Compassion in World Farming welcomes the UK Government’s continued commitment to ban live exports, as demonstrated by the new animal welfare standards introduced today. There is some progress on improving welfare in transport, as set out by these proposals, but it is “not enough.”

Whilst the measures published today will mandate shorter journey times for livestock, the proposals don’t go far enough, and many animals will still be subject to unnecessarily long journeys. 

A stain on British farming standards

James West, Senior Policy Manager at Compassion in World Farming, said:

“Compassion in World Farming welcomes some of the measures announced today, which will begin improving conditions for animals subjected to live transport within England and Wales. Unfortunately, the proposals do not go far enough and, even when these new rules are introduced, animals will still be forced to endure stressful journeys in cramped conditions.

“The cruel and outdated trade in live exports for slaughter and fattening has been a stain on British farm animal welfare standards for far too long and we are delighted that the Government will proceed with a proposed ban.

“Other measures announced today are a step in the right direction, such as limiting journey times for calves to 9 hours, four hours for poultry and setting a maximum temperature of 25°C in which sheep and cattle can be transported.

“However, many of the other commitments do not go far enough. It is unacceptable that animals destined for slaughter and fattening could be subject to journeys of up to 21 hours. There should be no need for such excessively long journeys in the UK and these maximum time limits must be reduced significantly.

“While some of the proposed measures will make transport less stressful for animals, there is a long way to go before we can genuinely claim that the welfare of all animals in transport is being protected. We look forward to continuing to work with Government to achieve that aim.”

For more information, please email Media.Team@ciwf.org.