Attached draft of amending Order specifying the internal height requirements for piglets under 40 kg inconnection with transport.

Draft Order amending the Order on the protection of animals during transport.

Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport andrelated operations.

Attached draft of amending Order specifying the internal height requirements for pigs under 40 kg. A newprovision is inserted (Section 9a). The provision introduces minimum internal floor height requirements. Thismeans that a new table is added to Annex 1 to the Transport Order, which currently only lays down internalheight requirements for pigs over 40 kg.
Internal height requirements for pigs over 40 kg, which currently appear in Annex 1 to the Transport Order,have previously been validated by both the European Court of Justice (Case C-491/06 and Case C-316/10)and the Danish Supreme Court. Both the European Court of Justice and the Supreme Court have ruled thatnational numerical standards may be set for internal height. At the same time, the Court of Justice of theEuropean Union mentions that legal certainty is enhanced and the predictability is increased by settingminimum internal height standards.
The extension of the height requirements for pigs under 40 kg in Table 1 of the Order is based on newresearch results regarding minimum values for internal height requirements and the development of a newheight/weight preparation model published by Aarhus University in July 2022.
The legal basis for the establishment of internal height requirements follows from Council Regulation (EC) No1/2005 of 22 December 2004 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, Article 3(g)and Annex 1, Chapter II, point 1.2, respectively on appropriate heights for animals and ensuring freemovement and adequate ventilation during transport.
The draft Order is expected to enter into force on 1 April 2024 and will apply after the end of a 10-yeartransitional period, i.e. 1 April 2034.