Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-01-15-Speech-4-009"
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"en.20090115.2.4-009"2
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"Mr President, let us first of all look at the background to this. The eight-hour mandatory time limit for animals in transport was agreed in December 2004 and entered into force in January 2007 across all 27 Member States, with special derogations applying to longer journeys where it could be demonstrated that vehicle standards had been upgraded, providing animals with access to water, temperature control, adequate ventilation, and where frequent rest periods were incorporated into the journey time.
Special derogations were also permitted for remote rural areas and islands, like Orkney and Shetland in my own constituency, for instance, where longer journey times are unavoidable. In these cases, however, special bedded units with access to water have been designed so that the animals can be transported in relative comfort. In addition, a complete transport ban was introduced on certain animals such as calves under 10 days old and lambs less than one week old.
I report with some satisfaction that these transport rules have been strictly observed, particularly in countries like Scotland, where we continue to maintain some of the highest levels of best practice in the whole of the EU. But I am concerned at reports that, as Neil Parish has told us, these rules are not being similarly observed in other parts of the EU, particularly in some of the southern Mediterranean Member States and in some of the new East European accession states and particularly, again as Neil Parish stressed, where the transport of horses for slaughter is concerned.
Animal welfare NGOs are still producing evidence of horrific abuse, with horses and sometimes other livestock being transported over vast distances in searing heat, with no access to water or proper ventilation, with no rest periods, packed into overcrowded trucks. As their journeys progress, these animals become increasingly exhausted and dehydrated, some succumb to heat stress and can be seen desperately panting and gasping for air and, in the worst cases, many die. This practice has to be stopped and strict adherence to the regulation must be observed in all Member States.
I support the terms of Neil Parish’s oral question today, which seeks to check on the level of compliance with these measures. I hope that the Commission can now provide us with this information and reassure us that steps are being taken to ensure the rigorous implementation of the eight-hour transportation limit for animals, with the appropriate derogations that I mentioned, and to stop the cruel breach of the existing EU regulations that still goes on."@en1
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