The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) has confirmed plans to impose fines on four Irish companies that transport calves to the Netherlands.

The authority has claimed the young calves are not being adequately fed while being transported to the Netherlands.

Over 200,000 calves have been exported from Ireland to date this year, with the Netherlands being the largest market destination for these animals on a per head basis.

These calves are transported by sea from Ireland to France before being transported by road to the Netherlands where they are mostly used for veal production.

Calves

The NVWA said it is of the view that "calves that are still dependent on milk feeding must always receive the care and nutrition they require throughout the entire journey".

"This is currently not the case. During the long sea voyage from Ireland to the control post in France, and subsequently by road to the Netherlands, these very young and vulnerable animals are not fed," it said.

The authority said that trucks are "not equipped with suitable feeding systems to provide warm milk, and each individual calf must be assisted in drinking".

"The latter is practically impossible. The NVWA strives for animal transport in which all parties are committed to transporting animals in a humane and animal-friendly manner," it said.

The agency added: "Based on this conviction, we are imposing administrative orders subject to penalty on four Irish transport operators for failing to feed calves".

"In doing so, the NVWA is following the advice of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which states that the interval between two milk feedings should not exceed 12 hours."

Transport

The NVWA said the "violation posing the greatest risk of suffering to the calves occurs at sea, between Ireland and France".

The agency noted that "this makes enforcement using the authority to act available to the NVWA within Dutch territory challenging".

"With this intervention, the NVWA is pushing the boundaries of its legal enforcement options to the fullest extent possible.

"We are now taking enforcement action with respect to the entire transport operation from Ireland to the Netherlands," the agency said.

The NVWA an investigation it carried out "established that calves require milk feeding not only during the sea crossing but also during transport from the control post in France to the Netherlands".

"By imposing these administrative orders subject to penalty, the NVWA is sending a clear signal.

"To comply with the duty of care for calves that are dependent on milk feeding, these transport operations must be organised differently," it added.

Irish transport companies

Agriland understands that the four Irish companies, which are not named, have been given a year to adjust their transport arrangements.

Following this period, a penalty payment of €3,000 per transport violation will be applied.

This fine can increase up to €27,000 for subsequent violations.

The NVWA is the administrative orders "are consistent with the most ambitious objective of the Dutch veal sector: to end the import of Irish calves by 2028".

"We are calling not only on these four Irish transport operators, but on the entire sector, to take measures so that compliance with European rules is achieved as quickly as possible. We challenge them to begin this process immediately," the authority said.