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The EU court of auditors has voiced concerns over the regulation of stunning practices across member states.
In a report on animal welfare published on Wednesday 14 November, they outline particular issues around the use of best practice stunning techniques and the cataloguing of a derogation provided for animal slaughter in accordance with certain religious practices.
The report visited slaughter facilities in France, Poland, Romania, Italy and Germany.
Shooting in the nape of the neck, which gives unsatisfactory results
Auditors describe visiting one facility in France where an alternative method of stunning was in use that was not listed in good practice guidelines.
“A slaughterhouse we visited in France used an alternative method for stunning calves (occipital stunning) to the one indicated in Commission and inter-professional good practice guides (frontal stunning),” the report said.
“This would result in shooting in the nape of the neck, which gives unsatisfactory results.”
“The commercial advantage of the alternative method [poorer practice] is that there are fewer brain lesions and bone splinters, allowing for better marketing of the brain.”
Concerns were also raised with regard to the derogation granted for slaughtering animals without the use of stunning to satisfy certain religious customs.
It was found that insufficient information was being collected with regard to application and justification of the derogation.
Derogation
The auditors pointed out that there was an issue with the legislation itself, which guaranteed the derogation under “religious freedom”, but that the legislation “does not indicate practical implementation methods or any reporting requirements on the use of the derogation. Not all member states collect information on the use of the derogation”.
The report included findings from a 2010 report that “certain slaughterhouse operators excessively use the derogation from stunning to streamline their production process”.
Animal welfare is an important issue for EU citizens
Overall, the report said more recording of the derogation use was needed across member states and found that out of the five countries visited, Poland was particularly bad for recording information.
“Animal welfare is an important issue for EU citizens,” said Janusz Wojciechowski, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report.
“The European Commission has been proactive in addressing stakeholders’ concerns, but we still need to close the gap between the ambitious goals and practical implementation.”
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