The owner, possessor or holder of any other right over an animal must exercise his rights over it and his duties of care respecting its quality of sentient being, ensuring its welfare in accordance with the characteristics of each species and respecting the limitations established in this and other regulations in force.
Royal Decree 695/2022 of 23 August
Without prejudice to the direct application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009, this Royal Decree establishes, on a basic basis and without prejudice to the competence for its development by the Autonomous Communities, which are also responsible for exercising control and sanctioning powers, the requirements for the installation of video surveillance systems in slaughterhouses.
The purpose of these systems is to serve as a tool, both for operators and for the competent authorities, to guarantee compliance with animal welfare regulations. The basic nature of this Royal Decree is justified by the need to establish homogeneous general conditions throughout Spain, both from the point of view of animal health and welfare, and to avoid distortions affecting the internal market.
In view of these legal provisions, it is considered that within the «measures necessary to ensure» animal welfare in slaughterhouses (Article 4) and the rules on slaughterhouse facilities and equipment (Article 6), also aimed at avoiding the affectation of such welfare, the implementation of a video-surveillance system by means of which respect for animal welfare is to be guaranteed, within the possibilities of development of the aforementioned Law 32/2007, is considered to be possible.
Slaughterhouses, regardless of their size or whether they are fixed or mobile, must ensure that the animal welfare conditions laid down in the regulations are complied with. Thus, it is established that all establishments located in Spanish territory must have video surveillance systems.
Article 3. Animal Welfare Video Surveillance System.
1.Slaughterhouses must have an ABSS whose chambers cover the premises where live animals are kept, including unloading areas, channelling corridors, and areas where stunning and bleeding activities are carried out until the animals are dead.
2. However, the obligation to have chambers in the waiting areas where means of transport with live animals are located before unloading commences is waived.
3.The SVBA must have the specifications and devices to store, play back, copy or transmit to other devices such as removable storage media or television monitors, images of the same quality as the original recording.
4.The use of this system does not exempt the slaughterhouse operator from other animal welfare checks to be carried out by the slaughterhouse operator in accordance with the regulations in force.
5.The slaughterhouse operator must inform in writing, in advance and in an express, clear and concise manner, the workers and, where appropriate, their representatives, of the existence and the conditions to be met by the ABSS installed in the slaughterhouse, under the terms established in articles 22.4 and 89.1 of Organic Law 3/2018, of 5 December, on the Protection of Personal Data and guarantee of digital rights.
Likewise, all personnel who are carrying out or who may carry out authorised tasks in the recording areas shall be informed. In any case, workers' rights to privacy in relation to the digital environment shall be respected, in accordance with the provisions of Article 20 bis of the Revised Text of the Workers' Statute Law, approved by Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015, of 23 October.
6.The SVBA cameras shall be installed ensuring that their operation respects the privacy of the persons carrying out their professional activity in the slaughterhouses, so that they shall only be located in areas where live animals are present and respecting the privacy of workers and other authorised personnel. They shall not be installed in places intended for rest or recreation, such as changing rooms, toilets, canteens and the like, nor shall they record sound.
Article 4. Requirements for the installation and operation of a video surveillance system.
1.The slaughterhouse operator shall be responsible for compliance with the requirement to have an ABSS installed that:
a) Provide a complete and clear picture of the area covered and, in particular:
1. Cover all areas of the slaughterhouse where live animals are kept taking into account the provisions of Article 3.
2. Do not allow blind spots in such areas that prevent a complete image from being obtained.
3. Have cameras in areas that are difficult for personnel to access, including confined spaces, installations that make up the stunning system and at the point of entry to the scalding area for poultry and pigs and in the area where dressing begins for the rest of the species.
4. provide sufficiently sharp image resolution to identify people and their handling, equipment and animals.
5. Ensure a clear view in poorly lit areas, such as on poultry suspension lines on hooks.
(b) is in operation at all times on the premises where live animals are kept in the slaughterhouse; it must:
1. Also record the unloading of animals outside normal working hours.
2. Generate recordings as close as possible to real time (minimum fifteen images per second).
3. be able to generate images for checking in real time or after being recorded, without stopping the general operation of the system.
4. Record the date, time and location of the recordings made.
2.The slaughterhouse operator must ensure that the chambers are kept in a good state of repair and cleanliness:
(a) Have adequate written schedules for servicing, maintenance and cleaning.
(b) Without prejudice to paragraph 1(a), make the chambers, as accessible as possible to facilitate cleaning and maintenance, and protected, as far as practicable, from damage, splashing or fumes.
c) Have a plan of action in case of breakdowns that provides for their repair as soon as possible. If this repair is not feasible, the replacement of the faulty equipment shall be carried out within a maximum of ten days after the fault has occurred.
