Questions in the Lords on exports of non-stunned animals

Wednesday, 12 December 2018 15:45

In the House of Lords today, Lord Trees asked whether a recent trade deal to supply 50,000 lambs killed without stunning to Saudi Arabia was consistent with the government's commitment to maintain animal welfare standards after Brexit. He called on the government to halt exports of halal meat until animal welfare and farming organisations, regulatory authorities and UK halal authorities had reached agreement to follow procedures similar to the New Zealand model. Farmers could then export with...Request free trial

Speaking for the government, Baroness Vere of Norbiton replied that the government would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but derogations had existed for Muslim and Jewish authorities since the 1930s. “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to ensure we have the highest standards of animal welfare whilst ensuring freedom of religious expression.”

Baroness Fookes (a campaigner on this subject for many years) asked for the government to ban exports of all animals without pre-stunning. Baroness Vere said the UK was governed by EU regulations. But the UK had stricter national rules which provided for the types of stunning which could be carried out and set out exactly what should happen if an animal was to be slaughtered without stunning.

Baroness Bakewell said it was incomprehensible that the contract to supply 50,000 lamb carcasses to Saudi Arabia allowed for slaughter without pre-stunning. Other EU countries had measures to ensure that animals slaughtered without stunning was for their domestic markets only. The minister said she was not aware of a contract to export 50,000 sheep to Saudi Arabia. An export health certificate had been issued but not used.

Lord Rooker pointed out that all New Zealand lamb imported into the EU was Halal. Baroness Vere agreed there was no one national authority which certified halal meat, which was part of the problem. The government had committed to working with stakeholders and religious authorities to look at the research around recoverability from stunning and whether it fell within religious guidelines.

Lord Singh of Wimbledon asked about meat provided in schools; Baroness McIntosh asked about halal meat mislabelled as ‘normal meat’; and Lord Winston congratulated the government for its sensitivities to religious minorities.