European Commission indicates it has no plans to ban CO2 in abattoirs

The European Commission does not intend to ban or phase out the use of high-concentration carbon dioxide gas (CO2) for pig stunning at slaughterhouses in the EU, the commissioner for health and animal welfare has indicated.

According to a report by the Brussels Times, Olivér Várhelyi has set out the Commission’s position to animal welfare NGOs.

The NGOs had sent letters to him highlighting issues where they felt no progress had been made to revise the EU’s ‘outdated animal welfare legislation’, including stunning methods, following the PigStun research project. They called for the removal of high concentrations of CO2 from the list of permitted stunning methods for pigs.

The PigStun project, initiated and financed by the Commission, tested and compared different slaughter methods with the objective of encouraging EU pig slaughterhouses to adopt more animal-friendly methods using non-aversive stunning.

In his reply, seen by The Brussels Times, Mr Várhelyi highlighted the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) conclusions that exposure to CO2 at high concentrations is ‘highly aversive and causes pain, fear, and respiratory distress’, and that it should be replaced by exposure to other gas mixtures.

But he repeated the Commission’s previous comments that the regulation already permits the use of the non-aversive alternatives identified in the PigStun project.

“This means operators can already adopt them without requiring regulatory changes,” he wrote. “It should be considered that while these alternatives present a balance of welfare, economic, and practical considerations (eg, cost, ease of implementation), they also involve challenges for their commercial implementation (eg, lower throughput rates, installation of stunning equipment) that could affect their application.”

A Commission official told The Brussels Times that legislative follow-up ‘is not currently foreseen’. “As mentioned previously, alternatives evaluated by the PigStun project are already included in Annex I of the EU Regulation 1099/2009 and are authorised for use by operators at the EU level without requiring regulatory changes,” they added.

“The data provided by EFSA’s opinion on the risks associated with C02 stunning at high concentration, and the PIGSTUN project, are EU-level data and evidence. These can be used by certification schemes,” the Commission official said.

UK position

In its Animal Welfare Strategy, published in December, Defra stated its intention to ban the use of CO2 gas stunning of pigs, subject to a consultation. The strategy states that there is ‘a pressing need to address the welfare issues associated with high concentration CO2 gas stunning of pigs’.

A consultation was expected this year, but there are still no indications of any timings.

In March, AHDB published an economic analysis highlighting the significant extra costs and disruption that would be involved in converting pork plants from high-concentration CO2 stunning systems to alternatives.