MP launches report on Religious Slaughter
Neil Parish, Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Beef & Lamb has published a report into Meat Slaughtered in Accordance with Religious Rites.
The report follows an extensive inquiry in which evidence from a wide range of stakeholders from industry experts, Shechita UK, the Halal Food Authority, veterinary professionals as well as the Farming Minister George Eustice and the European Commission.
The report identifies several areas where greater research is needed; such as on the measurement of pain in animals at the time of slaughter and in demonstrating the recoverability of certain stunning methods to reassure religious communities that they are compatible with their religious requirements.
European law currently requires that all animals are stunned prior to slaughter. There is, however, a derogation that permits member states to practise non-stunning in the cases of slaughter in observance with religious beliefs. In addition, the European Commission is currently conducting research into the desirability of labelling for consumers and what the consequences of labelling might be, the results of which are expected by the end of the year.
Although not a primary focus, labelling does feature in the report’s recommendations as an associated issue and the APPG did seek evidence on this point. Nevertheless, the report focuses on methods used in producing halal and kosher meat from an animal welfare perspective.
The findings from this inquiry will help MPs, industry, government officials and NGOs take a more balanced and evidence-based approach to policy making when the time comes to take-up the recommendations that follow the European Commission’s research.
Commenting on the report, Neil Parish MP said: “When the Group decided to conduct an inquiry into the welfare of animals slaughtered in accordance with Religious Rites I knew we were entering into an area of public discourse that has been highly polarised, often poorly understood and discussions in the media have often produced more heat than light. I hope our offering provides more of the latter.
“There are no easy solutions to what is legally, scientifically and culturally a very complicated set of circumstances but given the legitimate concerns of the public, animal welfare organisations and religious communities it is a debate worth having in a calm and transparent way.”
The report makes nine recommendations:
1. Research to be reviewed and new research to be undertaken where necessary to determine the effect of stunning on the residual blood content left in meat in comparison to that produced from slaughter without stunning.
2. The demonstration of recoverability abattoirs as a means to reassure customers the animal is not killed by stunning and therefore is Halal compliant.
3. That the use of electro-immobilisation, a practice that is not currently permitted in the UK, be re-examined to determine scientifically if it is required in order to take into account the associated dangers to operator safety in relation to carcass kicking.
4. More research into the Shechita method of slaughter and the likelihood and duration of pain felt when the cut is made.
5. To help inform the debate on mis-stunning and mis-slaughtering the Group believes that statistics on the incidence of mis-slaughtering is made available.
6. That labelling should be carried out on a stun versus non-stun basis, and that an impact assessment on the burden to the industry should be undertaken in relation to mandatory labelling.
7. Greater research is needed into the measurement of pain in animals at the time of slaughter and in demonstrating the recoverability of certain stunning methods to reassure religious communities that they are compatible with their religion.
8. Labelling should help consumers make informed decisions when buying meat should be carried out on a stun versus non-stun basis, and that an impact assessment on the burden to the industry should be undertaken in relation to mandatory labelling.
9. That a consumer attitudes survey towards meat labelling to see if the public would like to see meat labelled in accordance with stunning or non-stunning, and additional information such as the type of stun that was used and if any religious requirements were needed to be met in producing the meat.
