cow on truck cage for send to slaughterhouse Copyright (c) 2016 Jakgapong Pengjank/Shutterstock. No use without permission.

cow on truck cage for send to slaughterhouse Copyright (c) 2016 Jakgapong Pengjank/Shutterstock. No use without permission.

Luxembourg is considering introducing a national livestock passport, to improve the quality of life of animals sent to slaughter and increase traceability.

The move comes after a public petition calling for cattle from the grand duchy to only be slaughtered in EU-certified abattoirs garnered 4,982 signatures.

On debated the points raised by the petitioner, notably that in particular male calves from dairy production are exported outside of the EU, subject to long journeys and not always slaughtered in accordance with Luxembourg and European standards.

The petitioner advocated an industry approach whereby the calves could be raised and slaughtered in Luxembourg and their meat exported. They also called for the introduction of a livestock passport that would prohibit the export and slaughter of an animal in a non-EU certified abattoir.

Agricultural minister Romain Schneider (LSAP) said he will investigate and feed back to the two committees in the autumn.