Following the welcome speeches from MEPs Alexander Bernhuber, Maria Grapini, and Benoît Cassart, participants heard firsthand accounts in animal transport from farmers and transporters.
Then the findings from two different studies were shared, one analysing the costs of changing the legislation, the other focusing on how animal welfare can be upheld if current rules are applied correctly.
“In this Intergroup, we want to work with the contribution of scientists, civil society, but also to give a voice to farmers and industry professionals, because there is nothing more frustrating and useless than a regulation that is not applicable because it is too far from reality. This is what we are doing today. When we talk about animal welfare during transport, we often have articles and images that tell of the rare accidents that can happen, but we rarely have images of the millions of animals that are transported every day in our Union in very good conditions,” said co-president Benoît Cassart at the opening of the meeting.
The European Commission’s proposal to revise the 2005 Regulation on the welfare of animals during transport raised many concerns amongst farmers and the livestock value chain, particularly regarding potential constraints on temperature, space for animals and duration of transport.
As was the point of the meeting, the Intergroup had invited those working directly in livestock farming and animal transport to tell their stories of their everyday work. This session kicked off with a video documentary from the Spanish meat producers association ASOPROVAC. The video, largely filmed at the port of Cartagena shows real-life footage of loading the animals from the farms, unloading at the port, the infrastructures used, and the various supervisory provisions in place, etc.
Then followed an in-person story from a French cattle farmer, Philippe Boehmler, who has been farming for the past 20 years and takes pride in his work. He expressed confusion over the concerns about animal transport practices, as farmers have every interest in making sure nothing goes wrong. He also addressed the point about space allowed for animals with some surprise, as for him, it’s only natural to have the animals quite tight together to avoid injuries during transport.
Concluding the first session, transporters Teddy and Armonie from Belgium shared their personal story and some highlights from a documentary soon to be aired on Belgian television – “Les routiers profession chauffeur poids lourd, l’appel de la route”. They highlighted the modern-day technologies and practices that help ensure good welfare from A-Z as they transport animals to EU countries such as Italy and third countries such as Morocco.
The second part of the meeting was dedicated to the presentation of scientific studies, one on the transport of live animals by ship, carried out by SEPAB, a leading European company for livestock transport and stocking, in collaboration with INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture Food and Environment. Based in the port of Sète in the south of France, the study looked at application of current legislation during transport by sea around the Mediterranean area. The study concluded that based on physiology and behaviour, etc., when applied correctly the current rules support good animal welfare.
A second study, this time carried out by IFIP, the French pig and pork institute, measured potential economic impacts on the pork sector of applying the proposed revised rules on transport. This study concluded that not only would more trucks, and more abattoirs be needed, but that it would cost producers an additional €7+ per pig, and 80 cents per kilo of pork would be added to an average family budget.
The rapporteurs for the Parliament, Daniel Buda (EPP) and Tilly Metz (Greens) as well as Bernard van Goethem from the European Commission’s DG SANTE shared their reactions and highlighted their key objectives with the revised legislation. Although their views were quite diverging, they all agreed that in the future animal transport should be carried out as the transporters had outlined earlier, and that most important is to ensure better implementation and better controls.
Following the event, participants clamoured to visit the two animal transport trucks parked in front of the European Parliament, and to pose their own questions to the farmers and transporters.
“What was amazing today, was that it was not just a discussion within the Parliament, but we really had a very practical view. We had the truck drivers here in the Parliament who showed how things are working in reality. Then had some good studies presented and a good discussion with the rapporteurs on the animal transport files. The main argument here today is that we need to listen more to our farmers, we need to listen more to those responsible for transport. The know the details and this is what we need for the dialogue in the coming months,” concluded co-president Alexander Bernhuber outside the Parliament.
The inaugural meeting of the Intergroup opened with a discussion on a hot topic.
