Higher animal welfare and improved animal husbandry
techniques serve to prevent diseases, as they lower the
risk of an animal becoming ill. They reduce the need to use
antimicrobials and they often deliver better production
results, MEPs say in a non-legislative resolution, which
winds up the 4 October plenary debate.
MEPs therefore urge the EU Commission and member states, as
a first step, to ensure a harmonised implementation and
full enforcement of the 2007
Broilers Directive, which lays down minimum EU
standards for the protection of chickens kept for meat
production. They recognise efforts made by farmers all
across the EU to increase the welfare of chickens kept for
meat production, but they also note that only two thirds of
member states have properly implemented the EU rules.
The EU’s executive should then:
- draw up a roadmap to support competitive and
sustainable poultry meat production and breeding which
ensures higher welfare,
- encourage uptake of alternative rearing systems for
broiler chickens,
- enhance the research into the antimicrobial resistance
and ensure that preventive measures such as disease
surveillance and controls are carried out effectively by
member states, and
- reinforce controls of poultry meat imports from non-EU
countries to ensure their compliance with EU animal
welfare, food safety and environmental rules.
The Parliament also wants mandatory labelling of the origin
of imported meat in EU processed products in the retail,
catering and food services and calls on the Commission to
come up with a legislative proposal to this end. MEPs also
suggest introducing an EU method of production marking of
broiler chickens that would be similar to the existing one
for eggs.
The resolution was approved by 409 votes in favour to 19
against and two abstentions.
Background
The EU is a major global producer of broiler chickens, with
approximately 7 billion of them slaughtered for food
purposes. The poultry sector, including roughly 23.000
large farms, employs over a quarter of a million people in
Europe.
The latest special Eurobarometer on animal welfare shows
that more than 50 % of EU citizens look for information on
the production method when buying animal products. More
than 80 % of EU citizens want the welfare of farmed animals
to be enhanced.
Around 25 % of the breast poultry meat consumed in the EU
is imported from non-EU countries with less strict
legislation on animal welfare. Most of this meat is used in
food services or food processing where mandatory meat
labelling does not apply.
Type of document: Non-legislative resolution
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