The blockade of the Suez Canal reopens the debate on the maritime transport of farm animals
Hundreds of sheep embarked at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay - Illustrative image.
MIGUEL ROJO AFP / File
Text by: Jeanne Bartoli
7 mins
This is a consequence of the grounding of the huge container ship Ever Given in the Suez Canal: 422 ships and 26 million tonnes of goods stranded for six days.
On board some boats, tens of thousands of animals, transported in unworthy sanitary conditions.
Associations and elected officials are asking the European Union to ban the transport of live animals outside the European area.
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Some 130,000 sheep crammed day and night onto several dilapidated ships stationed in the Suez Canal.
In recent days, the fate of tens of thousands of ovids, coming from Romania and bound for the Middle East, has moved animal rights associations.
“
We quickly saw the disaster happen because we are monitoring the comings and goings of all the livestock freighters.
In total, it is estimated that 180,000
to 200,000
animals were stranded at sea,
”
explains Adeline Colonat, project manager at the NGO Welfarm, who was able to recover photos from one of these. ships, the
Harmony
, departed from Midia, Romania on March 19 and arrived two weeks later in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Cattle trailers, garbage ships
This is not the first time that animal shipments have been put at risk.
A few weeks ago, nearly 2,000 calves were slaughtered by the Spanish authorities in Cartagena after wandering for more than two months at sea. In November 2019, the capsize of the
Queen Hind
in the Black Sea had caused her an unprecedented disaster. with the death of more than 14,000 sheep transported from Romania to Saudi Arabia.
► To read also: Will the accident of the Suez Canal influence globalization?
Disasters which are not surprising in view of the condition of most of the livestock vessels in circulation.
Old freighters, reconverted with the help of some modifications, they must nevertheless obtain an approval in Europe to be able to launch their activity.
“The problem is that the approval is given by the veterinary authorities of each country.
In some cases, checks take three days, in others three hours, ”
points out the NGO Welfarm.
In France, these cattle drivers take to the sea almost exclusively from the port of Sète, in the Hérault, regularly in the sights of animal rights associations.
Maritime transport, a blind spot for European legislation
“Transporting animals by sea is really an omerta. If there are ten animals that die on board, the owner does not have to warn the exporter, no one has any responsibility. So the dead animals are quite simply thrown overboard,
”denounces Adeline Colonat, from the NGO Welfarm, who stresses that
“ for years, we have been calling for the improvement of means of transport but we can clearly see that with exports outside the European Union, that is not possible, there is no tracing
”.
Like several other NGOs, Welfarm is now calling for an outright ban on these exports.
This is because European legislation on the transport of live animals has many loopholes and remains difficult to enforce today, even within the European space.
Controls which become almost non-existent as soon as the animals leave the European Union.
Last summer, a commission of inquiry into the transport of farm animals was set up to point out the shortcomings of the current legislation.
Caroline Roose, committee coordinator for the Verts-ALE group, denounces a legal vacuum:
“
For the European Union, the time of transport at sea is considered as a time of rest, it is incomprehensible!
We absolutely have to revise the regulations.
There are no veterinarians on board these boats, the transporters have not trained in loading animals.
"
.
The MEP pleads for a reform of the legislation and the ban on the transport of live cattle to countries outside the European Union:
“I am in favor of transporting carcasses, meat, not live animals.
"
Important economic opportunities for Europe
Each year, the European Union continues to export by sea more than 2.8 million cattle, sheep and goats to countries around the Mediterranean.
Besides Romania, France is one of the leading European exporters with more than 150,000 head of cattle sent each year to third countries.
Paris exports its cattle in particular to Algeria, but also to Morocco and Tunisia.
Also to listen: Exports of live animals, a growing trade in the hot seat
Between 2017 and 2018, these exports increased by 51% to Algeria and 9% to Morocco.
A policy encouraged by the Ministry of Agriculture, which wrote, in December 2019, in response to a question from LREM deputy Michelle Crouzet:
“French exports of live cattle to Maghreb countries represent a major commercial issue for the French beef industry.
"
The European Regulation (EC) n ° 1/2005 on the protection of live animals during transport sets out a series of protection measures.
The regulations prohibit the transport of seriously injured or sick animals, pregnant females ready to give birth or having just given birth.
In particular, it regulates the watering and feeding conditions during transport, the conformity of vehicles, temperatures, loading densities, etc.
But in practice, the controls are few and practically nil once the animals have left the European area.
However, since 2015, EU standards for transporting animals must apply throughout the journey, including outside the EU.
“When they leave Europe, they leave the radars.
We have no means, no tracing.
We are not in a position to enforce our own regulation, ”
reports Adeline Colonat, from the NGO Welfarm.
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