The European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry will vote on 2 December on the draft report by Isabel Carvalhais (S&D, Portugal) and Daniel Buda (EPP, Romania) regarding the protection of animals during transport, said committee chair Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA, Luxembourg) on Monday 6 September.
On Monday, the Committee of Inquiry on the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT) discussed the more than 1,200 amendments to the draft report and draft resolution on this issue (https://bit.ly/3h9xTNf ).
Daniel Buda pointed out that there was a need to assess the issues and find solutions for animal transport. Recommendations will then be made to the European Commission. He spoke of how it was necessary to find solutions on checks, which he said must be more robust. Amendments have been requested to limit transport to 4 consecutive hours, “which is very complicated”, admitted Mr Buda. Temperature is a complex issue and what is foreseen in the current regulation seems “to be quite correct” (temperature ceiling), according to the rapporteur.
It will be necessary to “reconcile the different points of view” within the European Parliament, acknowledged the other rapporteur, Isabel Carvalhais. Compromise amendments will need to be tabled, the MEP noted.
We need the highest standards of animal welfare, argued Billy Kelleher (Renew Europe, Ireland).
The duration of trips should be limited, said Thomas Waitz (Greens/EFA, Austria).
His group is calling on the European Commission to limit journeys to an absolute maximum of 8 hours, regardless of the mode of transport used (including 4 hours for poultry, rabbits and animals at the end of their productive lives).
The Greens/EFA Group is calling on the Commission and Member States to create the necessary conditions for a transition to take place by 2025 regarding the transport of live and sensitive animals, and the transport of animal products in the form of carcasses, meat products and genetic material. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)