Problems of exports by road
to non-EU countries

The last official control of the animals takes place at the external border of the EU. Afterwards, the animals often remain on the trucks for several days. There is no reliable feedback about the well-being of the animals in the part of the journey taking place outside of Europe.
The main reasons against day-long transports of live animals to non-EU countries are:

• The poor implementation of (EC) No 1/2005: insufficient access to food and water; risk of injury; not enough space inside the transport vehicles; etc.
• The situation of the animals cannot be influenced or monitored within the third country: e.g. waiting times of the trucks at the borders, lack of unloading and supply options.
• There is a lack of animal welfare legislation and enforcement in non-EU countries.  

What we are doing

Since 2010, our team has investigated how exporters, transport companies and Third Country officials are ignoring the EU regulation (EC) No 1/2005. Our team has spent 156 days in the past ten years investigating and documenting the suffering of the animals at the Bulgarian - Turkish border alone. Between 2011 and 2020 we inspected  750 trucks and found that 82% of the consignments inspected were in breach of regulation 1/2005.
We have submitted several complaints against the EU and 13 member states about the blatant violations of EU law. Our cases are supported by the international law firm Conte & Giacomini Avvocati, which specialises in EU law.
We present the results of our investigation work to decision-makers in ministries, authorities and politics and demand them to act. Successes of our work include that

• several member states are now banning live exports during the hot summer months
• our reports are being included in the investigation report of the EU Agriculture Committee, which calls for an improvement of regulation (EC) No 1/2005 and more stringent monitoring of the animals. In February 2019, the European Parliament approved the investigation report and therefore gave the EU Commission a clear mandate to act  
• in December 2023, the European Commission published a draft of the new transport Regulation
• in September 2024, the President of the European Commission announced a new Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare for the first time in history.

However, the proposed measures are insufficient as they have not integrated the 3R principle: Reducing, Refining and Replacing the transport of live animals. Moreover, the proposal does not fully integrate EFSA´s scientific recommendations, there are long transitional periods. It still permits long journeys for animals within the EU and to third countries.
We reject the export of live animals to third countries and demand a limitation of the transport duration for live transports.

Together with our umbrella organisation, the Eurogroup for Animals, we will continue to pressure politicians in order to achieve improvements for the animals.