EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing came into force yesterday (January 1st 2013) although the existing domestic legislation, the Welfare of Animals (Slaughter or Killing) (WASK) Regulations 1995, will remain in force in England alongside it until the new domestic legislation, the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) (WATOK) is brought into force later this year.
Although Regulation 1099/2009 applies automatically in all Member States including the UK from 1 January this year, there will be no immediate change to the existing legal framework in England.
According to the European Commission, the new regulation will facilitate a harmonised application in the EU and will provide a level playing field for the operators concerned.
Operators will be required to evaluate the efficiency of their stunning method through animal based indicators. As a consequence, stunned animals will have to be regularly monitored to ensure that they do not regain consciousness before slaughter.
Each slaughterhouse will have to appoint an Animal Welfare Officer who will be accountable for implementing the animal welfare measures. This will not replace the official inspection and there will be derogation for small slaughterhouses.
There are long-standing provisions in UK law, which, subject to specific requirements, permit the slaughter of animals without stunning to meet Jewish and Muslim religious requirements.
Whilst the Government says it would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, it recognises the requirements of the Jewish and Muslim communities and accepts the importance which they attach to the right to slaughter animals for food in accordance with their beliefs.
Religious slaughter must only be carried out in approved red meat slaughterhouses or, in the case of poultry, in approved or other officially regulated slaughterhouses. It is illegal to use a restraining pen that has not been approved for slaughter without prior stunning.