Brussels, 03.12.21. On the occasion of the vote of the Committee of Inquiry into the Protection of Animals during Transport (ANIT) on new guidelines for animal transports, ÖDP MEP Manuela Ripa has once again spoken out clearly for clearer rules and better animal welfare. “We need a clear limitation of transport times to a maximum of eight hours,” the Saarland MEP emphasised, adding: “So far, animals may be transported for up to 29 hours in sometimes very confined spaces, and no living creature should have to endure that.”

In the ANIT committee, numerous improvements for the situation of animals during future transports were decided, but it was precisely the limitation of the maximum duration that did not find a majority. ÖDP MEP Ripa said: “The decision does not go far enough. We, as the Greens/EFA group, now hope that the Parliament in plenary will once again clearly advocate a concretisation and better protection of the animals”.

The plenary vote is scheduled for January 2022. The EU Parliament had set up the ANIT Committee last December. Its purpose is to monitor possible breaches of rules on the transport of animals and to ensure that the Commission enforces the directives properly.

Manuela Ripa advocates that animal transports should generally be avoided wherever possible. “Pasture slaughter or on-site slaughter should be given urgent priority,” stresses the MEP from the Ecological Democratic Party. “It should be the meat that is transported, not the live animal. We must work to improve and facilitate the possibilities of on-site slaughter. In discussions with farmers, numerous obstacles became clear that urgently need to be removed,” Ripa concludes.

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