On 4th September, the European Commission published a report on “the overall operation of official controls carried out in Member States (2022) to ensure the application of food and feed law, rules on animal health and welfare, plant health and plant protection products”. This report, along with a companion working document, highlights the administrative sanctions for animal welfare, and legal action due to animal welfare issues in the EU. The Commission also highlighted areas of improvement, such as training and supervision of official veterinarians in low-volume slaughter facilities and standardised indicators of animal welfare at the on-farm level. In the EU in 2022, there were over 1600 judicial actions required for animal welfare sanctions. 

The accompanying working report outlines the number and type of sanctions of official controls per species, where possible. Transportation sanctions for cattle were mostly due to the fitness of the animals, the means of transport was the main reason for  sanctions with the transport of sheep and goats whereas, the transportation documentation was the main issue for the transport of horses. Reports of animal welfare at time of slaughter varied between Member States. 

To access the Commission report, please follow this link: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52024DC0388 

To access the English Working report, please follow this link: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52024SC0208