Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reason birds have not been included in the list of animals to be prohibited from live export under section 42(7) of The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill.
We consulted earlier this year on the Government’s commitment to end long journeys of livestock and equines going for slaughter or fattening and the provisions in the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill implement the consultation proposals.
Poultry exports primarily consist of significant numbers of recently hatched chicks, exported for breeding purposes from the UK to EU and non-EU countries. Moreover, there were no exports of poultry for slaughter or fattening from Great Britain to the EU in 2020.