Let me assure you that the Government shares my own commitment to maintaining high standards of animal welfare at slaughter, and there are strict legal requirements in place. In slaughterhouses, these requirements are monitored and enforced by Official Veterinarians of the Food Standards Agency to ensure that animals are spared unnecessary suffering, distress or pain during the slaughter process.
CCTV, as with other monitoring methods, does have limitations and relies on businesses to monitor their operations appropriately. As part of the Government's ongoing consideration of this issue, the committee that advises it on farm animal welfare has reviewed the effectiveness of CCTV in verifying the welfare of animals in slaughterhouses.
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