MEPs want eight hours limit for transport of livestock

THE European Parliament came out strongly against live exports on Tuesday by voting through a proposal to make it illegal to transport animals for more than eight hours.

This will enter the melting pot of proposals to be considered by the EU Farm Ministers council meeting in Luxembourg on April 26.

The original proposal to improve the welfare of transported animals was tabled by the European Commission in July 2003.

It suggested that after nine hours transport time, all animals should automatically get 12 hours rest, and proposed improved ventilation and access to food and water on long journeys.

Earlier this month the Irish government, which holds the rotating EU presidency, tabled a compromise proposal which would give animals only two hours rest after nine hours travelling, and imposes no maximum time limit on journeys.

According to sources in Brussels, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain are opposed to any tightening of the current rules.

Mediterranean countries generally have fewer slaughter houses than northern European countries, and so they favour longer transport times for live animals.

There are also concerns over the ability of ten new member states to meet animal welfare standards when they join the EU on May 1.

But Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Austria all want a finite limit on animal transport times.

Germany, the Netherlands and the UK are thought to be neutral or undecided on how to vote in the council meeting on April 26.

Animal rights groups are trying to persuade them to block the Irish compromise proposal. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) said the proposal tabled by Agriculture Minister Joe Walsh was "appalling" and "absolutely disastrous".