Transport of animals to slaughter -chickens, turkeys and hens

It may be appropriate to prioritise the monitoring of raw material from chickens, turkeys and hens where transportation, in accordance with the requirement, is not already regulated in national legislation. 

In Sweden, transport times are regulated in 

• Chapter 2(13) of the Animal Welfare Act (2018:1192)
• Chapter 5(13) of the Swedish Board of Agriculture’s regulations and general recommendations on the transportation of live animals (SJVFS 2019:7)

This requirement can be followed up by carrying out a spot check. This can be done, for example, by checking one of the following:

Certification

If the requirement has been verified by means of a certification, follow-up is possible by checking that there is a valid certificate for the product. This is checked on the website of the relevant labelling organisation, such as Svensk Fågel, Beter Leven, Sigill or Danmarks bedre dyrevelferd.

Transport document or audit report

If the requirement has been verified by means of a transport document, follow up on the number of hours the chickens or turkeys were transported to slaughter and whether the transport took place during the hours of darkness or light.

If the requirement has been verified by means of an audit report, follow up by ensuring that the report indicates the time of transport to slaughter, and whether the transport took place during the day or night.

In most cases, producers do not have their own slaughterhouses adjacent to the farm, and the animals are transported to slaughter by lorry. The animals may have to be transported long distances if there is no slaughterhouse nearby. Long transports can increase the strain on animals, which may ultimately lead to stress, injury, pain, illness or death for them. That is why it is important for animal welfare to be safeguarded and transport time to be kept as short as possible. Links between broiler mortality and time of day for transport have been observed in various reports¹. Mortality during transport to slaughter also leads to increased environmental impact as these carcasses have to be disposed of.

The EU has common provisions on animal transport in Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations. According to the Regulation, the time of eight hours is what distinguishes a regular transport from a long transport. A long transport exceeds eight hours but is subject to stricter rules. In addition, some Member States have additional rules for their own country. In Sweden, the primary rule is that animals for slaughter may be transported for no more than eight hours, including the loading time, which can be found in Swedish Board of Agriculture regulation SJVFS 2019:7, Chapter 5(13). In the case of poultry transported during the hours of darkness, the transport time to the nearest slaughterhouse may be extended by a maximum of four hours, provided that adequate ventilation and temperature control systems are available that can be adapted to the internal and external temperature. 

¹ Sällvik, et al. (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2007) and Nijdam (University of Utrecht 2006)

The version date indicates when the sustainability criterion was created or last updated. Last reviewed dated tells when we last checked that the sustainability criterion still is relevant.

2023-04-18, Krav ID 10417:2:updated requirement text to harmonize with Swedish legislation. Updated proposed evidence. The criterion also includs hens. 2018-10-01, Krav ID: 10417:1: Added: "Products of..", Loading and unloading. Complementary verification Beter Leven