The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that the EU’s organic production logo cannot be used on food from animals that were slaughtered without being stunned.
The case came about following a request to the French government to ban the use of the label on such produce, a request that was initially refused by authorities in the country.
The body that took the case – which represents abattoirs in France – took a legal case, but was defeated in court.
Upon an appeal in a higher French court, the ECJ was asked to clarify if the organic production label could be used on produce from animals that were not stunned first.
In its decision, the ECJ said: “The organic production logo of the European Union cannot be placed on meat derived from animals that have been slaughtered in accordance with religious rites without first being stunned. Such a practice fails to observe the highest animal welfare standards.”
The court pointed out that EU legislation requires that producers observe a high level of animal welfare at all points of production, including at slaughter.
“Therefore, the court concludes that particular methods of slaughter prescribed by religious rites that are carried out without pre-stunning are not tantamount, in terms of serving a high level of animal welfare at the time of killing, to slaughter with pre-stunning,” argued the court.
It concluded its judgement by saying that the organic logo is designed to give consumers confidence that meat has been obtained by the highest production standards, including in terms of welfare.