EU animal transport regulation has been under review for a decade. Proposed reforms targeting journey time limits represent one of the most significant potential welfare improvements available to the European farm animal sector.
The gap between current EU transport practice and what welfare science recommends is vast and well-documented. Animals spending 48+ hours in transit are experiencing cumulative thermal stress, dehydration, exhaustion, and injury from falls and compressive crowding. The physiological stress response during long transport is measurable and severe. Reform has been possible but delayed by the same economic interests that have resisted welfare reform in other sectors. The welfare case is clear; the political will is the missing ingredient. Building that political will requires sustained public awareness, documented evidence of violations, and engagement with legislators and the food industry supply chains that depend on long-distance live animal trade.