Farm Animal Welfare Committee's opinion on the welfare of animals during transport: consultation

Part III – Proposals for consultation

The FAWC Opinion was commissioned by Defra in 2018 with the support of the Scottish and Welsh Governments. Animal welfare policy is generally devolved but ideally we would wish to have consistent legislation as far as possible to aid understanding and enforcement as there are many routine movements of animals for various purposes to and from all parts of GB. The current EU legislation on the welfare of animals during transport is Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005, which applies to all vertebrate animals that are transported in connection with an economic activity. The Scottish Government, although it wishes as a minimum to keep pace with future EU transport legislation, believes that there is an opportunity to strengthen the welfare of animals during transport regime to reflect the latest scientific and veterinary evidence.