Debate: Protection of animals during transport - Protection of animals during transport
Date: THURSDAY, 20 JANUARY 2022
Speaker: Stella Kyriakides
Language: EN

I welcome the extensive and investigative work done by the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT Committee) during its mandate. In particular, I want to thank the Committee Chair, the honourable Member Ms Metz, for her energy and commitment to this work, and the co-rapporteurs, honourable Members Ms Carvalhais and Mr Buda, for their constructive and cooperative approach.  I will use some words that you said today: we have to find solutions. The committee’s draft report and draft recommendations reflect all of this and show the excellent work of all the members of the ANIT Committee. I want to assure you that the findings will feed into our deliberations and form a very important part of the input into our work on revising animal welfare legislation. As one of the ANIT Committee members put it, these recommendations will form part of the foundations upon which we, together with the Council and Parliament, will build a new legislative framework.  Live animal transport is clearly an issue that we need to look at very closely and weigh up all the arguments in favour of change. The calls for this are getting louder. We hear them clearly, but we need to do this in the right way, with a complete set of information needed for legislative revision and for replying to all your recommendations.  We need to gather knowledge on key issues, such as exports to non-EU countries, how to better protect vulnerable animals, how long journeys take and the best conditions, including the maximum temperatures in which animals should be transported. These are neither simple nor straightforward issues. In revising the legislation, we will have the perfect opportunity to better address them and we must, therefore, get these answers right. Particularly relevant are the alternatives to the transport of unweaned calves and the transport of end-of-career cows. Alongside all of this, we are conducting extensive consultation activities, and I’m pleased to have the opportunity today to share an update with you on the results that we have so far on the ongoing public consultation on the revision of EU animal welfare legislation. I have been informed that this has reached today a record of over 40 000 contributions. I think you would all agree with media members that this clearly shows how much animal welfare matters to our citizens.  As the committee’s report rightly points out, many problems with the current legislation are linked to implementation and enforcement. This is why our priority will be to make the rules easier to enforce. Our legislative proposal would take on board other important issues highlighted by the committee, for example, the development and use of digital tools to facilitate enforcement.  Let me be clear that we are not waiting for 2023 to tackle some of the points that you have highlighted. We are already working on measures to be adopted early this year to facilitate official checks on the transport of live animals by sea. These include enhanced checks on travel contingency plans, inspection teams comprising veterinarians and engineers, requirements for authorities to maintain records of weather forecasts and a common EU database to record results of official controls on livestock vessels, which can then be shared by all Member States.  In addition, this year, we will carry out audits on both livestock vessels and on the transport of unweaned calves by road. Rest assured that we remain fully committed to improving the current legislative framework. We need to stop the suffering of animals during transport and live up to both our moral responsibilities and the demands of our citizens. I want to make sure that the revision will give us better implementation, better enforcement and higher welfare standards for animals during transport. And I consider, if I may say so, that we are all here on the same side for this.