Once again, hundreds of European animals threaten to be slaughtered after a failed transport by sea. The nearly 800 young bulls from southern France were not allowed in the port of Algiers earlier this month, and the livestock transport ship Nader-A is now returning to the French port city of Sète.
The Algerian authorities said that the health documents of the imported animals were not in order, and they feared that some bulls had the dreaded animal disease IBR (infectious bovine rhinotracheitis). Therefore, they were sent back.
Algeria states that a document was missing proving that the young bulls are not carriers of contagious bovine rhinotracheitis, a highly contagious disease. France says the papers were in order and claims that all animals were healthy at departure on September 3rd.
“In the absence of certification, the transport of young bulls should never have been approved by the French authorities at the port of Sète,” says the French animal organization Welfarm.
A similar situation occurred last year with the failed export of hundreds of Spanish cows to Libya and Turkey. Those animals were also — after weeks of wandering on the Mediterranean Sea — slaughtered upon return on the quay of their port of departure.
The transport ship Nader-A has been in service for 45 years. According to the French animal organization Welfarm, the transport was risky from the start: an inspection of the ship on March 3, 2022, in the port of Sète reportedly revealed about twenty security deficiencies.
The Nader-A also sails under the Togolese flag; Togo ranks 67th out of 68 countries on the blacklist of an international 1982 agreement aimed at improving maritime safety through ship inspections.
On Thursday, after three weeks, the Nader-A appeared again off the French coast, the French Ministry of Agriculture indicated, adding that “a veterinary visit and analyses were underway.”
France is the largest beef producer in Europe and exports 1.5 million live cattle annually. Within the European Union, there is discussion about limiting or banning livestock transport longer than eight hours, as well as sea transport. France says it does not intend to ban sea transport but does state that new EU animal welfare laws, coming next year, could lead to restrictions.