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Romania Pushes For 1yr Delay On Animal Welfare Norms

Romanian authorities will try to convince European Commission to accept a on-year derogation, for 2008, from EU norms on the stunning of pigs before slaughter. Talks are currently unfolding in Brussels.
Romania Pushes For 1yr Delay On Animal Welfare Norms
17 dec. 2007, 20:13, English
The president of the Romanian National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority, or ANSVSA, Radu Roatis, told MEDIAFAX that the techniques and methods imposed by the European Union for animal slaughter cannot be observed in Romania, where there still many animals bred in individual households, and stunning would be difficult.
Despite its mandatory status since the beginning of 2007, stunning poses difficulties around holidays, when many animals are slaughtered in households.
ANSVSA announced that during the Christmas holidays, the stunning method convened is the use of captive bolt guns.
Stunning is not free for peasants, since they pay up to EUR3 for each pig. The tariff represents service supply by a veterinarian. In several counties there have been complaints regarding the insufficient number of captive bolt guns and a shortage of qualified and authorized personnel.