EHJ February 2005, pages 34-35

This month, Tina Garrity reports on a new regulation that improves the requirements for transporting live animals

One of the requirements of the EU's new constitution is that the EU and all member states consider animal welfare conditions when formulating and implementing EU policies. This takes forward commitments made under the main EU treaty, which contains a special protocol on animal welfare. There are a number of EU legal instruments governing aspects of animal welfare, notably in terms of the transport and slaughter of animals. The subject arouses great passion among many EU citizens and the rules have been amended several times over the years to try and improve the conditions in which Europe's animals are reared and slaughtered.

The UK is seen as having a good record when it comes to the transportation of animals. In 2001, EU Food and Veterinary Office inspectors praised the procedures developed in the UK as being an example of good practice when compared to similar controls adopted by other member states. One of the problems with the 1991 animal transport directive has been differing levels of implementation across the EU. This, together with a need to amend the directive to take into account the recently revised European convention for the protection of animals during international transport, has prompted the commission to repeal the original directive and replace it with a regulation that will apply directly across the EU.

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

The overriding principle laid down in the new regulation is that "no person shall transport animals or cause animals to be transported in a way likely to cause injury or undue suffering to them". Several conditions have to be met for animals to be transported. These are:

• all necessary arrangements must be made in advance to minimise journey length and meet animals' needs during the journey
• the animals must be fit for the journey
• the means of transport and loading/unloading facilities must be designed, constructed, maintained and operated so as to avoid injury and suffering and ensure the safety of the animals
• personnel handling animals must be trained or competent as appropriate for this purpose and must conduct their tasks without using violence or any method likely to cause unnecessary fear, injury or suffering
• transportation must be conducted without delay to the place of destination and the welfare conditions of the animals must be regularly checked and appropriately maintained
• sufficient floor area and height must be provided for the animals, appropriate to their size and the intended journey
• water, feed and rest must be offered to the animals at suitable intervals and must be appropriate in quality and quantity to their species and size.

TRANSPORTERS' OBLIGATIONS

All transporters, except those undertaking journeys of less than 65km, must be authorised by the competent authority and must comply with a set of technical rules set out in annex I to the regulation, governing issues such as feeding and watering, space sizes, handling practices, ventilation, temperature etc. Some of these rules also apply to animal keepers at places of departure, transfer and destination and to animal assembly centres.

Conditions for obtaining authorisation include not having any animal welfare convictions in the previous three years and demonstrating that sufficient staff and resources are available to comply with the law. Requirements for the documentation to be carried alongside consignments are detailed. Journey organisers have to ensure that animal welfare is not compromised through a poor co-ordination of different parts of the journey and that weather conditions are taken into account.

All consignments must be accompanied by an attendant except where the driver performs this duty or where the containers used are secured, adequately ventilated and, where necessary, contain enough food and water in non-tippable dispensers for a journey of twice the anticipated length. Personnel handling animals must be trained in accordance with rules set out in a separate annex.

LONG JOURNEYS

A separate authorisation procedure applies to transporters conducting long journeys, defined as a journey, which exceeds eight hours from when the first animal of the consignment is moved. Drivers and attendants must have a certificate of competence and transporters must provide a valid certificate of approval for their means of transport, in accordance with rules set out in the regulation. A journey log must be prepared for each journey, the contents of which are laid down in annex II of the regulation and contingency plans for emergencies must be submitted.

DUTIES OF COMPETENT AUTHORITIES

Chapter II of the regulation covers the duties of competent authorities. These include authorising transporters, issuing certificates of competence and means of transport approvals and conducting checks on consignments undergoing long journeys. Authorisations must be recorded in an electronic database and the transporter's name and authorisation number has to be made publicly available. Training courses must be provided for personnel involved in transportation and at assembly centres, which cover EU legal requirements on animal welfare. These courses must include topics such as animal physiology, the impact of driving behaviour on welfare and on meat quality, emergency animal care and personnel safety.

The new regulation contains a section on the prevention of delays during transportation and goes on to detail measures to be taken in response to non-compliance. Any action taken must be proportionate to the seriousness of the risks. Costs may be recovered in an appropriate manner. Where no alternative action can be taken to remedy the situation, the animals must be humanely killed or euthanised. The competent authorities have the power to permit transportation to continue in breach of the regulation but must issue approval for this. Any infringements must be notified to the authorising competent authority, which must then take appropriate action against the transporter. Member states have the right to temporarily prohibit the transportation of animals in their territory by transporters authorised in another member state where there are repeated or serious infringements, provided all efforts at mutual assistance and information exchange have been exhausted.

Non-discriminatory inspections of animals, means of transport and documentation must be conducted on an adequate proportion of animals transported each year to verify compliance with the regulation. These must be increased where non-compliance is detected. Each year, every member state must submit an annual report on inspection to the commission. EU veterinary experts may conduct on-spot checks with the collaboration of the competent authorities. The commission will encourage the development of good practice guides at national and at EU level.

The existing animal transport directive - directive 91/628/EEC - will be repealed from 5 January 2007, as will regulation No 411/98 which applies to road vehicles used for journeys exceeding eight hours.

Council regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and amending directives 64/432/EEC and 93/119/EC and regulation (EC) No 1255/97. OJ L 3. 05.01.05

http://europa.eu.int/eurlex/lex/LexUriServ/site/en/oj/2005/l_003/l_00320050105en00010044.pdf