Regulation EU 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires that killing and related operations shall only be carried out by persons with the appropriate level of competence to do so without causing animals avoidable pain, distress or suffering. It also places responsibility on business operators to ensure that specific aspects relating to the slaughter of animals (handling before restraint, restraint for the purposes of stunning, the stunning of animals, the assessment of the effectiveness of stunning, shackling or hoisting, bleeding and slaughtering without stunning where practiced) are only carried out by persons holding a certificate of competence.
Furthermore, business operators (with a throughput of 1,000 livestock units or 150,000 birds or rabbits) are required to appoint an animal welfare officer, who must also hold a certificate of competence, to assist the business operator in ensuring compliance with the the Regulation.
All applicants for certificates of competence must, in addition to passing the relevant tests, provide a written declaration that he/she has committed no serious infringement of Community law or national law on the protection of animals in the three years preceding the date of application.
As this provision is set out in EU Regulation, it is directly applicable in all Member States and it is not open to unilateral change.
