On Thursday (13th December), following the resumption of live animal exports from Ramsgate Port in Kent, MPs held a debate on the deeply controversial live export trade in the House of Commons.

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Although exports from Ramsgate, the only UK port to service the live export trade, were briefly suspended following an incident in which 40 sheep died in September, the trade has been allowed to continue from the port.

Industry organisations including the NFU have provided lobbying support for the live export trade; in September, Thanet council announced that no further shipments would leave from Ramsgate, acknowledging the port is inappropriately equipped for live animal transit. However, although the council had said the trade would resume only when suitable facilities had been built, adding that this was not one of its spending priorities, live exports recommenced under industry pressure just weeks later.

During Thursday's debate, MPs called for a maximum journey time to be set at eight hours and said inspection and enforcement costs associated with the trade should be borne by the industry, rather than the taxpayer. Whilst industry lobbyists had said the cessation of the trade violated European law, MPs debating the matter said ports should be free to make their own decisions.

There were also calls to adopt resolutions passed last week in the European Parliament, which set out a maximum eight hour journey time, stricter inspections and higher, "more dissuasive" penalties for infractions of welfare legislation.

The resolutions passed by a majority of 555 votes to 56. Conservative MEP and rapporteur Janusz Wojciechowski commented, "Mahatma Gandhi said that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals. We should do everything in our power to reduce their suffering. Our call for measures to cut transport times for animals, including a concrete step towards setting an eight-hour limit for transport of animals for slaughter proves that we do care for their wellbeing."

However, some MPs in Westminster said the focus of future efforts should be on improving animal welfare, and argued that setting a maximum journey time would not guarantee this.

Agriculture Minister David Heath repeated an announcement made earlier in the week, stating that Animal Health inspectors will assess all animals on loading, rather than at the port.

The RSPCA, which sends inspectors to monitor the trade from Ramsgate port, welcomed the outcome of the debate and said it intended to pursue a judicial review of the trade in the High Court, after Thanet Council abandoned its own review. RSPCA chief executive Gavin Grant said "We welcome the call for a full review into live exports and are pleased that MPs across all parties recognise the suffering being caused and are determined to do something about it."

However, he added that the farming minister's comments offer little succour; Grant continued, "We challenge the Minister's confidence that supervised loading of animals is acceptable – our inspectors who are at the port for every sailing see that this is no substitute for proper inspections of the animals at the port."