Animal transport talks collapse
The Irish Farmers Association (IFA) expressed disappointment at the failure of the EU Farm Council to reach agreement on animal transport and live exports, an industry worth up to €250 million to Ireland.
Farm animal welfare group Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) welcomed the collapse of the talks.
However, it also expressed disappointment that the EU Farm Council was unable to agree animal welfare reforms, particularly in regard to short journeys.
CIWF said that responsibility for the lack of agreement lies with both the European Commission and the Irish presidency.
“The commission’s proposal was poor and the Irish Presidency proposal was so bad that it actually took us several steps backwards,” Mary-Anne Bartlett, director of CIWF-Ireland said.
“Despite being told that their proposals gave animals less protection than the existing EU Directive in significant ways, the Commission and the Irish Presidency still failed to put anything on the table that could genuinely lead to improvements and which would therefore be acceptable to animal welfare-friendly EU countries,” she said.
CIWF has now called on the Commission and the Agriculture Council to put in place interim measures that will improve the enforcement of the existing EU animal transport directive and will require compulsory training for drivers of livestock vehicles.
“Enforcement has always been a major problem in this trade with exporters, including those carrying Irish animals, blatantly disregarding the rules,” Ms Bartlett said.
IFA National Livestock Committee chairman John Bryan, who was in Luxembourg for the talks, said this was a lost opportunity to improve animal welfare and protect the important and legitimate live export trade.
He said the discussions broke down because of the unwillingness of those with extreme views to enter into a reasonable compromise being facilitated by the Irish Presidency.
“Major work was undertaken by Minister Joe Walsh and the Irish Presidency to secure a balanced agreement on this issue but regrettably the extremists’ views blocked progress,” he said.
Mr Bryan said the important live export trade from Ireland will continue under current regulations which ensure a very high standard of animal welfare.
The IFA Livestock farmers’ leader pointed out that Ireland exports between 200,000 and 400,000 head of livestock annually to both EU and international markets.
He said the main European markets for Irish exports are Spain, Italy and Holland and the main international market is the Lebanon.
