Notifications
The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe shall notify the Member States of the Council of Europe, the European Community and any State which has acceded or has been invited to accede to this Convention of:
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any signature;
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the deposit of any instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession;
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any date of entry into force of this Convention in accordance with Articles 37 and 38;
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any other act, notification or communication relating to this Convention.
In witness whereof the undersigned, being duly authorised thereto, have signed this Convention.
Done at …, this … day of …, in English and French, both texts being equally authentic, in a single copy which shall be deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. The Secretary-General of the Council of Europe shall transmit certified copies to each Member State of the Council of Europe, to the European Community and to any State invited to accede to this Convention.
EXPLANATORY REPORT
(as adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 11 June 2003)
The text of this Explanatory Report does not constitute an instrument providing an authoritative interpretation of the revised Convention, although it might be of such a nature as to facilitate the application of the provisions contained therein. This Convention will be open for signature in Chişinau, in November 2003, on the occasion of the 113th Session of the Committee of Ministers.
Introduction
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On 19 March 1996, at the first meeting of the Working Party for the preparation of their third Multilateral Consultation, the Parties to the European Convention for the protection of animals during international transport (ETS 65) recognised that the experience acquired and scientific results obtained since the opening for signature of the Convention permitted them to foresee bringing the provisions up to date and clarifying their wording in order to facilitate its implementation.
The 1968 Convention
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The Convention was elaborated by a Committee of experts set up by the Committee of Ministers in 1965, in reply to Recommendation 287 (1961) of the Consultative Assembly of the Council of Europe on the international transit of animals. In this Recommendation, the Consultative Assembly, «Considering that the humane treatment of animals is one of the hallmarks of Western civilisation, but that, even in Member States of the Council of Europe, the necessary standards are not always observed», recommended «that the Committee of Ministers should draft, and invite the Member States to sign and ratify, a Convention for the regulation of the international transit of animals based on a draft prepared by the World Federation for the Protection of Animals, it being understood that the Convention would be open to accession by other States with the least possible formality.»
The Convention was opened for signature on 13 December 1968 and entered into force on 20 February 1970.
The Convention was amended according to the provisions of the Additional Protocol (ETS 103) which entered into force on 7 November 1989, to provide for the signature by the European Economic Community.
Revision of the Convention
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The revision of the provisions of the 1968 Convention was carried out taking into account the Recommendations of the Committee of Ministers Nos R (87) 17 on the transport of horses, R (88) 15 on the transport of pigs, R (90) 1 on the transport of cattle, R (90) 5 on the transport of sheep and goats, and R (90) 6 on the transport of poultry.
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Observers from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the European Livestock and Meat Trading Union (UECBV), already consulted for the elaboration of the initial Convention, as well as the Animal Transportation Association (AATA), the European Confederation of Agriculture (CEA), the Economic Commission for Europe (United Nations), Eurogroup for Animal Welfare and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), participated in the revision of the Convention.
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The revised Convention builds on the lessons learnt from the last 30 years of experience and scientific results made available during this period. It contains provisions designed to overcome defects and to facilitate the implementation of the principles of the Convention.
The revised Convention was built as a framework convention laying down essential principles applying to all species. It provides for technical protocols which can be amended following a simplified procedure, facilitating thereby their updating in the light of scientific evidence and experience acquired.
The revised Convention provides for the denunciation of the original Convention. The Parties are thus not simultaneously bound by contradictory undertakings.
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After examination and approval by the Parties to the original Convention on 18 to 20 June 2002, the draft revised Convention was submitted to the Committee of Ministers, which in turn adopted it at its 843rd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies, on 11 June 2003.
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The revised Convention will be opened for signature by the Member States and the European Community in Chişinau, in November 2003.
General considerations
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A large proportion of the animals carried in international transport are destined for slaughter in the receiving country. For these animals, the Parties to Convention ETS 65 at a multilateral consultation (hereafter, the Parties) recognised that for animal welfare reasons, the ideal would be to restrict this traffic to carcase meat thus ensuring that the animals were slaughtered in the country of origin.
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For practical reasons, the Parties have endeavoured to detail the welfare requirements of the principal species only. However, they considered that humane treatment should extend to all species of animals.
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The Parties have not established detailed rules and procedures for all the species covered by the Convention, because of their widely differing welfare requirements.
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The Parties have established more detailed rules by type of transport rather than by species because the conditions which could affect the welfare of the animals transported are more dependent on the type of transport used.
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The Parties have considered only those questions relating directly to the welfare requirements of animals in international transport. They recognised that these provisions are also, in general, relevant for transport within the territory of a contracting Party.
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The Parties regarded consideration of civil responsibilities for fulfilling the provisions of the Convention as falling outside their mandate.
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The Parties emphasise that the provisions of the revised Convention shall not interfere with the sanitary and veterinary regulations of the Parties.
BRIEF COMMENTS ON CERTAIN PROVISIONS IN THE REVISED CONVENTION
Title
Because the word «protection» appears in the title, it is not thought to be necessary to emphasise that the animals concerned are live animals.
The term «international transport» is preferred to the word ‘transit’ which, in several languages, includes only transports passing through one or more intermediate countries and might therefore give rise to difficulties in translation.