The European Fee has rejected a name to ban kangaroo meat imports from Australia for causes together with meals security.
Three teams filed a petition for causes of public well being, animal welfare and species conservation.
Lega Anti Vivisezione (LAV), World Animal Safety and Eurogroup for Animals declare that top ranges of Salmonella and E. coli have been present in kangaroo meat for human consumption in Australia.
The strategies used to kill kangaroos create hygiene issues and meals security dangers, together with doable contamination of the meat with micro organism, as a result of the animals are slaughtered indoors and their carcasses are transported lengthy distances open air with out refrigeration, they added. .
The meat is bought in some European supermarkets or utilized in pet meals. Export information from Australia exhibits that Europe is the highest vacation spot for kangaroo meat, with Belgium accounting for 775 tonnes, or round a 3rd of the whole in 2019.
Australia and the European Union are within the strategy of negotiating a free commerce settlement that ought to be concluded this yr.
Causes for the EU place
The EU Fee stated there isn’t any proof that the necessities usually are not met, so it isn’t ready to ban imports of kangaroo meat merchandise. Europe doesn’t have harmonized import necessities on animal welfare for wild animals, which covers kangaroos.
A 2019 DG Sante audit of Australia’s crimson meat and sport export programs, together with kangaroo, confirmed the nation’s compliance with EU necessities.
Danger-based import controls by EU member states have discovered no proof that Australian kangaroo meat poses a risk to the well being of shoppers, the EU Fee stated.
Australian exporters are required to hold out microbial exams to exhibit compliance with Australian and EU rules, together with a ban on using lactic acid for decontamination.
The EU Fee stated it might proceed to observe the scenario and take applicable measures to make sure that solely kangaroo meat merchandise that meet meals security requirements are allowed to enter the EU market.
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