Legal requirements for ritual slaughter in Europe 2018

Praca własna. Notes:

• Most countries that restrict or ban ritual slaughter do allow the import of meat from unstunned ritually slaughtered animals.
• There are many Islamic and Jewish authorities and slaughterhouses that consider meat from stunned ritually slaughtered animals to be halal or kosher, and label and sell it as such.
• In Belgium, the ban on unstunned ritual slaughter took effect on 1 September 2019 in Wallonia, and on 1 January 2019 in Flanders. There is no ban planned for the Brussels Capital Region yet.
• The Finnish autonomous province of Åland requires pre-cut stunning, whereas the rest of Finland requires simultaneous cutting and stunning (stunning starts as soon as the first cut is made).
• In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, poultry that is ritually slaughtered does not have to be stunned.
• In the Netherlands, a veterinarian needs to be present, and the animal has to die within 40 seconds. Animals that don't die within 40 seconds still need to be stunned.
• In the United Kingdom, about 80% of halal meat comes from stunned animals, even though stunning is legally not required in ritual slaughter in the UK.
• Slovenia is the only country that has banned all ritual slaughter, and only allows meat production through conventional slaughter.

Main sources:

• Legal Restrictions on Religious Slaughter in Europe. Library of Congress (14 May 2018). Retrieved on 22 June 2018. (Map (inaccurate regarding Slovakia and Åland))
• Silvio Ferrari, Rossella Bottoni (2006–2010). Legislation on religious slaughter. Factsheet. DIALREL. Retrieved on 22 June 2018. (partially outdated)