The German Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMEL) has presented key parameters for a national regulation banning the transportation of animals to countries outside the EU and is now asking the EU Commission to examine their feasibility. The plan envisages making the export of live animals from Germany subject to an agreement in which the respective third countries undertake to comply with clearly defined animal welfare standards. This would put a stop to transports to third countries that violate animal welfare standards. Jürgen Plinz, Member of the Executive Committee of the German Animal Welfare Federation and Board Member of the Eurogroup for Animals, comments:
“Animal transports to countries outside the EU are pure cruelty to animals, on which unacceptable things are done to the animals. The federal government and the EU have been shifting responsibility for this for far too long.
We have repeatedly made it clear that a ban would also be feasible at national level via the German Animal Welfare Act, which has been denied to date. In this respect, it is to be welcomed that the BMEL is now taking the initiative here and pushing for clarification at EU level.
The future German government will no longer have any excuse for not putting an end to these atrocities as quickly as possible. Of course, the EU Parliament and EU Council must also make significant improvements to the draft for a new EU transport regulation. Until this happens, however, it is up to Germany to take responsibility and finally set our national animal welfare law as a clear benchmark for the trade in animals!”
The immense suffering of animals on long-distance transports has been proven many times over. The animals do not receive adequate care and support and there are repeated cases of transports getting stuck en route and the animals dying in agony. As recently as October 2024, a third country turned back a transport of pregnant cattle from Germany at the Bulgarian-Turkish land border. The animals died in the trucks over several weeks in immense pain and suffering. According to the EU Commission's current draft for a new EU transport regulation, a solution to the abuses is not planned. According to the German Animal Welfare Federation, it is therefore all the more important that Germany now introduces a nationwide regulation.
