Shechita UK makes Steady Progress in Brussels

Shechita UK campaign director Shimon Cohen and colleagues held a further series of meetings in Brussels this week.

During a friendly and constructive meeting with Struan Stevenson, Conservative MEP for Scotland, Mr Stevenson informed Mr Cohen that the amendments he had tabled last week would be withdrawn from the European Parliament’s Regulation on Food Information, currently being debated by MEPs.

The amendments would have required the labelling of meat products as being from animals slaughtered according to the Jewish (shechita) method.

Shechita UK is continuing to campaign against a further amendment to the food information regulation, tabled by Dutch MEP, Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, which would still require the labelling of meat products from animals which were not stunned prior to slaughter, and therefore single out religious slaughter methods for discriminatory treatment.

The ENVI committee (Committee on the Environment, Public Health, and Food Safety) will now vote on these amendments on Tuesday 19th April.

Shimon Cohen of Shechita UK commented, “We are pleased with the progress that we are making. It is crucial that we continue with our intensive lobbying campaign to ensure that the ENVI committee members reject the remaining amendment which singles out religious slaughter for labelling”.