BETA


Events

2013/05/13
   EC - Commission response to text adopted in plenary
Documents
2012/12/12
   EP - Results of vote in Parliament
2012/12/12
   EP - Decision by Parliament
Details

The European Parliament adopted by 555 votes to 56, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the protection of animals during transport.

An alternative motion for resolution, tabled by the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL was rejected in plenary by 421 votes to 226, with 15 abstentions.

The adopted resolution takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States .

Parliament calls on the Commission:

to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions; to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals , including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders; to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production; to propose a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter , and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision; to demand, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject; to make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation , based on the uploading of data in real time; to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity , which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport; to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals; to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

Parliament acknowledges Written Declaration No 49/2011 of 30 November 2011 supporting an eight-hour journey limit for animals to be slaughtered, but recognises that such a demand alone has no scientific basis and that animal welfare during transport in some instances depends more on proper vehicle facilities and on the proper handling of animals. It, nevertheless, asks the Commission and the Member States to lay down guidelines for best practice with a view to improving the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, and to reinforce control mechanisms in order to guarantee animal welfare.

The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with. Members point out that it should be possible to extend transport times, in the event of unforeseeable transport delays (traffic jams, breakdowns, accidents, diversions, force majeure, etc), while complying with animal welfare principles.

The Member States, for their part, are called on:

to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use; to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

Documents
2012/12/12
   EP - End of procedure in Parliament
2012/12/11
   EP - Debate in Parliament
2012/10/16
   EP - Committee report tabled for plenary
Details

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport.

The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist , due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

The report calls on the Commission:

· to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;

· to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;

· to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;

· proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter , and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;

· demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;

· make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation , based on the uploading of data in real time;

· to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity , which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;

· to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;

· to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with.

The Member States, for their part, are called on:

· to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;

· to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

Documents
2012/10/11
   EP - Vote in committee
2012/06/05
   EP - Amendments tabled in committee
Documents
2012/05/10
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2012/05/09
   EP - Committee opinion
Documents
2012/03/15
   EP - Committee referral announced in Parliament
2012/03/02
   EP - Committee draft report
Documents
2012/02/06
   EP - DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis (PPE) appointed as rapporteur in TRAN
2011/12/20
   EP - WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz (ECR) appointed as rapporteur in AGRI
2011/11/10
   EC - Follow-up document
Details

PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions : based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems . However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised. According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals . The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions . The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs. According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge . Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data , submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position : although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement . Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish , the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken : to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log , in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

Objective : Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport . The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

Objective : Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

Objective : Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

2011/11/10
   EC - Non-legislative basic document published
Details

The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

Main conclusions

Animal welfare : the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation.

The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination".

Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement.

The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework.

Navigation systems : the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls.

Volume of trade : according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.

Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.

Scientific knowledge : in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

Enforcement : enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge , partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

Live fish : the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

· adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation;

· adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure;

· increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation;

· dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report

Documents

Activities

AmendmentsDossier
368 2012/2031(INI)
2012/03/29 TRAN 40 amendments...
source: PE-486.182
2012/03/30 ENVI 54 amendments...
source: PE-486.155
2012/06/05 AGRI 274 amendments...
source: PE-486.028

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)

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  • date: 2012-03-15T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP shadows: group: PPE name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: KADENBACH Karin group: ALDE name: PAULSEN Marit group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn group: GUE/NGL name: LE HYARIC Patrick responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: PPE name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
  • date: 2012-10-11T00:00:00 body: EP type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP shadows: group: PPE name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: KADENBACH Karin group: ALDE name: PAULSEN Marit group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn group: GUE/NGL name: LE HYARIC Patrick responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: PPE name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
  • date: 2012-10-16T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-331&language=EN type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading title: A7-0331/2012 body: EP type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading
  • date: 2012-12-11T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20121211&type=CRE type: Debate in Parliament title: Debate in Parliament body: EP type: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2012-12-12T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=22079&l=en type: Results of vote in Parliament title: Results of vote in Parliament url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2012-499 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading title: T7-0499/2012 body: EP type: Results of vote in Parliament
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  • date: 2011-11-10T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2011/0700/COM_COM(2011)0700_EN.pdf title: COM(2011)0700 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700 title: EUR-Lex summary: PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation. It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account. Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report. Main conclusions : based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn: The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems . However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised. According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals . The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions . The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs. According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge . Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data , submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level. The Commission’s position : although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement . Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems. As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices. As regards live fish , the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy. Actions to be undertaken : to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future: 1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log , in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device. Objective : Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation. 2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States. 3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport . The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue. Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy. 4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose. Objective : Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation. 5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. Objective : Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals. Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report. type: Follow-up document body: EC
  • date: 2012-03-02T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE480.640 title: PE480.640 type: Committee draft report body: EP
  • date: 2012-05-09T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE485.848&secondRef=02 title: PE485.848 committee: ENVI type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2012-05-10T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE483.778&secondRef=02 title: PE483.778 committee: TRAN type: Committee opinion body: EP
  • date: 2012-06-05T00:00:00 docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=COMPARL&mode=XML&language=EN&reference=PE486.028 title: PE486.028 type: Amendments tabled in committee body: EP
  • date: 2013-05-13T00:00:00 docs: url: /oeil/spdoc.do?i=22079&j=0&l=en title: SP(2013)175 type: Commission response to text adopted in plenary
events
  • date: 2011-11-10T00:00:00 type: Non-legislative basic document published body: EC docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/registre/docs_autres_institutions/commission_europeenne/com/2011/0700/COM_COM(2011)0700_EN.pdf title: COM(2011)0700 url: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700 title: EUR-Lex summary: The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation. Main conclusions Animal welfare : the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation. The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination". Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement. The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework. Navigation systems : the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls. Volume of trade : according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals. Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs. Scientific knowledge : in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices. Enforcement : enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge , partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level. Live fish : the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy. To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future: · adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation; · adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure; · increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation; · dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals. The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report
  • date: 2012-03-15T00:00:00 type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2012-10-11T00:00:00 type: Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading body: EP
  • date: 2012-10-16T00:00:00 type: Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&mode=XML&reference=A7-2012-331&language=EN title: A7-0331/2012 summary: The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport. The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist , due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States. The report calls on the Commission: · to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions; · to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders; · to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production; · proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter , and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision; · demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject; · make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation , based on the uploading of data in real time; · to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity , which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport; · to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals; · to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport. The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with. The Member States, for their part, are called on: · to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use; · to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof. Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.
  • date: 2012-12-11T00:00:00 type: Debate in Parliament body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?secondRef=TOC&language=EN&reference=20121211&type=CRE title: Debate in Parliament
  • date: 2012-12-12T00:00:00 type: Results of vote in Parliament body: EP docs: url: https://oeil.secure.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/popups/sda.do?id=22079&l=en title: Results of vote in Parliament
  • date: 2012-12-12T00:00:00 type: Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading body: EP docs: url: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&language=EN&reference=P7-TA-2012-499 title: T7-0499/2012 summary: The European Parliament adopted by 555 votes to 56, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the protection of animals during transport. An alternative motion for resolution, tabled by the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL was rejected in plenary by 421 votes to 226, with 15 abstentions. The adopted resolution takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States . Parliament calls on the Commission: to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions; to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals , including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders; to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production; to propose a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter , and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision; to demand, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject; to make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation , based on the uploading of data in real time; to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity , which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport; to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals; to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport. Parliament acknowledges Written Declaration No 49/2011 of 30 November 2011 supporting an eight-hour journey limit for animals to be slaughtered, but recognises that such a demand alone has no scientific basis and that animal welfare during transport in some instances depends more on proper vehicle facilities and on the proper handling of animals. It, nevertheless, asks the Commission and the Member States to lay down guidelines for best practice with a view to improving the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, and to reinforce control mechanisms in order to guarantee animal welfare. The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with. Members point out that it should be possible to extend transport times, in the event of unforeseeable transport delays (traffic jams, breakdowns, accidents, diversions, force majeure, etc), while complying with animal welfare principles. The Member States, for their part, are called on: to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use; to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof. Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.
  • date: 2012-12-12T00:00:00 type: End of procedure in Parliament body: EP
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PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

  • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
  • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
  • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
  • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
  • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
  • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

  • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

  • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

  • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

  • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

  • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

New

PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

  • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
  • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
  • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
  • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
  • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
  • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

  • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

  • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

  • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

  • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

  • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

activities/0/type
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  • body: EP shadows: group: PPE name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: KADENBACH Karin group: ALDE name: PAULSEN Marit group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn group: GUE/NGL name: LE HYARIC Patrick responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: PPE name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
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  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: PPE name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
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Old

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport.

The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

The report calls on the Commission:

·        to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;

·        to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;

·        to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;

·        proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter, and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;

·        demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;

·        make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation, based on the uploading of data in real time;

·        to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity, which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;

·        to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;

·        to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with.

The Member States, for their part, are called on:

·        to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;

·       to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

New

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport.

The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

The report calls on the Commission:

·        to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;

·        to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;

·        to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;

·        proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter, and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;

·        demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;

·        make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation, based on the uploading of data in real time;

·        to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity, which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;

·        to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;

·        to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with.

The Member States, for their part, are called on:

·        to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;

·       to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

activities/4/committees
  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: KADENBACH Karin group: ALDE name: PAULSEN Marit group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn group: GUE/NGL name: LE HYARIC Patrick responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: EPP name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
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  • The European Parliament adopted by 555 votes to 56, with 34 abstentions, a resolution on the protection of animals during transport.

    An alternative motion for resolution, tabled by the Greens/EFA and GUE/NGL was rejected in plenary by 421 votes to 226, with 15 abstentions.

    The adopted resolution takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

    Parliament calls on the Commission:

    • to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;
    • to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;
    • to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;
    • to propose a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter, and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;
    • to demand, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;
    • to make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation, based on the uploading of data in real time;
    • to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity, which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;
    • to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;
    • to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

    Parliament acknowledges Written Declaration No 49/2011 of 30 November 2011 supporting an eight-hour journey limit for animals to be slaughtered, but recognises that such a demand alone has no scientific basis and that animal welfare during transport in some instances depends more on proper vehicle facilities and on the proper handling of animals. It, nevertheless, asks the Commission and the Member States to lay down guidelines for best practice with a view to improving the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, and to reinforce control mechanisms in order to guarantee animal welfare.

    The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with. Members point out that it should be possible to extend transport times, in the event of unforeseeable transport delays (traffic jams, breakdowns, accidents, diversions, force majeure, etc), while complying with animal welfare principles.

    The Member States, for their part, are called on:

    • to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;
    • to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

    Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport. 

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Old

PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

  • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
  • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
  • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
  • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
  • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
  • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

  • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

  • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

  • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

  • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

  • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

New

The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport.

The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

The report calls on the Commission:

·        to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;

·        to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;

·        to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;

·        proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter, and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;

·        demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;

·        make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation, based on the uploading of data in real time;

·        to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity, which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;

·        to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;

·        to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with.

The Member States, for their part, are called on:

·        to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;

·       to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

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  • The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development has adopted an own-initiative report by Janusz WOJCIECHOWSKI (ECR, PL) on the protection of animals during transport.

    The competent committee takes note of the Commission report presenting the state of implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which contains the conclusion that the Regulation has had a positive impact on the welfare of animals during transport, but notes that severe problems during animal transport persist, due mainly to poor compliance and implementation in the Member States.

    The report calls on the Commission:

    ·        to ensure an effective and uniform enforcement of existing EU legislation on animal transport across all Member States and to adopt measures to secure full and uniform monitoring of adherence to the transport conditions;

    ·        to present a full evaluation of all the economic, environmental and social costs and benefits incurred by the transport of animals, including a comparison between the transport of animals for slaughter and the transport of carcasses and food products, as well as the effect of transport on the price of meat products, paying particular attention to the outermost regions and involving all stakeholders;

    ·        to implement an extensive consumer information campaign on the subject of the European regulations on animal welfare, providing continuous information on the changes being required of European producers for the purposes of raising the profile of their work and improving the added value of their production;

    ·        proposes a considerably shortened maximum journey limit for all movements of horses for slaughter, and insists furthermore on a thorough, science-based review of welfare standards for horses, if necessary accompanied by legislative proposals, including a reconsideration of vehicle design standards, space allowances and water provision;

    ·        demands, in its bilateral trade negotiations with third countries, implementation of the EU’s animal welfare rules and to defend the internationalisation, within the framework of the World Trade Organisation, of the Community provisions on the subject;

    ·        make legislative proposals before 1 January 2014, aimed at creating an EU-wide common framework for data collection and control through satellite navigation, based on the uploading of data in real time;

    ·        to undertake research into how new and existing technology can be applied in livestock vehicles to regulate, monitor and register temperature and humidity, which are essential elements for controlling and protecting the welfare of specific categories of animals during transport;

    ·        to increase the number of unannounced Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) spot inspections focused on animal welfare and the transport of animals;

    ·        to ensure that veterinary controls on animals to be transported take place at the end of their transport.

    The report insists on a reconsideration of the issue of limiting the transport time of animals destined for slaughter to eight hours taking account of loading time, irrespective of whether this takes place on land or at sea, with some exceptions taking into account geographic conditions in the outermost regions, provided that it is confirmed by scientific research results and that the rules on animal welfare are complied with.

    The Member States, for their part, are called on:

    ·        to strengthen controls across the entire production chain in order to halt practices that infringe the Regulation and worsen the conditions for the transport of animals, such as allowing overstocked vehicles to continue their journeys, or permitting control posts with inadequate facilities for resting, feeding and watering the animals to continue in use;

    ·       to introduce effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions for infringements of the Regulation, pursuant to Article 25 thereof.

    Drawing attention to the differing levels of penalties and sanctions for the same infringement in different Member States, the Members call for a greater harmonisation of sanctions across the EU to ensure better enforcement of the Regulation. The Commission is requested to present, before 1 July 2013, a report analysing the penalties for serious infringements relating to animal welfare in road transport in all Member States, comparable to its report on penalties in the area of social rules in road transport.

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  • PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

    CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

    It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

    Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

    Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

    • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
    • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
    • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
    • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
    • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
    • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

    The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

    As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

    As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

    1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

    • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

    2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

    • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

    3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

    • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

    • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

    5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

    • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

    Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

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  • PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

    CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

    It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

    Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

    Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

    • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
    • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
    • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
    • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
    • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
    • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

    The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

    As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

    As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

    1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

    • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

    2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

    • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

    3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

    • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

    • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

    5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

    • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

    Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

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The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

Main conclusions 

Animal welfare: the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation.

The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination".

Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement.

The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework.

Navigation systems: the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls.

Volume of trade: according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.

Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.

Scientific knowledge: in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

Enforcement: enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

Live fish: the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

·        adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation;

·        adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure;

·        increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation;

·        dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report

New

PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

  • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
  • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
  • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
  • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
  • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
  • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

  • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

  • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

  • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

  • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

  • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

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Old

PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

  • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
  • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
  • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
  • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
  • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
  • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

  • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

  • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

  • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

  • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

  • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

New

The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

Main conclusions 

Animal welfare: the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation.

The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination".

Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement.

The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework.

Navigation systems: the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls.

Volume of trade: according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.

Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.

Scientific knowledge: in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

Enforcement: enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

Live fish: the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

·        adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation;

·        adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure;

·        increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation;

·        dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report

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  • PURPOSE: presentation of the European Commission’s report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport.

    CONTENT: in accordance with the provisions of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, the purpose of this report is to examine the impact of the Regulation on the welfare of animals being transported and on the trade flows within the EU, its socio-economic and regional impact, as well as the implementation of navigation systems. Furthermore, the report contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

    It should be borne in mind that the Regulation applies to the transport of vertebrate animals transported in connection with an economic activity. It does not take the transport of other species, such as dogs and cats, poultry, animals kept for scientific purposes, and exotic species, into account.

    Specific problems and actions concerning the transport of fish - identified under the Commission Strategy for the Sustainable Development of European Aquaculture – are also examined in the context of this report.

    Main conclusions: based on the information presented in the report, the following main conclusions can be drawn:

    • The Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport.
    • The Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for the industry or to improve official controls is not being utilised.
    • According to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.
    • The Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has led to an increase of transport costs but, likely due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.
    • According to the EFSA opinion, it appears that parts of the Regulation are not fully in line with the current scientific knowledge.
    • Enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

    The Commission’s position: although the Regulation has had a beneficial impact on the welfare of animals during transport, it appears that there is room for improvement. Those improvements could be achieved by different actions and it should be emphasized that for the vast majority of animals falling under the scope of the Regulation, the Commission does not see that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address the identified problems.

    As regards the gap between the requirements of the legislation and available scientific evidence, the Commission sees that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

    As regards live fish, the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    Actions to be undertaken: to correct the identified problems, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. For that purpose, the Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

    1) Adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems and establish a simplified version of the journey log, in accordance with point 8 of Annex II to the Regulation. Furthermore it should, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority (GSA), be ensured that drivers are informed on how to take the best profit of the device.

    • Objective: Improved harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improved animal welfare through increased possibility to control the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation.

    2) Adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized.

    • Objective: An increase in the number of inspections, where needed, should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from the Member State 's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure and would then offer more useful information for the FVO when auditing the Member States.

    3) Commence a study on the welfare of fish during transport. The current work to launch a study on the welfare of fish during stunning will continue.

    • Objective: To receive an overview of the current situation regarding the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to identifying and addressing possible shortcomings of the EU legal framework in this context, in accordance with the commitments undertaken under the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    4) Increase co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of the Member States and stakeholders, including Non Governmental animal welfare Organisations. The contact points for the Regulation, and existing working groups such as the Advisory group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health, could be used for this purpose.

    • Objective: Collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation.

    5) Dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and support of the development of guides to good practice, as foreseen in the Regulation. Guides could focus on different aspects of day-today management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge.

    • Objective: Would cover some ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and would improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time, it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

    Based on the elements above, the Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report.

activities/1/docs/0/url
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700
activities/1/docs/0/url
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activities/1/docs/0/text
  • The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

    Main conclusions 

    Animal welfare: the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation.

    The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination".

    Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement.

    The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework.

    Navigation systems: the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls.

    Volume of trade: according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.

    Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.

    Scientific knowledge: in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

    Enforcement: enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

    Live fish: the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

    ·        adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation;

    ·        adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure;

    ·        increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation;

    ·        dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

    The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report

activities/1/docs/0/url
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700
activities/1/type
Old
Follow-up document
New
Non-legislative basic document
activities/1/docs/0/text
  • The Commission presents a report on the impact of Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport. The report describes the impact of the Regulation on animal welfare and intra-Union trade, its socio-economic and regional implications as well as the implementation of the navigation systems. It also contains information in relation to enforcement of the EU legislation.

    Main conclusions 

    Animal welfare: the Regulation has had beneficial impacts on the welfare of animals during transport. Available data indicate that since 2005 the overall quality of animal transport on long journeys has improved, notably due to improved vehicles and better handling of the animals. The latter appears to be the result of the proper implementation of the stricter training obligations for personnel handling animals, which was introduced by the Regulation.

    The percentage of transported animals with lameness, injuries, dehydration and exhaustion decreased, or remained unchanged, between 200629 and 2009. Concerning the animals reported "dead on arrival", the numbers decreased significantly from 2005 to 2009. The difference was greater for long transport than for shorter transport. There has also been a significant decrease in the number of animals "observed unfit for travel upon arrival at destination".

    Even though animal welfare in general has improved after the introduction of the Regulation, the available information shows that severe animal welfare problems during transport persist. Most of these problems appear to be related to poor compliance of some requirements of the Regulation. Available information shows there are some recurring examples of poor compliance such as transport of unfit animals, overstocking of vehicles, transport of animals in vehicles in which the internal height of the compartments is inappropriate, and animals being transported longer than the maximum allowed travelling time. Often, poor compliance appears to be related to improper enforcement.

    The Commission does not believe that an amendment would be the most appropriate approach to address problems. A steady legal situation will allow Member States and stakeholders to focus on enforcement within a stable legal framework.

    Navigation systems: the Regulation introduced the requirement for vehicles approved for long journeys to be equipped with navigation systems. However, it appears that the full potential of the systems to decrease the administrative burden for industry and to improve official controls is not being utilised. Despite the fact that the Regulation has been applied for more than four years, there are still important differences between Member States as regards the implementation of the requirements related to navigation systems. Most Member States do not yet have a comprehensive approach on how to check whether the systems installed comply with the Regulation, and few controlling authorities use the data collected via the navigation system to carry out checks in accordance with the Regulation. In many cases the data is only considered after the competent authority has detected an infringement during a physical control before or during transport or at the place of destination. It is therefore concluded that the navigation systems are not used in a wide perspective to improve controls.

    Volume of trade: according to the available data, the Regulation has not had any impact on the volume of the intra-Union trade in live animals.

    Costs: the Regulation appears not to have provoked any impact on the animal production in remote regions. The introduction of the Regulation has lead to an increase of transport costs but, probably due to competition in the transport sector, this increase has not been evenly distributed along the food chain and transport operators are mainly bearing the extra costs.

    Scientific knowledge: in the EFSA opinion adopted on 2 December 2010 scientists recognise that parts of the Regulation are not in line with current scientific knowledge, and point out specific areas where future research is recommended. In particular, scientists recommend that transport time for horses for slaughter should be shorter than that provided in the Regulation. The Commission feels that, for the time being, this is best addressed by the adoption of guides to good practices.

    Enforcement: enforcement of the Regulation remains a major challenge, partly because of differences in interpretation of the requirements and because of lack of controls by the Member States. Furthermore, the quality of monitoring data, submitted to the Commission by Member States, is often insufficient to provide a clear analysis of the situation and to allow planning of specific corrective measures at EU level.

    Live fish: the Commission will launch a study on the welfare of fish during transport, with a view to determining the appropriateness of a revision of the provisions of the Regulation to improve the clarity of the legal framework on the transport of live fish for aquaculture operators, in accordance with the Commission Aquaculture Strategy.

    To correct the problems identified, the appropriate enforcement of existing rules should remain the priority. The Commission will consider the following actions for the near future:

    ·        adopt implementing measures concerning navigation systems as provided by the Regulation, and establish a simplified version of the journey log. Furthermore, in close co-operation with the European GNSS Supervisory Authority, it should be ensured that drivers are informed on how to profit from the device. The objective is to improve harmonisation of the implementation of the Regulation, and improve animal welfare through controlling the journey times, space allowance etc. of animal transports. This action should also contribute to a reduced administrative burden for the transporters, but may increase the administrative burden for Member State authorities. However, this should result in better enforcement of animal transport legislation;

    ·        adopt implementing measures concerning the controls to be performed by the competent authorities of the Member States, in accordance to Article 27(1) of the Regulation. At the same time, the structure of the reporting system should be further harmonized. The objective is to increase in the number of inspections, which should lead to improved enforcement. The information received from Member State's reports would provide better and more comparable data when based on the same structure;

    ·        increased co-operation and communication with the competent authorities of Member States and stakeholders, including non-governmental animal welfare organisations. The objective is to collect and analyse information on difficulties and share experiences on possible solutions related to the implementation of the Regulation;

    ·        dissemination of Commission guidance on the interpretation of the Regulation and supporting the development of guides to good practice. These could focus on different aspects of day-to- day management that may be problematic and would encourage best practice that considers the latest scientific knowledge. The aim is to resolve ambiguities and inefficiencies in the current animal welfare legislation and improve harmonisation of the implementation of the rules. At the same time it would encourage industry and other relevant parties to exceed the minimum welfare standards for transporting animals.

    The Commission invites the European Parliament and the Council to discuss the issues highlighted in this Report

activities/1/docs/0/url
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700
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  • body: EP date: 2011-11-10T00:00:00 type: Date
  • date: 2011-11-10T00:00:00 docs: url: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=EN&type_doc=COMfinal&an_doc=2011&nu_doc=700 celexid: CELEX:52011DC0700:EN type: Non-legislative basic document published title: COM(2011)0700 body: EC type: Non-legislative basic document commission: DG: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm title: Health and Consumers Commissioner: DALLI John
  • body: EP date: 2012-02-16T00:00:00 type: EP officialisation
  • date: 2012-03-02T00:00:00 docs: type: Committee draft report title: PE480.640 body: EP type: Committee draft report
  • date: 2012-03-15T00:00:00 body: EP type: Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading committees: body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: GARCÍA PÉREZ Iratxe group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: EPP name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
  • body: EP date: 2012-03-29T00:00:00 type: Deadline Amendments
  • body: EP date: 2012-05-31T00:00:00 type: EP 1R Committee
  • date: 2012-07-02T00:00:00 body: EP type: Indicative plenary sitting date, 1st reading/single reading
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  • body: EP shadows: group: EPP name: DE LANGE Esther group: S&D name: GARCÍA PÉREZ Iratxe group: Verts/ALE name: SMITH Alyn responsible: True committee: AGRI date: 2011-12-20T00:00:00 committee_full: Agriculture and Rural Development rapporteur: group: ECR name: WOJCIECHOWSKI Janusz
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: ENVI date: 2012-03-08T00:00:00 committee_full: Environment, Public Health and Food Safety rapporteur: group: GUE/NGL name: LIOTARD Kartika Tamara
  • body: EP responsible: False committee: TRAN date: 2012-02-06T00:00:00 committee_full: Transport and Tourism rapporteur: group: EPP name: DE GRANDES PASCUAL Luis
links
other
  • body: EC dg: url: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/index_en.htm title: Health and Consumers commissioner: DALLI John
procedure
dossier_of_the_committee
AGRI/7/08412
reference
2012/2031(INI)
title
Protection of animals during transport
legal_basis
Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament EP 048
stage_reached
Awaiting Parliament 1st reading / single reading / budget 1st stage
subtype
Initiative
type
INI - Own-initiative procedure
subject