Today, the European Parliament adopted its report on animal transport, and thereby sends a list of recommendations to the European Commission who is currently reviewing the rules on animal transport.
NLA is very pleased to see that the Parliament is calling for a more clear division of responsibility between farmer and transporter. This will ensure that only animals that are fit for transport will actually be transported and thereby animal welfare stand to be improved. NLA has called for this measure since the ANIT Committee started its work and now encourage the Commission to listen to MEPs and take this concrete suggestion on board.
“This is a very important step in the direction of improving welfare for transported animals. Hauliers and animal transporters have for years been faced with difficult situations where the driver and the hauliers were held responsible for existing bruises or injuries that happened on the farm prior to the transport. This is of course unacceptable to all and detrimental to animal welfare. Introducing a more logical division of responsibility will help greatly in avoiding these cases”, says NLA CEO Torsten Laksafoss Holbek.
“The farmer who knows the history of the animals and has a real opportunity to observe them, will thus be given the responsibility of ensuring that animals are actually fit for transport. The transporter should in turn bear full responsibility for the loading and the unloading of the animals, in addition to the condition and legality of the vehicle, the correct training and instruction of the driver and the quality of driving. We now look forward to the dialogue with the Commission so we can ensure that the Parliament’s recommendation is taken on board in the revised rules.” A majority of the Parliament moreover rejected a proposal to introduce a general limit on the transport of all animals to 8 hours.
