Transporting livestock from the EU to third countries should not be turned into animal cruelty, but must comply with EU standards for the transport of live animals. Too often they die.

Transportation of live animals during heatwaves in countries outside the EU should be improved and more controlled. This was stated by EU Commissioner for Health Vitenis Andryukaitis on Friday in response to a request from the Portuguese European Parliament.

In it, the European Commission calls on member states to exercise effective control in order to comply with European standards and criteria for animal welfare.

The reason for this was a letter from Portuguese veterinarians to the EU Commission in which state inspectors expressed their concern about the inadequate control of animal transportation and the "predatory practices" of private inspectors, as well as incomplete monitoring methods.

In a letter to the Brussels authorities, responsible veterinarians complained about poor conditions and the transmission of infectious diseases from animals to humans. Also on Friday, the European Parliament made a proposal to allow the transport of animals from Romania during periods of extreme heat.

EU animal protection standards have been systematically ignored for approximately 70,000 sheep that are exported annually from Romania, particularly to the Persian Gulf and North Africa.

This summer, in clear heat, many animals die from dehydration and lack of nutrition on ships and in trucks. This was discovered by the control group of the Compassion for World Agriculture non-governmental organization.

Accordingly, the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport to these third countries will not be respected. The Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (Agri) of the European Parliament wants to consider this issue at its September meeting.