Q: Notis Marias (ECR, HL) – Dog meat imports to the EU from China (2015-04-08)

According to numerous reports, especially in Italy and Greece, Chinese businesses are pushing to import dog meat and products made from dog meat for European supermarkets. These reports have triggered a wave of protects from representatives of civil society, especially in Italy.

This effort to put a Chinese slant on the European diet follows on from efforts to reduce European wages to Chinese levels.

In view of the above, will the Commission say:

1. Are businesses really pushing for dog meat and products made from dog meat to be imported from China and then sold in supermarkets in the EU Member States?

2. How does it intend to address this issue?

A: Mr Andriukaitis on behalf of the Commission (2015-06-05)

The Commission is not aware of Chinese businesses pushing for imports of dog meat and products made from dog meat destined to European supermarkets and no requests have been received from Chinese or Member State authorities to lay down EU import conditions for such products.

The EU legislation does not provide specific import conditions for dog meat and relevant products from any third country, including China, as in the EU dogs are considered as pet animals and not as food producing animals. Therefore, the Commission does not intend to take any initiative on this matter.

According to the EU import statistics, there are no records of imports of dog meat and relevant products from China (from 2012 onwards).