Religious Slaughter Safeguarded by EU

by Erica Morris - Thursday 25th June 2009


A regulation protecting religious slaughter in the European Union was welcomed by British Jewry this week, following a ruling enshrining into EU law legislation that will protect shechita from those who may seek to ban it in the future.

The new law, which was approved last month and formally voted through on Monday, recognises the validity of slaughter through religious methods and enforces that kosher meat may be sold freely throughout EU member states.

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Shechita UK Chairman Henry Grunwald told the Jewish News the ruling "shows just what can be achieved with communal cooperation", adding: "The new EU regulation will ensure that our community and communities across Europe will continue to practise shechita. This regulation protects the fundamental rights of Europe's religious minorities."

The news came as several media outlets reported on findings from the Farm Animal Welfare Council claiming kosher and halal slaughter practices - which require the animal not be pre-stunned before killing- cause the beasts "significant pain and distress".

The report, published originally on 28 May, called on the British government to "launch a debate" with the Jewish and Muslim communities to end religious slaughter.

Shimon Cohen, spokesman for Shechita UK, insisited that the council's report will not affect kosher practices, instead pointing to the EU's encouraging ruling in protecting the rite: "The suggestion that the British government would ban shechita isn't justified; it just would not happen.

"The EU's ruling is a tremendous achievement for the Jewish community, and an enormous help for protecting kosher practices from those who might seek to obstruct it."

Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, added that he was "delighted" with the EU's ruling, saying: "This regulation protects the fundamental rights of Europe's religious minorities. The alliance of the European Jewish Congress, the Conference of European Rabbis and Shechita EU have been working closely together to achieve these positive outcomes."

Conference of European Rabbis Executive Director Aba Dunner also praised the move, commenting: "The regulation specifically makes provision for the killing of animals for food by religious communities to be exempted from the requirement for pre-stunning, and it contains no discriminatory labelling requirements for meat slaughtered using the shechita method nor for post-cut stunning to be enforced.

"Furthermore, no member state will be able to prevent meat slaughtered according to the Jewish religious method being traded in its territory."

The issue of religious slaughter has been debated for years, following a 2003 report by the FAWC calling on the UK to repeal the right of the Jewish community to practice the religious rite, claiming that slaughter without pre-stunning was inhumane. The government eventually acknowledged the method of slaughter was humane following scientific support from the shechita body in March 2005.

Now, the EU's ruling will act as a barrier from future attempts to ban the practice.

But Kantor cautioned that this might not mean the end of opposition against religious slaughter, saying: "We must remain vigilant to ensure that individual governments do not seek to impose new requirements on religious slaughter."

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