The animal welfare training on transport for border control officers within Civil Society Dialogue V – Jolly Livestock in Turkey and EU Project was carried out in cooperation with Balıkesir, Mersin and Edirne Directorates of Provincial Agriculture and Forestry on 24th of September 2020 in online!
Union of Dairy, Beef, Food Industrialists and Producers of Turkey conducts “Jolly Livestock in Turkey and EU Project” that has started on 1st of April 2019 in partnership with Valencia Regional Food Business Federation (FEDACOVA) under Civil Society Dialogue Programme V.
The aim of the project is to increase animal welfare through practices commonly known by farmers, animal breeders, animal transport drivers, resting places and border control staff. The specific aim of the project is to develop tools to strengthen the capacity of the target group in animal welfare and to raise awareness to make animal welfare as a standard practice in line with regulations.
Within the scope of the project, in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, animal welfare training on transport was carried out online on September 24, 2020 for border control officers in Balıkesir, Mersin and Edirne provinces where live animals imported to our country come by road and maritime transport. The number of border control officers targeted to receive training in the project was exceeded, and the Provincial Directorates showed great interest to training.
The opening speech of the online training was done by Deputy General Secretary of SETBİR Elif Yücel. Yücel stated the importance of animal welfare, then, a presentation was made by the project coordinator SETBİR, which includes the objectives, aims and target groups of the project, the activities to be performed and the results to be achieved.
“Guideline for Animal Welfare in Farms” and “Guideline for Animal Welfare on Transport” which were prepared in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Department of Animal Health and Quarantine, explaining the topics and applications of animal welfare in transport more clearly detailed information was shared with the control officers.
As regards the animal welfare on transport, Animal Behaviour Specialist and Assoc. Prof. Yasemin Salgırlı Demirbaş from Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine who had prepared “Jolly Livestock Project Present Situation Analysis of Animal Welfare in Turkey and EU Best Practices” report within the project, made a presentation in the training.
In the presentation, firstly, the five freedom concepts form the basis of animal welfare, the planning of animal transport, the points to be considered during transportation and loading, the things to be done regarding the animal welfare at the transport stage and finally, how to ensure animal welfare in the evacuation of animals were discussed.
All the information about the project, the meeting notes, the presentations that were made in the trainings and the guidelines can be reached on the web site www.hayvanrefahiprojesi.org and mobile application of the project called “Mutlu Hayvancılık Projesi”.
At the end of the project, it is expected to strengthen the capacity for regulations concerning animal welfare in Turkey and Spain, to develop application standards with user-friendly vehicles and to increase awareness of the support for animal welfare and best practises in EU and Turkey.
About the programme
Civil Society Dialogue has emerged as an important step which strengthens social and cultural dialogue by making away with the biases and doubts between Turkey and EU and by ensuring the social integration of Turkey to Europe.
Civil Society Dialogue Programme which is implemented with EU’s financial support, was designed in 2006 by Directorate for EU Affairs (during those dates General Secretariat for EU Affairs) as a platform that will bring Turkey and EU member states from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) together around a common topic and will enable communities to get to know each other, exchange information and establish lasting dialogue. The first implementation of the program, which has been running for more than 10 years, started in 2008.
Fifth Term of Civil Society Dialogue Programme
Within the scope of Civil Society Dialogue V (CSD-V) which is implemented in the second period of IPA that involves the years of 2014 – 2020, 7 million Euro support was supplied to 40 dialogue projects that NGO’s from Turkey and from EU member/EU candidate countries will implement together. The projects that receive grants focus on dialogue development and cooperation themes and work on social issues for disadvantaged groups such as the disabled, the elderly and the refugees. The projects are implemented in areas such as gender equality, education, health, agriculture, food and environment.
