Electronic Signature Licitness for Animal Science in European Union

How to eSign a document: electronic signature licitness for Animal science in European Union

hello ladies and gentlemen my name is Martina kuga I am a law and economics graduate from the Paris Rod University of salsburg and I specialize in animal law from the autonomous University of Barcelona I am currently working as a jurist researcher and jurist in the field of animal law amongst others um today I would like to give you an overview on the state-of-the-art of the EU legislation on animals and Animal Welfare but first of all let me tell you that it is a great pleasure for me to address this audience of key actors and experts in the field of Animal Welfare so thank you this is the agenda for the talk but I suggest we Deep dive right into it I would like to start with one key Concept in order to understand the functioning of the European Union and its legislation in practice um the enforcement of Animal Welfare legis ation Falls within the principle of subsidiarity this means that member states are responsible for the day-to-day enforcement through their National legislation and control activities and for the transposition of directives into National legislation and finally for the implementation of EU rules at National level on the other hand the European commission is responsible for providing appropriate information and when necessary training on EU legislative requirements it is also responsible for ensuring that EU legislation is properly implemented and enforced by the member states and finally it is responsible for taking action against member states that have failed to implement legal requirements the EU areas of competence regarding animals are the following so farm animals and experimentation animals wild animals are covered only partially and we will see why later on in the presentation whilst on the other hand compenent animals are not subject to the Animal Welfare legislation of the European Union before covering the existing legislation I want to mention the key principle of animal welfare in the European Union in 2009 the Lisbon treaty came into force and it amended the treaty on the functioning of the European Union finally introducing an important new principle which is the recognition that animals are sent beings uh as a matter of fact Article 13 states that um member states shall pay for regard to the welfare of animals since they are scient beings When developing and implementing their policies let's move to our first topic to the first area which is the one regarding farm animals uh we must say that with the support and cooperation of the member states the European commission has been promoting Animal Welfare actually for over 40 years gradually improving the lives of farm animals the first step uh was actually taken in 1974 with the ver EU legislation on the protection of animals and slaughter houses from then onwards harmonized EU rules have been covering a wide range of animal categories and species as well as welfare welfare affecting issues um such as the directive on the protection of all farm animals of laying hands of chickens for meat production of Cs of Pigs and the regulations on the protection of animals during transport and related operations and of animals at the time of killing we will now go a bit into detail in all of these regulations and directives um as much as the time allows us of course um so an important step in 1998 was the previously mentioned um Council directive on the protection of animals kept for farming purposes which gave general rules for the protection of rrate animals of all species kept for the production of food wool skin or fur and for other farming P purposes including fish reptiles and aians these rules reflect the so-called five freedoms which are as listed the freedom from hunger and thirst from discomfort from pain injury and disease to express normal behavior and from fear and distress moving on um laying ends and boilers are covered by different directives the first one um which is the one regarding laying hands brought a major novelty as it made for the first time a distinction between three types of rearing systems for laying hands the first one is a system of the non-enriched cages which have been prohibited since the 1st of January 2012 and there is a system with the enriched cages and alternative systems um the directive also states that all egg Productions units must be registered with the competent authorities in member states and have a distinguishing number which can be used to trace eggs back to the farm of origin and production method here is a small overview um and consider that this is the only eu-wide system of compulsory labeling on Animal Welfare such a classification does not exist for any other type of animal product yet um then uh there is um a council directive which regulates the protection of boilers and aims to reduce the overcrowding of chickens by setting a maximum stocking density and ensure better Animal Welfare by specifying requirements such as lighting litter feeding and ventilation this was actually the first time that welfare indicators were included in Animal Welfare legislation as a means of scientific assessment we will now move on to Cs and a small parenthesis on cattle um this directive prohibits the use of confined individual pens after the age of eight weeks for calves and set out and sets out the minimum dimensions for individual pens and for calves kept in groups CVS are not to be tethered except under very specific circumstances uh stated in the directive and must be fed ing to their physiological needs in particular their food must contain sufficient iron and a minimum daily ration uh and fiber food must be provided please note that there is no specific you legislation concerning cattle but the general rules of the directive on the protection of animals C for farming purposes apply um as to pigs um their welfare is assured by this directive that lays down the minimum standards for improving the quality of flooring surfaces for increasing the living space available for introducing higher levels of training and competence and Welfare issues for personnel handling pigs um for setting requirements for light and maximum noise levels it also provides permanent uh access to fresh water and materials for rooting playing and fulfilling the behavior needs of pigs as they are very social animals and finally for setting a minimum wearing age of four weeks we must also underline that in particular from the 1 of January 2013 pregnant cells must be kept in groups instead of individual stalls during part of their pregnancy as it lowers their level of stress during this period we will now move over to the um regulation on transport um we must absolutely mention some data around 4 million cattle 28 million pigs 4 million sheep 143 million poultry and 150,000 ources are transported for more than eight hours within the EU every year uh it is therefore essential that this is done with the outmost care and attention and with solid legislation um therefore the objective of the regulation is to define the responsibilities of all parties involved in the transportation change Chain by setting the requirements for the transport of live vertebrate animals within the union including the specific checks to be carried out out by officials on Consignments entering or leaving the Customs territory of the Union authorities must also Carry Out non-discriminatory Inspections of animals means of transport and accompanying documents to verify that the requirements of the regulation have been complied with with this regard annual reports must be submitted the commission accompanied by an analysis of the major defences in general we can say that this regulation offers more efficient monitoring tools and stricter rules on Journeys exceeding 8 hours on the duration and resting periods on authorization of all Transporters and certificate of competence for drivers on the fitness for transport of animals means of transport and transport practices such as loading and unloading and handling of animals we will now move to slaughter the actually the EU legislation to protect animals at the time of killing already existed but was outdated in many aspects um now the new regulation brought several major changes in order to minimize the pain and suffering of animals through the use of properly approved stunning methods these Provisions apply to farm animals and not to animals killed under other circumstances like hunting bull fighting stray dogs and cats in shelters or animals in the wild and so forth um the slaughter and killing outside slauter houses is restricted to a very limited number of circumstances such as Disease Control fur animals and Hatchery waste furthermore slaughter houses must be built and equipped in respect of these rules as for example meat uh intended for human consumption must originate from approved slaughter houses and stuff employed for slaughtering must possess the necessary Professional Knowledge as a general rule um animals must be stuned before Slaughter or killed immediately but uh member States retain the right to authorize religious Slaughter without prunning in their own territory one last Point worth mentioning is that the regulation also requires slaughter houses in Third countries exporting meat to the European Union to comply with similar standards to those in the regulation we will now move on to experimental animals this area is regulated by this directive on animals use for scientific purposes the aim of the directive is to strengthen legislation and improve the welfare of animals using laboratory tests as well as to firmly anchor the principle of three Rs replacement reduction refinement replacement of live animals to Alternative non-animal systems the reduction to the fewest number of animals possible and the refinement of new procedures that limit the potential of discomfort for the animals um please note that animal testing for finished cosmetic products was banned in 2004 and for cosmetic ingredients in March 2009 uh and then finally since March 2013 no cosmetic test uh tested on animals can be marketed in the EU regarding wild animals as we said previously uh they are partially covered by you legislations only uh by the following Provisions first of all the so-called Zoo directive on the keeping of wild animals in zoos Safari Parks aquarium Botanical Gardens and orangeries um additionally to the provisions in the directive uh all permanent exhibitions of animals and plants have to comply with Wildlife trade regulations as well as with nature conservation Animal Welfare animal transport Veterinary feto sanitary and Customs law um we also have the so-called Birds directive on the conservation of wild birds and the habitats directive on the conservation of habitats and wild FAA and Flora last but not least we come to companion animals uh here the only rules regarding pets which this category comprises dogs cats and carrots only um are the ones of the regulation on the non-commercial movement of pet animals applied to the cross border movement of pets into member states this regulation does not apply to the movement of such animals within one member State and here the regulation limits the number of pets that may be moved for non-commercial purposes to five um just one side aspect of pet animals is the ban on Cat and dopper that was introduced with a regulation so here I conclude I want to thank you for your attention I I hope this uh overview on the EU legislation was helpful for you and your work as veterinarians in the field of Animal Welfare thank you