into account animal welfare aspects as well as the socioeconomic implications, including their acceptability by the religious communities and the safety of operators. This report shall, if appropriate, be accompanied by legislative proposals with a view to amending this Regulation concerning the systems restraining bovine animals by inversion or any unnatural position." To prepare this report the Commission commissioned a study (later called the "BoRest study"). Due to the specificity and the complexity of this study (in particular collecting technical and scientific data in slaugherthouses), its preparation and realisation took much more time than expected, hence a delay in adopting this report. 2.Restraining systems for bovine animals slaughtered without stunning 2.1.The issue In slaughterhouses, bovine animals are restrained in upright position in a restraining pen before being stunned, usually using a penetrating captive bolt. Article 4(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 provides that the stunning requirements set out in Article 4(1) and in Annex I to this regulation do not apply if slaughter is subject to particular methods prescribed by religious rites, provided that the slaughter takes place in a slaughterhouse. Under these conditions EU legislation exceptionally allows slaughter methods without stunning such as bleeding animals without prior stunning, which include ritual slaughter described by Jewish or Muslim rites. For that purpose, specific restraining systems have been designed to reverse the bovine animal upside down or on its side (rotating pen) in order to facilitate the cutting by the slaughterman. Such restraining systems may only be used if animals are slaughtered without stunning. In a 2004 report on the welfare aspects of animal stunning and killing methods, scientists of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) favoured restraining animals in an upright position in case of slaughter without stunning. Their opinion was based on a publication from 1990 comparing two types of pens (upright vs. rotating). However, during the process of adoption of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, it was argued that rotating pens used in Europe are now substantially different from the model described in the 1990 publication. In addition some religious communities expressed concerns that an upright position might not be compatible with their religious rites. 2.2.General situation In 2012, in total 25 million bovine animals were slaughtered in the EU from which around 2.1 million (8,5%) were slaughtered without stunning, nearly all of them (97%) in six Member States. From these 2.1 million animals, more than 1.6 million are slaughtered in a rotating device (78 % of the animals slaughtered without stunning) while the rest (22 %) are slaughtered in an upright device. In 2012, rotating devices were not in use in Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and the UK. The upright position was mandatory in the UK. The breakup between upright and rotating pen varies considerably between Member States from 100% upright (in the UK due to legislation) to 90% rotating (France), with various intermediate figures. There is a wide range of practice in the way rotating pens are used. Most of slaughterhouse operators (80%) using the inverted position of 180° (upside down), while the rest put the animal in a partial rotation at 90° (on the side). 2.3.Rotating devices

There are many types of equipment used (32 models identified by the BoRest study) with various manufacturers. Three main manufacturers share 50% of the market, the other half being supplied by local ones. According to the BoRest study, more than 90% of the French slaughterhouses are equipped with modern designed rotating device, independently of the size of the slaughterhouses. These devices are also used in other countries like the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium (with France, these Member States representing 85% of the animals slaughtered without stunning). Based on these data, the BoRest study estimates that more than 85% of the animals are slaughtered with modern designed rotating device. This is coherent with the fact that 67% of the slaughterhouses are equipped with devices of less than 10 years and that investment anterior to 1990 represents less than 15% of the slaughterhouses. 3.Animal-welfare considerations 3.1.Litterature review In the 2004 EFSA report, scientists refer to a study performed in 1990 comparing a type of pen where animals are restrained in an upright position (Cincinnati pen or ASCPA) and a pen where animals are turned on their side or back (Weinberg pen). From this study it appears that there is a welfare advantage in restraining animals in an upright position. Since the introduction of the Weinberg pen, there have been significant alterations to the original design of rotating restraints. Inverting the animals generates a series of animal welfare concerns: the animal is exposed in a unnatural posture, generating abdominal pressure and stress due to the inversion especially if the animal is kept for a long time. On the other hand restraining in upright position for slaughter without stunning makes the cutting more difficult for the slaughterman (from down to up) and possibly creates impaired working conditions. 3.2.Data collected from the BoRest study In the BoRest study, animal welfare issues were studied on 1113 bovine animals with different samples of categories of animals, restraint devices or practices collected in 18 slaughterhouses in six Member States from July to December 2013. Several animal welfare parameters were observed concerning the restraint duration, cutting and bleeding procedures as well as the loss of consciousness. For most of the variables, the ranges of the averages obtained in the three positions (inverted, lateral, upright) were similar. The results showed some differences but most of them could be associated with some particularities of the design of the device, the quality of the head restraint and the skill of the operators. Due to the large variability of the design of the slaughterhouses (layout of the corridor, layout of the restraining and bleeding area, design of the restraining device, etc.) and skills and capabilities of the slaughter men observed during this study, it was not possible to take into account and analyse all factors. However, the study did not lead to conclusive findings establishing significant differences in terms of animal welfare outcomes between the two restraining systems. 4.Economic, social and societal aspects According to the BoRest study, upright restraining systems are cheaper than the rotating ones on all the economic aspects: total investment, maintenance and life time. The annual costs for an upright restraining device are estimated at about EUR 4,300 per year (including the depreciation costs of an investment of EUR 50,000 , maintance and interest costs) and for a rotating restraining device at EUR 12,600 (including the depreciation costs of an investment of EUR 100,000 , maintenance and interest costs). However it should be remembered that costs in the restraining area are only a small part (less than 10%) of the total slaughtering costs. The line speed at a slaughterhouse is the one of the most critical factors of the slaughter costs. In this regard, the study concluded that the line speed does not differ between the upright and rotated system. In both cases, on average, about 28 to 30 adult animals are slaughtered per hour. Compared to costs, slaughterhouses' directors declared that considerations on occupational safety of the personnel, animal welfare and religious acceptability play an equally important role for choosing the restraining system.