Document ID: 31993L0119

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/119/EC
of 22 December 1993
on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas Council Directive 74/577/EEC (4) established rules on the stunning of animals before slaughter;
Whereas the European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter was approved on behalf of the Community by Council Decision 88/306/EEC (5); whereas the scope of the Convention is wider than existing Community rules on the matter;
Whereas national laws concerning the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing have an impact on the conditions of competition and accordingly on the operation of the common market in agricultural products;
Whereas there is therefore a need to establish common minimum standards for the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing in order to ensure rational development of production and to facilitate the completion of the internal market in animals and animal products;
Whereas at the time of slaughter or killing animals should be spared any avoidable pain or suffering;
Whereas, however, it is necessary to allow for technical and scientific experiments to be carried out and to take account of the particular requirements of certain religious rites;
Whereas the rules should also ensure satisfactory protection, at the time of slaughter or killing, for animals not covered by the Convention;
Whereas in the declaration on the protection of animals annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty on European Union, the Conference calls upon the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, as well as the Member States, when drafting and implementing Community legislation on the common agricultural policy, to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals;
Whereas in so doing Community action must comply with the requirements arising out of the principle of subsidiarity laid down in Article 3b of the Treaty;
Whereas Directive 74/577/EEC should be repealed,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
CHAPTER I General provisions
Article 1
1. This Directive shall apply to the movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter and killing of animals bred and kept for the production of meat, skin, fur or other products and to methods of killing animals for the purpose of disease control.
2. It shall not apply to:
- technical or scientific experiments relating to the procedures mentioned in paragraph 1, carried out under the supervision of the competent authority,
- animals which are killed in cultural or sports events,
- wild game killed in accordance with Article 3 of Directive 92/45/EEC.
Article 2
For the purposes of this Directive the following definitions shall apply:
1. slaughterhouse: any premises, including facilities for moving or lairaging animals, used for the commercial slaughter of animals referred to in Article 5 (1);
2. movement: unloading of animals or driving of them from unloading platforms, stalls or pens at slaughterhouses to the premises or place where they are to be slaughtered;
3. lairaging: keeping animals in stalls, pens, covered areas or fields used by slaughterhouses in order to give them any necessary attention (water, fodder, rest) before they are slaughtered;
4. restraint: the application to an animal of any procedure designed to restrict its movements in order to facilitate effective stunning or killing;
5. stunning: any process which, when applied to an animal, causes immediate loss of consciousness which lasts until death;
6. killing: any process which causes the death of an animal;
7. slaughter: causing the death of an animal by bleeding;
8. competent authority: the central authority of a Member State competent to carry out veterinary checks or any authority to which it has delegated that competence.
However, in the Member States, the religious authority on whose behalf slaughter is carried out shall be competent for the application and monitoring of the special provisions which apply to slaughter according to certain religious rites. As regards the said provisions, that authority shall operate under the responsibility of the official veterinarian, as defined in Article 2 of Directive 64/433/EEC.
Article 3
Animals shall be spared any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering during movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter or killing.
CHAPTER II Requirements applicable to slaughterhouses
Article 4
The construction, facilities and equipment of slaughterhouses, and their operation, shall be such as to spare animals any avoidable excitement, pain or suffering.
Article 5
1. Solipeds, ruminants, pigs, rabbits and poultry brought into slaughterhouses for slaughter shall be:
(a) moved and if necessary lairaged in accordance with the provisions of Annex A;
(b) restrained in accordance with the provisions of Annex B;
(c) stunned before slaughter or killed instantaneously in accordance with the provisions of Annex C;
(d) bled in accordance with the provisions of Annex D.
2. In the case of animals subject to particular methods of slaughter required by certain religious rites, the requirements of paragraph 1(c) shall not apply.
3. With due regard for the general rules of the Treaty, the competent authorities of the Member States may, for establishments qualifying for derogations pursuant to Articles 4 and 13 of Directive 64/433/EEC, Article 4 of Directive 91/498/EEC and Articles 7 and 18 of Directive 71/118/EEC, grant derogations from paragraph 1(a) in respect of cattle, and from paragraph 1(a) and from the methods for stunning and killing referred to in Annex C in respect of poultry, rabbits, pigs, sheep and goats, provided that the requirements laid down in Article 3 are met.
Article 6
1. Instruments, restraint and other equipment and installations used for stunning or killing must be designed, constructed, maintained and used in such a way as to achieve rapid and effective stunning or killing in accordance with the provisions of this Directive. The competent authority shall check that the instruments, restraint and other equipment used for stunning or killing comply with the above principles and shall check regularly to ensure that they are in a good state of repair and will allow the aforementioned objective to be attained.
2. Suitable spare equipment and instruments must be kept at the place of slaughter for emergency use. They shall be properly maintained and inspected regularly.
Article 7
No person shall engage in the movement, lairaging, restraint, stunning, slaughter or killing of animals unless he has the knowledge and skill necessary to perform the tasks humanely and efficiently, in accordance with the requirements of this Directive.
The competent authority shall ensure that persons employed for slaughtering possess the necessary skill, ability and professional knowledge.
Article 8
Inspections and controls in slaughterhouses shall be carried out under the responsibility of the competent authority, which shall at all times have free access to all parts of slaughterhouses in order to ascertain compliance with this Directive. However, such inspections and controls may be carried out at the same time as controls carried out for other purposes.
CHAPTER III Slaughter and killing outwith slaughterhouses
Article 9
1. Where animals referred to in Article 5 (1) are slaughtered outwith slaughterhouses, Article 5 (1)(b), (c) and (d) shall apply.
2. Member States may, however, grant derogations from paragraph 1 in respect of poultry, rabbits, pigs, sheep and goats slaughtered or killed outwith slaughterhouses by their owner for his personal consumption, provided that Article 3 is complied with and that pigs, sheep and goats have been stunned in advance.
Article 10
1. Where animals referred to in Article 5 (1) are to be slaughtered or killed for purposes of disease control, this shall be carried out in accordance with Annex E.
2. Animals farmed for their fur shall be killed in accordance with Annex F.
3. Surplus day-old chicks, as defined in Article 2 (3) of Directive 90/539/EEC, and embryos in hatchery waste shall be killed as rapidly as possible in accordance with Annex G.
Article 11
Articles 9 and 10 shall not apply in the case of an animal which has to be killed immediately for emergency reasons.
Article 12
Injured or diseased animals must be slaughtered or killed on the spot. However, the competent authority may authorize the transport of injured or diseased animals for the purpose of slaughter or killing provided that such transport does not entail further suffering for the animals.
CHAPTER IV Final provisions
Article 13
1. If necessary, rules on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing other than those in this Directive shall be adopted by the Council acting by a qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission.
2. (a) The Annexes to this Directive shall be amended by the Council acting on a proposal from the Commission, in accordance with the procedure laid down in paragraph 1, in particular in order to adapt them to technological and scientific progress;
(b) in addition, and no later than 31 December 1995, the Commission shall submit to the Council a report drawn up on the basis of an opinion from the Scientific Veterinary Committee together with appropriate proposals concerning the use, in particular, of:
- free bullet pistols, applied to the brain, or of gases other than those referred to in Annex C or combinations thereof for stunning and more particularly carbon dioxide for stunning poultry,
- gases other than those referred to in Annex C or combinations thereof for killing,
- any other scientifically recognized procedure for stunning or killing.
The Council shall act by a qualified majority on these proposals;
(c) by way of derogation from (a), and no later than 31 December 1995, the Commission, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16, shall submit to the Standing Veterinary Committee a report drawn up on the basis of an opinion from the Scientific Veterinary Committee, together with appropriate proposals, with a view to laying down:
(i) the strength and duration of use of the current necessary to stun the various species concerned;
(ii) the gas concentration and length of exposure necessary to stun the various species concerned;
(d) pending implementation of paragraphs (b) and (c), national rules in the matter shall apply, in compliance with the general provisions of the Treaty.
Article 14
1. Commission experts may make on-the-spot checks in so far as is necessary to ensure uniform application of this Directive. In order to do this, they may check a representative sample of establishments to ensure that the competent authority is checking that the said establishments are fulfilling the requirements of this Directive.
The Commission shall inform the Member States of the result of the checks carried out.
2. The checks referred to in paragraph 1 shall be carried out in collaboration with the competent authority.
3. A Member State in whose territory a check is being carried out shall give all the necessary assistance to the experts in carrying out their duties.
4. The detailed rules for implementing this Article shall be determined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 16.
Article 15
In the course of the inspection of slaughterhouses or establishments which have been or are to be approved in third countries for the purpose of being able to export to the Community in accordance with Community rules, the Commission experts shall ensure that the animals referred to in Article 5 have been slaughtered under conditions which offer guarantees of humane treatment at least equivalent to those provided for in this Directive.
To enable meat to be imported from a third country the health certificate accompanying such meat must be supplemented by an attestation certifying that the above requirement has been met.
Article 16
1. Where the procedure laid down in this Article is to be followed, the matter shall without delay be referred to the Standing Veterinary Committee by its chairman, either on his own initiative or at the request of the representative of a Member State.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the Member States within the committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the intended measures when they are in accordance with the opinion of the committee.
(b) Where the intended measures are not in accordance with the opinion of the committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall without delay submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date on which the matter was referred to it, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the Commission, save where the Council has decided against the said measures by a simple majority.
Article 17
Directive 74/577/EEC shall be repealed with effect from 1 January 1995.
Article 18
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions, including any penalties, necessary to comply with this Directive on 1 January 1995. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.
2. However, as from the date laid down in paragraph 1, Member States may, with due regard for the general rules of the Treaty, maintain or apply in their territory more stringent provisions than those contained in this Directive. They shall inform the Commission of any such measures.
3. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
Article 19
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 22 December 1993.

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