Live Animal Transport: Closing the Gap Between EU
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© Jo Anne McArthur Live Animal Transport: Closing the Gap between EU Requirements and Enforcement A Collection of Academic Articles on Compliance with the EU Council Regulation 1/2005 on the Protection of Animals during Transport 1 Masthead Publisher VIER PFOTEN International - gemeinnützige Privatstiftung (non-profit private foundation) Linke Wienzeile 236 1150 Vienna | Austria phone: +43-1-545 50 20-0 fax: +43-1-545 50 20-99 [email protected] www.four-paws.org Authors Dr. jur. Christoph Maisack District Court Judge Office of the State Commissioner for Animal Welfare Hessian Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Agriculture and Consumer Protection Mainzer Straße 80 65189 Wiesbaden Dr. med. vet. Alexander Rabitsch Veterinary surgeon Veterinary practice Rosental Waldstrasse 13 A-9170 Ferlach Lecturer Dr. Wolfgang Wessely, LL.M. Institute for Constitutional and Administrative Law University of Vienna Schottenbastei 10-16 A-1010 Vienna Graphic Design Roman Richter Translation Connect Translations Austria GmbH Eurogroup for Animals Susanne Ramharter Post-Editing Alex Ion, www.growgrow.at Print gugler print Auf der Schön 2 3390 Melk/Donau Austria Paper: This magazine is a Cradle to Cradle TM certified print product. Using specially designed inks made from vegetable oils, it was printed without using pollutants on Pureprint Nature white paper, with a climate-positive impact. Due to the fast pace of the Internet, it may happen that some of the links listed are no longer available. In this case we ask for your understanding. Content Foreword 4 On Compliance with Driving Times and Rest Periods for Drivers in Connection with the Long-Distance Transport of Animals 6 Consequences from the Verdict of the European Court of Justice on Rest Periods during Animal Transport 31 Animal Transports – Prolongation of the Journey Time by Illegal “Hopping” between Assembly Centres 38 Official Approval of Long-Distance, Border-Crossing Animal Transports 47 Testing the Plausibility (Art. 14(1) (a), (ii)) in the Framework of Official Permits of Long-Distance, Border-Crossing Animal Transports 61 Addendum to the Essay “On Plausibility Checks According to Art. 14 (1) (a) (ii) of the EU Animal Transport Regulation Regarding the Official Approval of Long-Distance, Border-Crossing Animal Transports in Third Countries“ 72 On the Interpretation of the Terms “Journey“ within the Meaning of Art. 2 (j) and “Journey Time“ within the Meaning of Annex I Chapter V No. 1.2 to 1.9 of Regulation 1/2005 on the Protection of Animals during Transport 75 Transports of Cattle and Sheep in Animal Welfare High-Risk Countries Continue 91 Current Problems with the Handling / Authorization of Long Cross-Border Animal Transports in the Light of ECJ Rulings C-424/13 and C-383/16 113 3 Foreword Dear Readers, FOUR PAWS is pleased to share with you this compilation of translations of important articles on the live transport of animals published in professional journals. These articles were published between 2012 – 2020 and highlight many of the most discussed animal welfare issues and legal violations linked to live animal transport. The analyses and findings bring clarity to measures that need to be taken to improve enforcement of EU law on transport. Live animal transport is linked to immense suffering, a first step to reduce the suffering is ensure proper implementation of EU law. As an animal welfare organization, that reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them, FOUR PAWS strongly believes that on the short term, transports should be limited to a maximum of 8 hours (4 hours for poultry) and that the transport of unweaned animals needs to stop. The upcoming revision of the Regulation 1/2005 must include stronger safeguards to minimize and prevent animal suffering as a result of live animal transport. Moreover, the EU needs to transition away from the transport of live animals and towards the transport of meat, carcasses and genetic material. Until such measures are in place, good and consequent enforcement of existing legislation on transport must be ensured. The articles collected in this publication are a helpful guide towards a better, and more uniform interpretation of law on live animal transport. We hope that these translations will help you in your daily work towards a successful implementation of EU law and ultimately towards ensuring an end to the suffering of animals during live animal transport. Dr. Martina Stephany Farm Animals & Nutrition Director at FOUR PAWS 4 The important responsibility of enforcing European law primarily lies with the EU Member States. However, the European Commission, as guardian of the Treaties, also plays a major role in ensuring that Member States respect EU Law. The Council Regulation 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport provides a uniform frame for how transport across the European Union is to be implemented and regulated. Reports from DG Sante and various investigations by NGOs showed, that proper enforcement is lacking across Europe and different national interpretations of legislation led to the regulation being handled like a directive in the past years. The articles in this volume summarize information on consequences from the Court of Justice ruling on resting periods for animals and drivers, as well as transport planning; illegal hopping between assembly centers; important considerations for plausibility checks when approving transports to third countries; implications of the regulation harmonizing social provisions for road traffic on transport planning as well as specifications on journey time; requirements for control posts; and problems that need to be considered when approving transports to countries where basic welfare principles are likely to be disregarded. We hope this resource assists you in ensuring the improved enforcement of EU regulation on the protection of animals during transport. Pierre Sultana Director European Policy Office at FOUR PAWS 5 © FOUR PAWS FOUR © On Compliance with Driving Times and Rest Periods for Drivers in Connection with the Long-Distance Transport of Animals Originally published as “Zur Beachtung der Lenk- und Ruhezeiten der Fahrer im Zusammenhang mit Langstreckentransporten von Tieren” in: Amtstierärztlicher Dienst und Lebensmittelkontrolle, issue no. 19 – 2/2012, p. 99-109 Authors: Alexander Rabitsch and Wolfgang Wessely 6Translation courtesy of Eurogroup for Animals Key words Social legislation; driving and rest periods; live animal transport; animal transport regulation; animal welfare Summary The mandatory application of social legislation governing drivers significantly affects the transport of animals by road. With the exception of the (shorter distance) transportation of unweaned calves, lambs, kids, foals and piglets, only multi-manning with three drivers permits a journey compliant with the regulations whilst being close to the maximum permitted journey times. The organiser is responsible for making appropriate arrangements for the journey, whilst the official veterinarian is responsible for checking the suitability of the journey arrangements. 1. Introduction In Regulation (EC) 561/20061, Union legislators (as previously in Regulation [EEC] 3820/851) harmonised certain social provisions concerning road traffic, in particular the longest permissible driving times and the minimum requirement for driver rest periods. Since 5 January 2007, the essential parts of Regulation (EC) 1/20051 have regulated the transport of live vertebrate animals within the Union in connection with economic activity, namely the maximum permissible journey times for the animals as well as official checks within and at the external borders of the European Union. The aim of this paper is to draw focus on the common areas between the two Regulations and thereby primarily to fully examine the time limits for animal transportation arising from the breadth of all applicable Regulations. In addition, this paper pursues the issue of the scope and level of control as set out in Art. 14 Reg (EC) 1/2005 as well as issues concerning the responsibility of the official veterinarian acting in the case of any shortcomings which may arise in this regard. We first present an overview of the provisions of the aforementioned Regulations which are significant for the subsequent considerations, namely the respective legal definitions. 2. Regulation (EC) 561/2006 2.1. Scope Reg (EC) 561/2006 concerns amongst other things the transportation of goods using vehicles with a maxi- mum weight, including trailer or semi-trailer, exceeding 3.5 tonnes and applies irrespective of the country of registration of the vehicle for road journeys within the Union or between the Union, Switzerland and signatory countries to the Agreement on the European Economic Area (Art. 2 [1] and [2] of the Regulation). For road journeys taking place in part or in whole outside of the aforementioned areas, the European Agreement Concerning the Work of Crews of Vehicles Engaged in International Road Transport (AETR) applies insofar as this concerns signatory states to this agreement. 1 See literature: Legal norms 7 The provisions of the AETR are similar to those of Reg (EC) 561/2006 (see http://treaties.un.org; http://beck-online.beck.de). 2.2. Responsibility of the Transporter The Regulation in question concerns on the one hand the vehicle crew (Chapter II). On the other hand, the law also places a duty upon the transporter (Chapter III) to organise the work of the vehicle crew in such a way that they are able to comply with the social provisions. The drivers must duly be instructed to comply with the provisions of this Regulation and of Reg (EEC) No. 3821/851 and regular checks must be carried out to ensure that this is the case (Art. 10 [2]). As a final step, the Regulation expands the circle of responsibility to include certain participants in the journey process to a certain degree. According to Art. 10 [4], undertakings, consignors, freight forwarders, tour operators, principal contractors, subcontractors and driver employment agencies shall ensure that contractually agreed transport time schedules respect this Regulation. 2.3. Definition of Terms 2.3.1.