The EU Court of Justice ruled on Tuesday 26 February that the European organic production label cannot be applied to meat from ritual slaughter without prior stunning, on the grounds that this method does not meet the “highest standards of animal welfare”.
In this case (C-497/17), the Court ruled on the dispute brought before the French courts by the Œuvre d'assistance aux bêtes d'abattoir (OABA). [Support for the welfare of animals in abattoirs] association. The final judgment will be delivered by the Administrative Court of Appeal of Versailles (France), which had requested the opinion of the EU Court of Justice.
However, the latter contradicts the Advocate General's conclusions, which suggested, on the contrary, that products from animals that have been ritually slaughtered without prior stunning could be labelled with the European ‘organic farming’ label (see EUROPE 12100).
The European judges note that Community legislation on the labelling of organic products emphasises the “desire to ensure a level of animal welfare in this means of production”. On the one hand, the Court recalls that “scientific studies have established that stunning is the technique that least affects animal welfare at the time of slaughter”.
On the other hand, it stresses that ritual slaughter without prior stunning, authorised in the EU by way of derogation in order to ensure freedom of religion, "does not make it possible to reduce the suffering of the animal to a minimum”. Consequently, the Court considers that “EU legal rules do not allow the EU organic production logo to be affixed to products derived from animals that have been ritually slaughtered without prior stunning”.
The Court points out that, although slaughter without prior stunning requires a precise incision to the throat using a sharp knife to limit the animal's suffering as much as possible, the use of such a technique does not make it possible to reduce the animal's suffering to a minimum. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)