{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-1993-119/introduction",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-1993-119/introduction.json",
  "legislation": "eudr/1993/119",
  "legislation_title": "Council Directive 93/119/EC of 22 December 1993 on the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/eu-directive-1993-119",
  "path": "introduction",
  "kind": "introduction",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Introductory text",
  "text": "Council Directive 93/119/EC\nof 22 December 1993\non the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing\nTHE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,\nHaving regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,\nHaving regard to the proposal from the Commission ,\nHaving regard to the opinion of the European Parliament ,\nHaving regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee ,\nWhereas Council Directive 74/577/EEC established rules on the stunning of animals before slaughter;\nWhereas the European Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter was approved on behalf of the Community by Council Decision 88/306/EEC ; whereas the scope of the Convention is wider than existing Community rules on the matter;\nWhereas national laws concerning the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing have an impact on the conditions of competition and accordingly on the operation of the common market in agricultural products;\nWhereas there is therefore a need to establish common minimum standards for the protection of animals at the time of slaughter or killing in order to ensure rational development of production and to facilitate the completion of the internal market in animals and animal products;\nWhereas at the time of slaughter or killing animals should be spared any avoidable pain or suffering;\nWhereas, however, it is necessary to allow for technical and scientific experiments to be carried out and to take account of the particular requirements of certain religious rites;\nWhereas the rules should also ensure satisfactory protection, at the time of slaughter or killing, for animals not covered by the Convention;\nWhereas in the declaration on the protection of animals annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty on European Union, the Conference calls upon the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, as well as the Member States, when drafting and implementing Community legislation on the common agricultural policy, to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals;\nWhereas in so doing Community action must comply with the requirements arising out of the principle of subsidiarity laid down in Article 3b of the Treaty;\nWhereas Directive 74/577/EEC should be repealed,\nHAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Deleted by Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing (Text with EEA relevance)."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudr/1993/119/introduction",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-11-01T15:23:16.514575+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}