Thematic area: Economic Growth and Jobs. Sector: Trade and Sustainable Development
Animal Welfare during Maritime or River Transport of Live Animals
Partners: 
Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply / 
Directorate-General for Health and Consumers.
Year: 2016
Project Overview:
Since 2009, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento – MAPA) has been an institutional partner of the EU-Brazil Sector Dialogues Support Facility on sanitary and phytosanitary issues. In 2013, MAPA and the EC Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection signed an administrative memorandum of understanding on technical and scientific cooperation in the area of animal welfare.
Brazil is today one of the world’s leading exporters of animal protein. As such, it must be alert to the growing demand for ethical treatment of live animals during transport. However, the country lacks specific norms and professionals with the requisite expertise in the field. By contrast, the EU is a reference in the field, with a consolidated regulatory framework in place to govern the transport of production animals and extensive experience in enforcing the applicable laws.
The action provided Brazilian professionals with the opportunity to learn more about the European context in connection with the official animal welfare requirements and controls adopted on maritime vessels used to transport live animals, with a view to developing technical and scientific information to support the guidelines and laws introduced by the Brazilian government in the cattle export sector.
To execute the proposal, the following measures were adopted: a Brazil-Europe mission was conducted; a national expert was contracted to prepare educational materials on good practices of animal welfare; a foreign consultant was contacted to draft a study on the European context in this field, identifying relevant course programmes on the issue; and a public event was organised in Brasilia to disseminate the results obtained and release a guide aimed at the public and private sectors.
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