Help for Smaller Abattoirs Proposed

by 5m Editor
25 March 2009, at 10:53am

EU - The European Commission should ensure that meat imported from non-European Union countries meets European standards, said MEPs at a meeting of the European Parliament agriculture committee.

The MEPs were also keen that small-scale slaughterhouses in Europe should get a derogation on the appointment of an animal welfare officer.

The committee gave its support to a Commission proposal seeking to replace the 1993 directive on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter with a new harmonised regulation.

Every year 360m pigs, cattle, sheep and goats are slaughtered in the European Union, along with 4 billion poultry birds and 25 million animals reared for fur.