Case C‑497/17
Œuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs (OABA)
v
Ministre de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation and Others
(Request for a preliminary ruling from the Cour administrative d’appel de Versailles (Administrative Court of Appeal, Versailles))
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber), 26 February 2019
(Reference for a preliminary ruling — Article 13 TFEU — Animal welfare — Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 — Protection of animals at the time of killing — Particular methods of slaughter prescribed by religious rites — Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 — Articles 3 and 14 (1) (b) (viii) — Compatibility with organic production — Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 — First paragraph of Article 57 — Organic production logo of the European Union)
Agriculture — Common agricultural policy — Organic production and labelling of organic products — Regulation No 834/2007 — Objectives and principles of organic production — Observance of high animal welfare standards — Placing of the organic production logo of the European Union on products derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned — Not permissible
(Art. 13 TFEU; Council Regulations No 834/2007, Arts 3 and 14 (1) (b) (viii), and No 1099/2009, Art. 4(1) and (4); Commission Regulation No 889/2008, as amended by Regulation No 271/2010)
(see paragraphs 38, 41, 42, 47, 48, 50-52, operative part)
Résumé
The organic production logo of the European Union cannot be placed on meat derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned
In the judgment in Case C‑497/17, Œuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs, delivered on 26 February 2019, the Grand Chamber of the Court examined whether the organic production logo of the European Union provided for in Regulations No 834/2007 ( 1 ) and No 889/2008 ( 2 ) may be placed on products derived from animals which have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned. This issue arose in the context of the French authorities’ refusal of a request from the French association Œuvre d’assistance aux bêtes d’abattoirs seeking, inter alia, a ban on the advertising and marketing of beef products certified ‘halal’ and showing the indication ‘organic farming’. The association claimed that that indication could not be placed on meat from animals slaughtered without being stunned, as that slaughtering method does not comply with the ‘high animal welfare standards’ established in Articles 3 and 5 of Regulation No 834/2007.
In that context, the Court held that Regulation No 834/2007, in particular Article 3 and Article 14(1) (b) (viii) thereof, read in the light of Article 13 TFEU, must be interpreted as not authorising the placing of the organic production logo of the European Union on products derived from animals which have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned, where such slaughter is conducted in accordance with the requirements laid down by Regulation No 1099/2009, ( 3 ) in particular Article 4(4) thereof.
It follows from recitals 1 and 10 of Regulation No 834/2007 and from the provisions of that regulation referred to above that the organic method of production must be characterised by the observation of enhanced standards with regard to animal welfare, including at the time of slaughter. Moreover, in view of the objective of Regulation No 834/2007 to maintain and justify consumer confidence in products labelled as organic, it is important to ensure that consumers are reassured that products bearing the organic production logo of the European Union have actually been obtained in observance of the highest standards, in particular in the area of animal welfare.
Although no provision of Regulation No 834/2007 or Regulation No 889/2008 expressly defines the method or methods for the slaughtering of animals that would minimise animal suffering, Regulation No 834/2007 cannot be read without reference to Regulation No 1099/2009, which primarily pursues the objective of protecting animal welfare at the time of killing, in accordance with Article 13 TFEU.
In that regard, Article 4 (1) of Regulation No 1099/2009, read in conjunction with recital 20 of that regulation, lays down the principle that an animal should be stunned prior to its death and goes so far as to establish this as an obligation. While it is true that Article 4 (4) of Regulation No 1099/2009, read in the light of recital 18 thereof, permits the practice of ritual slaughter as part of which an animal may be killed without first being stunned, that form of slaughter, which is authorised only by way of derogation in the European Union and solely in order to ensure observance of the freedom of religion, is insufficient to remove all of the animal’s pain, distress and suffering as effectively as slaughter with pre-stunning. Those particular methods of slaughter prescribed by religious rites are not tantamount, in terms of ensuring a high level of animal welfare at the time of killing, to the method of slaughter which is, in principle, required by Article 4(1) of that regulation. Therefore, the placing of the organic production logo of the European Union on products derived from animals that have been slaughtered without being stunned is not authorised.
( 1 ) Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (OJ 2007 L 189, p. 1).
( 2 ) Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 (OJ 2008 L 250, p. 1), as amended by Regulation (EU) No 271/2010 of 24 March 2010 (OJ 2010 L 84, p. 19).
( 3 ) Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (OJ 2009 L 303, p. 1).