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Article: Member states fail to follow EU rules on tail-docking of pigs
25 August 2020
Member states are required to implement minimum standards for
the protection of pigs, including a ban on routine tail-docking
(2008/120/EC), but only two governments have introduced such
prohibitive measures, according to the European Commission.
The news emerged after Swedish Member of the European Parliament
Fredrick Federley (European People's Party: EPP) asked the European
Commission to release information about its investigation into how
member states are implementing the EU rules on pig welfare.
In a written response, released on 12 August, the Commission
said that only Finland and Sweden have banned the routine tail
docking of pigs.
The 10-year old EU law states that "neither tail-docking nor
reduction of corner teeth must be carried out routinely but only
where there is evidence that injuries to sows' teats or to other
pigs' ears or tails have occurred".
The EU executive has been aware that EU member states were
failing to enforce this requirement for some time and ran a
three-year project from 2017 to 2019 to increase standards,
including a requirement of national governments to develop action
plans by the end of 2018.
But the Commission's response revealed that these plans lacked
adequate compliance criteria for one or more of the six
tail-docking risk factors, with the exception of Denmark.
EuroGroup for Animals, an umbrella organisation of different
welfare non-governmental (NGOs), criticised the level of ambition
of member states' action plans because it prevents intentions being
translated into political action.
"This cruelty has to stop," Reineke Hameleers, CEO of EuroGroup
for Animals, said on Twitter. "Infringement procedures are needed
to ensure compliance with EU requirements in all member
states."
In 2018, audits conducted in Germany, Spain and Denmark, found
well over 95% of piglets routinely being had their tails
docked.
In the Commission's response, which was given on behalf of Food
Safety Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, the EU executive defended
itself by saying it will push for higher animal welfare standards
as part of the Farm to Fork (F2F) Strategy.
This strategy aims to shape more sustainable agri-food supply
chains and "revise the animal welfare legislation, including on
animal transport and the slaughter of animals, to align it with the
latest scientific evidence, broaden its scope, make it easier to
enforce and ultimately ensure a higher level of animal
welfare".
The Commission is aiming for it to be ready in the last quarter
of 2023.
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