On Friday 19 April, the European Commission published a delegated regulation amending certain specific hygiene requirements applicable to certain meat, fishery, dairy and egg products.
These new rules (https://aeur.eu/f/bvd ) aim to authorise the slaughter of certain animals on farms, subject to strict conditions.
One of the aims of on-farm slaughtering is to avoid any risk to the handler and to prevent injury to the animals during transport. The measures are therefore aimed at free-range animals.
The new rules allow on-farm stunning and bleeding for sheep and goats, with slaughter now authorised for any pig, cattle, horse, sheep or goat, provided that the restriction relating to a possible risk to the person handling the animal or to the animal is lifted. Strict hygiene rules will also apply (official veterinarian). Measures have already been taken in the past to resolve these problems, notably with the introduction of mobile abattoirs. The stunning and bleeding of a limited number of cattle, pigs and horses on farms, under certain conditions, has also been authorised, if the slaughter of the animals is permitted. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)