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Slaughterhouses

Volume 508: debated on Wednesday 7 April 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many prosecutions have been brought for breaches of slaughterhouse regulations in each of the last five years. (325806)

The number of prosecutions cases brought by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for breaches of slaughterhouses regulations, by financial year, is as follows:

Number of cases

2007-08

22

2008-09

5

2009-10

2

Information in relation to each of the years from 2005 to 2007 could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many reports his Department received of breaches of regulations governing slaughtering practices in each of the last five years. (325807)

Breaches of regulations involving the welfare of animals at slaughter or killing on farm are investigated by Animal Health on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The number of breaches that were reported to Animal Health in each of the last five calendar years were:

Number

2005

45

2006

29

2007

19

2008

24

2009

12

Where slaughter takes place in a slaughterhouse, enforcement is undertaken by the Meat Hygiene Service. The number of cases referred to DEFRA Legal Services in the last five years (April to March) were:

Number

2005-06

29

2006-07

34

2007-08

17

2008-09

7

2009-10

5

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent reviews his Department has undertaken of the effectiveness of regulations governing slaughtering practices. (325808)

Slaughter practices involving the welfare of animals are currently governed by the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) Regulations 1995 (WASK) as amended. These regulations implement Council Directive 93/119/EC. This directive was reviewed by the Commission in 2008 and 2009 and as a result Council Regulation EC No. 1099/2009 was made on 24 September 2009. This regulation will apply from 1 January 2013 and will replace directive 93/119.

The new regulation will be directly applicable in the UK and requires every member state to establish penalties for infringements. We are currently reviewing how this will impact on WASK and will be consulting on the legislative changes required at the appropriate time.