Requirements for Ventilation Systems by Dynamid

Requirements for Ventilation Systems on Vehicles used for Long Distance Transports of Live Animals

“Means of transport by road must be fitted with a temperature monitoring system as well as a with a means of recording such data. Sensors must be located in the parts of the lorry which, depending on its design characteristics, are most likely to experience the worst climatic conditions. Temperature recordings obtained in such manner shall be dated and made available to the competent authority upon request. Means of transport must be fitted with a warning system in order to alert the driver when the temperature in the compartments where the animals are located reaches the maximum or the minimum limit.” Concerning the approval of long distance transports Article 18 (1) (b) of the Regulation reads: “The competent authority or body designated by a Member State shall grant a certificate of approval for means of transport by road used for long distance journeys upon application, provided that the means of transport: have been inspected by a competent authority or body designated by a Member State and found to comply with the requirements of Chapters II and VI of Annex I applicable to the design, the construction and the maintenance of means of transport by road used for long journeys.”

III.

Definition of the problem Animal transport vehicles used and authorized by the Member State authorities are commonly equipped with fan ventilation. The vehicles are not entirely closed but there are openings on both long sides which permit natural airflow through the animals’ compartments. The purpose of the usually used fan ventilation is to produce an air exchange and to remove stagnant air, humidity, ammonia and carbon dioxide gases from the animals’ compartments. The air exchange (inside air replaced by outside air) has a positive effect for the animals. However, it cannot achieve cooler or hotter conditions but can only transmit the external temperature, e.g. when the outside temperature is 37°C, the temperature of the air entering the vehicle due to the fan ventilation is 37°C, the same as the outside temperature. Thus, the commonly used fan ventilation is never capable of delivering cooler or hotter air into 8 the animals’ compartments. Therefore, none of the commonly used and authorized means of transport used for long distance transport of “farm” animals destined for slaughter, fattening or breeding is fitted with a ventilation system as required by the Regulation, i.e. a ventilation system designed, constructed and maintained in such a way that, at any time during the journey, whether the means of transport is stationary or moving, they are capable of maintaining a range of temperature from 5°C to 30°C within the means of transport, for all animals, with a +/- 5°C tolerance, depending on the outside temperature. Even though they do not comply with essential legal requirements for long distance transports, all these vehicles are authorized by the Member State authorities and used for long journeys on a daily basis in summer and winter all across Europe even though in many regions in winter the temperatures regularly fall under 0°C an d in summer exceed 35°C. Accordingly, the vast majority of transporters throughout the EU do not comply with the Regulation and the competent authorities in the Member States disregard their legal obligations when granting certificates of approval for means of transport for long journeys.

A comparatively very small number of vehicles such as vans for “sport” horses are totally closed and equipped with air conditioning systems.