Commission staff working document accompanying the Proposal for a Council Regulation on the protection of animals at the time of killing - Summary of the impact assessment Report {COM(2008) 553} {SEC(2008) 2424}
Date: 2008-09-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: protection of animals, slaughter of animals, transport of animals, vocational training

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COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 18.9.2008 
SEC(2008) 2425 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

accompanying the 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL REGULATION 

on the protection of animals at the time of killing 

SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT REPORT 

{COM(2008) 553} 
{SEC(2008) 2424} 

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SUMMARY 

Every year nearly 360 millions pigs, sheep, goats and cattle as well as more than 4 billions of 
poultry are killed in EU slaughterhouses. In  addition the European fur industry kills around 
25 millions animals while hatcheries kill around 330 millions day-old-chicks. The control of 
contagious diseases may also require the killing of thousands to millions of animals. 
The killing of farm animals is regulated by Council Directive 93/119/EC1 on the protection of 
animals at the time of slaughter or killing. The directive has never been amended. The present 
impact  assessment  will  therefore  mainly  focus  on  whether  the  problems  have  changed  and 
whether the original objectives are still valid. 

The starting point of the Commission proposal has been the adoption in 2004 and 2006 of two 
scientific  opinions  from  the  European  Food  Safety  Authority,  which  suggest  revising  the 
technical  annexes  of  the  Directive.  In  parallel  the  World  Organisation  for  Animal  Health 
adopted in 2005 two guidelines on the welfare of animals at slaughter and killing leading to 
similar  conclusions.  As  a  consequence  the  Commission  mandated  an  external  consultant  in 
2006 to carry out a study on stunning/killing practices in slaughterhouses and their economic, 
social  and  environmental  consequences.  The  study  was  finalised  in  2007.  At  the  same  time 
the  Commission  conducted  consultations  of  interested  parties  and  Member  States.  Reports 
from the Commissions' experts from the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) were analysed as 
they reflect the state of implementation of the current directive within the Member States. An 
internet consultation was also performed from December 2007 to February 2008. 

This legislation mainly affects slaughterhouses, fur farming, hatcheries and killing performed 
for disease control purposes. The meat industry is the most concerned sector since it kills the 
largest number of animals. This is also where legislative requirements are more detailed and 
explain why most of the impact assessment focuses on this industry. 

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OJ L 340, 31.12.1993, p. 21. 

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The context for killing farm animals has considerably changed since 1993. New technologies 
have been introduced, new scientific research have been carried out making current standards 
obsolete  in  some  areas.  Animal  welfare  concerns  have  also  grown  in  our  society  and 
European citizens are increasingly more demanding on this aspect of the food chain. The legal 
environment  has  also  changed  for  slaughterhouses  with  the  adoption  of  the  "Hygiene 
Package", a series of EU legislation on food safety which emphasizes the responsibilities of 
the food business operators. Massive killing during large  animal epidemics have also raised 
questions on our way to ensure humane killing of animals. In 2006 the Commission adopted 
the first Community Action Plan on the Protection and Welfare of Animals, introducing new 
concepts such as the welfare indicators and the need for further research programs and centres 
of reference on animal welfare. 

Specific problems have also been identified with the present EU legislation such as the lack of 
harmonised  methodology  for  new  stunning  methods,  the  lack  of  clear  responsibilities  for 
operators  on  animal  welfare,  the  insufficient  competence  of  personnel  handling  animals,  or 
insufficient conditions for the welfare of animals during killing for disease control purposes. 

The killing of farm animals is an area subject to EU legislation since 1974 and Community 
competence has been reinforced in 1993. Consultations from stakeholders and Member States 
confirm  the  relevance  of  Community  initiative  in  this  domain.  This  legislation  affects  the 
meat  industry,  the  sector  of  equipment  manufacturers  and  some  farmers'  activities.  All  of 
them are working at international level and ask for an EU framework. 

The general  objectives of the initiative attached to  this impact  assessment is  to improve the 
protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing, while ensuring a level playing field 
for  all  business  operators  concerned,  so  that  their  competitiveness  is  not  affected  by 
discrepancies  in  their  costs  of  production  or  their  market  access.  This  initiative  should  also 
contribute to the Better Regulation/simplification policy.  

The specific objectives are to encourage innovation for stunning animals humanely, to ensure 
better integration of animal welfare in the production process of slaughterhouses, to increase 
the level of knowledge of personnel concerned and to improve the protection of animals when 
massive killings occur. 

The  options  range  from  doing  nothing  (=baseline=  option  1),  non-biding  recommendations 
(option 2), amending the directive (option 3) through its technical annexes and reorganising 
the legislation (option 4).  

Slaughtering  costs  represent  a  limited  part  of  the  total  costs  of  slaughterhouses  activities 
(20%)  but  could  affect  their  competitiveness.  However  changes  in  costs  for  slaughtering 
animals are unlikely to affect the final price of meat. Slaughterhouses are already submitted to 
permanent  official  inspection  through  food  safety  legislation.  The  current  animal  welfare 
legislation does not introduce additional requirements for official inspections. Animal welfare 
has  a  positive  impact  on  meat  quality  and  occupational  safety.  It  also  represents  positive 
market values. No significant environmental impacts have been identified. 

From the comparison of the options it appears that doing nothing (option 1) have a number of 
negative  impacts  on  the  objective  pursued.  None  of  them  is  likely  to  be  achieved  by  this 
option. Animal welfare on many aspects is likely to be worsened while businesses will have 
to operate in an increasingly different environment from Member State to another. Therefore 
simplification  is  far  from  being  improved.  Innovation  will  be  discouraged  by  this  situation 
despite efforts made in some Member States. Economic costs on business and authorities will 
be  limited  in  the  short  term.  But  detrimental  effects  on  meat  quality,  public  perception  and 
occupational safety could have long term negative economic impacts on the meat sector. 

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The comparison between the other options in the light of the objectives makes clearly more 
advantageous to reorganise the legislation (option 4) while amending the directive (option 3) 
would  bring  some  benefits  and  providing  non-biding  recommendations  (option  2)  will  not 
suffice to tackle most of the objectives. Therefore option 2 alone can not be considered as to 
be  sufficient  way  to  address  the  issues,  but  could  be  considered  interesting  as  a 
complementary instrument. 

Non  biding  recommendations  (option  2)  would  in  particular  contribute  to  improve  animal 
protection and meat quality. It could also contribute to establish a certain level playing field 
among businesses but in a very limited way due to the non mandatory nature of the option. 

Reorganising the directive (option 4) is the only option where innovation can be encouraged 
and simplification provided (changing the legal instrument and having a new approach). It is 
also brings more benefits than amending the directive (option 3) as regards animal protection. 
It is also the option that is likely to bring the most positive impacts in terms of meat quality, 
public perception and better working conditions in slaughterhouses. 

Options  3  and  4  will  generate  short  terms  costs  for  certain  businesses  but  their  effects  will 
depend  if  specific  measures  are  taken  like  possible  transitional  periods  or  exemption  in 
specific cases.  

Environmental impacts are considered to be neutral for all options as there was no evidence 
during the collection of data of substantial and/or direct effects on environment. 

The  general  monitoring  of 
the 
Regulation 882/2004  on  official  controls  of  food  and  feed2  and  this  document  does  not 
suggest developing at this stage specific instrument  that would create administrative burden 
for the Member States.  

legislation  on  animal  welfare 

included 

the 

in 

is 

2 

OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1–141. 

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