Ritually slaughtered meat may not be the European organic label. That has the European Court of Justice today decides. Consumers that products with an organic label buying, according to the Court sure that the products according to the highest standards, also with regard to animal welfare, came to be.
A French animal rights organisation campaigning for years for the organic label to prohibit meat labeled ‘halal’. At the request of a French court was the European Court deciding on the interpretation of the European rules in this respect. The rules around animal welfare prohibit, in principle, anaesthetized slaughter. For ritual slaughter is an exception, as is the suffering of the animal is reduced to a minimum. the
The attorney-general at the Court of justice ruled in september that the conditions for the granting of a organic label, nothing about the slachtmethode that should be used. Since the rules around animal welfare is an exception for ritual slaughter, he considered that ‘halal’ or ‘kosher’ meat is not in conflict with an organic label.
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The Court will follow that advice. The judges argue that the European regulations around biolabels repeatedly emphasize that organic agriculture is characterised by the observance of “higher standards of animal welfare in all places and in all stages of this production that this well-being can further be improved, including at the time of slaughter”. Ritual slaughter may be the pain or the suffering of animals is not as efficient as it could soften if the slaughter with prior stunning, says the Court, and organic labels, should the consumer just ensure that the highest production standards, inter alia concerning animal welfare have been followed.