Production animals and pets kept in the Netherlands

Decree of [date] amending the Veterinarians Decree and the Animal Keepers Decree with regard to various amendments in the field of animal welfare

In order to implement the Animals Act [Wet dieren], the Veterinarians Decree [Besluit diergeneeskundigen] and the Animal Keepers Decree [Besluit houders van dieren] are specified. The purpose of the Veterinarians Decree and the Animal Keepers Decree is to protect animal health and welfare. The aim of this decree is to amend the aforementioned ones. The amendment decree and the associated explanatory memorandum are attached.

It concerns amendments to procedures that may be performed on animals, the age at which young may be separated from their parents, the maximum slot width in slatted floors for porkers and the provision of light for rabbits. The amendment decree also provides for the obligation to stun all animals before they are slaughtered for the production of animal products, as well as standards for poultry housing on test farms. Moreover, the amendment decree provides for the regulation of the use of objects/equipment that may cause pain to animals by emitting impulses, electric shocks, electromagnetic signals or radiation.

Articles I and II, except Parts B, D, H, I, J and L, of the amendment decree may contain technical regulations:

• attaching stainless steel nose rings to male breeding pigs is banned (Article I, Part A);

• the scope of the permitted procedure involving the disbudding of kid goats is amended (Article I, Part B);

• freeze branding of cattle is banned (Article I, Part C);

• using equipment that may cause pain to animals by emitting electric shocks, electromagnetic signals or radiation, apart from certain exceptional cases, is banned (Article II, Part A);

• the age at which young may be separated from their parents is specified for certain monkey species and rabbits (Article II, Part C);

• housing rules are laid down for farms that test laying hens. These rules have no impact on the implementation of Council Directive 1999/74/EC (Laying Hens Directive). There is a two-year implementation period for the rules. They shall apply from 1 January 2034 (Article II, Part F);

• the regulations for maintaining a period of at least one hour between the light and dark periods in rabbit farming are supplemented with the requirement that a dusk period of at least one hour is also maintained between the prescribed dark and light periods (Article II, Part G);

• the maximum slot width in concrete slatted floors for breeding pigs is laid down as being 18 mm, on the basis of a revised explanatory statement of the European Commission, with regard to Article 3(2)(b) of Council Directive 2008/120/EC (Article II, Part E). This regulation provides for transitional arrangements in order to take into account the keepers of breeding pigs whose pens currently have concrete slatted floors with a slot width of 20 mm (Article II, Part K);

• the fish species Seriola spp. (yellowtail) is included in the list of animals that may be used to produce animal products (Article II, Part M).

No mutual recognition clause has been included because the regulations only apply to animals kept in the Netherlands.