do-me/EUR-LEX huggingface dataset:
WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3415/97 by Hiltrud BREYER to the Commission. World trade and protection of animals
Date: 1997-10-28
Institutions: BREYER, European Parliament
Subjects: World Trade Organisation, animal welfare, international trade, protection of animals, slaughter of animals, third country, trade restriction, transport of animals

30. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 134/159

(98/C 134/215)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3415/97

by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission

(28 October 1997)

Subject: World trade and protection of animals

Article XX provides a series of grounds for trade restrictions, including protection of human and animal life and
health and respect for general public morals.

How  are  these  provisions  to  be  interpreted?  Can  they  be  interpreted  such  that  EU  animal  protection

1.
standards can be maintained or improved without objections?

How  are  the  restrictive  considerations  actually  determined?  To  what  extent  must  restrictions  on  animal
2.
health be accepted and when is a restriction on trade permitted? Who decides what is in line with public morals,
etc.?

To what extent is protection of the well-being of animals or prevention of psychological suffering, such as

3.
fear, taken into account?

Is it possible for an interpretation which satisfies animal protection considerations to be implemented at

4.
international level, or must the WTO provisions be made more definite?

(98/C 134/216)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3417/97

by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission

(28 October 1997)

Subject: World trade and protection of animals

At  present  the  WTO  provisions  do  not  permit  any  differentiation  on  the  basis  of  criteria  which  are  not
demonstrable in the final product. For the protection of animals such non-product related process and production
methods › e.g. breeding and rearing conditions, methods of capture or use of animals in testing vaccines › are
however essential.

To what extent can this provision be brought together with the protection concerns in Article XX? Is it even

1.
possible in animal protection to make a distinction between (cid:145)production(cid:146) and (cid:145)final product(cid:146)?

If non-product related criteria could be taken into account, could the EU animal protection standards be
2.
maintained  or  improved  without  objections  even  if  Article  XX  were  to  be  interpreted  to  the  disadvantage  of
animal protection?

(98/C 134/217)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3418/97

by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission

(31 October 1997)

Subject: World trade and protection of animals

The Commission has stated on many occasions that it would be more promising to promote animal protection
through multilateral agreements with third countries.

In the light of  the experience of negotiating animal  protection  provisions  within  the  Union,  is  this  idea

1.
realistic? What actual type of agreement is envisaged?

2.

If it is realistic, could an improvement of the WTO regulations be pursued at the same time?

3. What measures can be taken by the EU to encourage animal protection in third countries?