Britain’s Parliament has passed the Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill, which bans the live export of farm animals for fattening and slaughter from the country. The legislation, introduced in December, fulfils a five-decade long-standing commitment to enhance animal welfare standards and leverages the regulatory freedoms gained after Britain pulled out of the European Union in 2020.
The bill specifically prohibits the export of cattle, sheep, pigs, and goats, among other livestock, for these purposes. While live exports for breeding, competition, and other purposes are still allowed under strict welfare conditions, the focus of the ban is to prevent the prolonged stress and potential harm that animals face during long journeys.
When the bill was introduced, Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said, “We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world. This bill makes use of post-Brexit freedoms to strengthen these standards by preventing the export of live animals for slaughter and fattening, which we know causes animals unnecessary stress and injury.”
The ban was widely supported by animal welfare organizations such as the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Compassion in World Farming, which have campaigned against live exports for decades. These groups have highlighted the significant welfare issues associated with transporting animals long distances, including physical injury and mental stress.
Welcoming the move, Kerry Postlewhite, assistant director of campaigns and prevention at the RSPCA, said, “After fifty years of campaigning to end live exports, it is so important, and welcome, that the U.K. government is acting to ban the live export of animals—outlawing the long, crowded journeys, mental exhaustion, physical injury, dehydration and stress that are a reality for farm animals on these unnecessary journeys.”
Philip Lymbery, global chief executive officer of Compassion in World Farming, said: “We have campaigned relentlessly for over 50 years to make this cruel and outdated practice illegal, so we are delighted the government is taking action to end this trade, finally consigning it to the history books.”
Farmers and agricultural stakeholders are adjusting to the new regulations, which aim to ensure that animals are slaughtered domestically under high welfare standards, thereby boosting the value of British meat and supporting the local economy. The legislation ends the long-standing trade in sheep and lambs for fattening and slaughter, and calves to continental veal farms. It will also apply to goats, pigs, wild boar and horses.
With over 87% of voters in the U.K. supporting a ban on live animal export, the country now joins a global movement seeking to end live export cruelty. Recently, Brazil banned the export of live cows from all the country’s ports. New Zealand has banned the export of live cows, sheep, deer, and goats by sea for slaughter, fattening, and breeding. Gradually, the world continues its shift toward a more compassionate future for animals, said Animal Equality, an U.S.-based nonprofit organization established in 2006 to campaign for an end to animal cruelty.
