Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-15-Speech-4-023"
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"Mr President, in terms of legislation, we are looking at a relatively new regulation on the protection of animals during transport, because it only came into operation in January 2007. While I think we would all hope that everybody was compliant from day one with the many demands of this regulation, it would be quite miraculous were that the case, because it is very detailed and makes huge demands – and rightly so – on Member States and operators.
I welcome today’s oral question by Neil Parish, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, because we want to see whether this regulation works. However, we need, first of all, to know that it is being implemented, because we care about how animals are moved around the European Union.
For countries like Ireland with a huge livestock sector, there has been an enormous amount of work done to implement this from day one, both within the sector itself and on the part of those who monitor – the Department of Agriculture and other authorities. Licensed operators have invested large amounts of money to upgrade their transporters and to meet the training and competence requirements of this regulation. In fact, I note that, just this month in Ireland, a number of training courses are under way for drivers of vehicles transporting cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses and poultry – a point raised by Ms Jeggle – and perhaps other Member States need to do the same.
It is interesting that the regulation applies only to the transport of animals undertaken in connection with an economic activity. I have a concern that we ignore the welfare of domestic pets, because I have seen examples of people who think that they know how to look after animals doing very badly on that front and yet, very often, these are the same people who insist on particular rules for farming and for economic activity. That is an area we need to look at.
I believe that, in general, established transporters of animals are licensed and authorised and comply with best welfare standards – because it is in their vital interests to do so: they need to transport animals to arrive in good condition so that they meet the needs of those who are purchasing. The problem is with the unregulated sector, where some people are untouched by these rules, and that is what we need to focus on. Who are the people who are outside the box, and how can we catch them and put them out of business?
Let me say in relation to time limits and the eight-hour rule that the reason why Europe had a real problem in getting this regulation into place was because many Member States, including Ireland, know that we need to transport our animals for longer durations, but we also know how to look after them in so doing. So I would disagree with those who want to reduce the time duration, but I agree that we need to make sure that welfare is a priority.
On horses, I often say to myself that I wish I were a thoroughbred, because they travel first class. Obviously, people look after animals with a high economic value, and in the economic downturn we are going through, I worry about the welfare of horses, full stop. I would say: no more rules. We have perhaps too many already that are choking the sector that is complying with them. But let us apply the rules to everybody, and let us get those who are not meeting the rules out of the system."@en1
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