COV Code of Conduct stricter for good animal welfare

COV's Code of Conduct has been intensified with extra guarantees for animal welfare. At the annual public members' meeting, COV chairman Laurens Hoedemaker presented the stricter set of agreements to Hugo van Kasteel, Director of Animal Agro-chains and Animal Welfare at the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture (LNV).

COV members' compliance with laws and regulations on the welfare of slaughter animals is already very high, as evidenced by the periodic Compliance Monitor of the NVWA, which permanently monitors these and other business processes. The Netherlands is among the world leaders in ensuring that animals are treated correctly. In order to ensure that even that last few percent disappears from the statistics, and that incidents can still be prevented where possible, the Code has been further sharpened. 

The COV Code of Practice provides for annual training of slaughterhouse employees and reports. With intensive camera monitoring, which goes beyond EU guidelines, the number of incidents is kept to an absolute minimum. In addition, we are working hard to use Artificial Intelligence in the assessment of camera images. 

The Code

The Code prescribes that slaughterhouse employees who work with live animals should meet more often to exchange experiences. Employees who unload the animals receive annual training and are challenged to propose improvements themselves.

In addition, external specialists assess the assurance of animal welfare per farm and, if necessary, make recommendations for further improvement. These specialists meet COV standards and are registered by the COV. Finally, an annual report is drawn up on the operation, compliance and results of the Code, using defined KPIs.

www.cov.nl
Photo: Milanchikov Sergey/Shutterstock.com