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The transitional period (until 2040) provided in the Animal Welfare Act, during which pigs could still be kept in unstructured, fully slatted pens, was considered too long (17 years) and objectively unjustified. With this decision, the Constitutional Court approved an application by the government of the federal state of Burgenland. The corresponding provision of the Animal Protection Act will therefore be repealed on June 1, 2025.
In 2022, the National Council decided in an amendment to the Animal Welfare Act that, starting in 2040, unstructured, fully slatted pens without a functional area (i.e. without a separate lying area) will be prohibited in all pig rearing facilities. To provide planning security for existing enterprises and to protect the investments made, a transition period until 2040 was established. The ban already applies to new systems as of January 1, 2023.
Following this decision of the Austrian Constitutional Court, the Minister for Animal Welfare and Consumer Protection, Johannes Rauch, is calling for the transition period for the application of the ban to end in 2030.
January 8, 2024/ vfgh/ Austria.
https://www.vfgh.gv.at/
