Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of abattoirs in enforcing welfare standards during the production of halal meat.

The Government encourages the highest standards of animal welfare at slaughter and would prefer all animals to be stunned before slaughter, but we respect the rights of Jews and Muslims to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. A significant proportion of halal meat comes from animals that are stunned before slaughter.

Legislation sets out strict requirements to protect the welfare of animals when slaughtered and there are additional rules that apply when animals are slaughtered by either the Jewish or Muslim method to ensure that animals are spared avoidable pain, suffering, or distress during the slaughter process. Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are present in all approved slaughterhouses in England and Wales to monitor and enforce animal welfare requirements. The FSA has a zero-tolerance policy to animal welfare breaches and will take appropriate action where these occur.

In addition to the Official Veterinarian presence, the FSA conduct regular audits to ensure that the animal welfare controls in slaughterhouses are effective. The frequency of these audits are risk based and the results are communicated to Defra. The Department engages regularly with FSA officials on a range of animal welfare topics.