Outgoing Minister Femke Wiersma (Agriculture, BBB) apologized to the House of Representatives on Tuesday evening for not properly informing the House about the ban on electroshock equipment in livestock transports. Instead of July 1, as the House wanted, the ban will only be introduced on January 1, 2026.
“That information should have been sent to the House in a letter. That is a mistake,” Wiersma said to a critical House of Representatives. “There was no intention behind it.” The minister denied in the debate that the legislative process has been deliberately trained, because she – unlike a majority in the House of Representatives – is against a ban on cattle prods.
Last week it became clear that the House of Representatives was no longer satisfied with the ever-shifting implementation date. As early as June 2024, then Agriculture Minister Piet Adema (Christian Union) proposed a ban. But implementation failed to materialize. Previously, images of the abuse of pigs with the electroshock equipment had led to criticism from Parliament.
In the debate, Wiersma guaranteed for the first time that the ban will take effect from the new year, even though she wrote in a letter last week that the aim was to introduce it on January 1. According to the minister, this formulation is a consequence of the outgoing status of the cabinet. “Decisions must be made in the Council of Ministers. That will happen at very short notice, I see no reason why it should not happen before January 1,” she said in the debate on Tuesday evening.
GL-Pvda, D66, VVD and SP remained very critical of the minister’s actions, because according to them the introduction could have been arranged as early as July. For the Party for the Animals, “the unnecessary delay by Wiersma” was reason to submit a motion of censure.
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