BRUSSELS (WJC)–The European Jewish Congress (EJC) has expressed its concerns about the negative consequences of an amendment to the EU consumer food information bill which would require all meat products derived from animals slaughtered according to the Jewish tradition (shechita), to be labeled as “meat from slaughter without stunning”.
EJC officials met this week in Brussels with the German member of the European Parliament Renate Sommer, a Christian-Democrat, who initiated the amendment. The EJC expressed concerns about the “discriminatory consequences” of the amendment as it would only apply to food from religious slaughter. As a consequence, prices for kosher meat could rocket because the non-kosher market, which takes the 70 per cent of shechita-slaughtered meat, might be deterred by the labeling.
“The labeling is discriminatory because there is no such labeling for all those millions of animals killed by electrocution, shooting, gassing or clubbing as well as the many millions of animals that are mis-stunned during the stunning process,” EJC officials told Sommer.
According to the EJC, she recognized that inequality and that this amendment could provoke unintended discriminatory consequences. Sommer emphasized that it was not her intention to ferment discrimination and agreed to continue the constructive discussions with the EJC in order to find an acceptable resolution.
“The EJC, along with Shechita UK, is at the forefront of fighting against this amendment and will continue working with Dr. Sommer and lobbying as many Members of the European Parliament as possible against it ahead of the upcoming final vote”, the European Jewish Congress said in a statement.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress