New measures on animal welfare spark controversy

Date: 02/04/1998

By Myles Neligan

A NEW EU law designed to ensure live cattle exported from the Union are treated humanely while in transit has disappointed animal welfare activists and looks set to anger livestock traders.

Under rules agreed in principle by ministers last year but not finalised until last week, the European Commission will refuse to pay export subsidies to traders who do not comply with existing animal welfare standards when transporting cattle to destinations beyond the Union borders.

EU veterinary agencies will carry out inspections both at the point where the animals leave Union territory, and at the final destination, to ensure traders and transporters comply with the rules.

However, the scheme's effectiveness depends on the goodwill of the authorities in the countries concerned, with EU officials powerless to force them to cooperate.

The measure owes its origins to the public outcry which followed a 1996 German television documentary on the mistreatment of animals exported to the Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and Libya.

Animal welfare organisations have accused the Commission of watering down the rules to avoid disputes with EU trading partners. "Though this is a step in the right direction, it does not strike us as a very realistic strategy," said Sonja van Tichelen of Eurogroup for Animal Welfare. "It depends entirely on the cooperation of the authorities in the importing countries, and how can this be guaranteed? We would prefer exports of live animals to be banned altogether."

Commission officials admitted they were anxious to avoid breaching World Trade Organisation rules by imposing Union animal welfare standards on non-EU countries.

In addition, some Union governments, including Italy, threatened to block the measure if it endangered their strong trading links with the four principal cattle importers.

"If the Commission wants EU animal welfare standards to apply to non-EU countries, then these should be written into bilateral trade agreements. But they cannot be imposed just like that," insisted one Italian diplomat.

Further controversy is likely to arise over funding for the new scheme. The Commission hopes that it will be financed through a combination of withheld export refunds and a flat-rate fee levied on exporters. This is likely to be extremely unpopular with EU livestock traders, who point out that complying with the new rules will require extra investment with no prospect of increased returns.

"We have grave reservations over certain aspects of these latest rules," said Anna Rancano of the EU Meat and Livestock Traders' Association.