Our commitment

Research and innovation

Following on from the recognition awarded in 2019 by the Bureau Véritas Group in accordance with the ISO34700 standard on animal welfare management, SEPAB is involved in an innovative project to promote animal welfare during sea transport.

As part of the revision of Regulation (EC) No 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport, the EXPORTWELL project led by SARL SEPAB was born in March 2021. This project aims to develop and implement specifications in order to have a better management of animal welfare during sea crossings. INRAE Clermont Ferrand supports this work for the scientific aspects and the Occitanie Region for the financial aspect.

Transparency and standardisation of animal welfare during sea transport

The first purpose of this project is to create a reference tool, a real guarantee of the rules for the protection of animals from the farm to unloading in the country of arrival. The animal welfare management methodology revolves around the writing of management recommendations and the design of control elements to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures put in place to maximize animal protection.

A second aim of this project is to establish uniform procedures during transport between the European Union and third countries. A risk management strategy in terms of animal welfare based on self-assessment grids, emergency protocols and reports after each crossing is built with the captains and made available to them. Operating procedures are standardized using a decision tree to make the right decision at the right time.

Key results

They concern the mechanisms and strategies of adaptation of the animal to transport as well as the levers of action of man during the sea voyage: identification of physical, physiological and behavioral determinants, study of ship facilities and equipment and crew procedures. These results are at the origin of methodological advances to reason at the scale of a crossing the management of animal welfare.

The first results obtained relate to a sample of 258 pregnant dairy heifers out of the 279 provided for in the initial protocol.

At the level of operators in the sector, this study makes it possible to design a digital tool including relevant services for each of the actors involved in the export process and thus making it possible to meet the challenges of development and transformation of the export scheme in a context of management and optimization of animal welfare.

Exportwell

In direct connection with this ambition to optimize practices and the contribution of transparency, the EXPORTWELL approach provides a global vision of the welfare of animals during their sea crossing thanks to a scoring of the latter via the five fundamental freedoms of animal welfare. Five priority operational areas have been defined: digital technology at the service of the competent authorities (travel reports), digital technology at the service of resources (modulation of litter and feed), digital technology at the service of humans (management of on-board procedures), digital at the service of livestock management (connected animals), digital at the service of decision-making (OAD, connected dashboard).

People are at the heart of the EXPORTWELL approach and the decision support tool will allow sailors and officers to make the right decision at the right time to ensure an optimization of procedures on board. REACTIS Group is the company that supports SEPAB in its EXPORTWELL project.

Stockman at sea

One welfare, under this name, a concept: a single well-being at the service of man, animals and the environment, all interconnected. A matter of general interest that has resonated during sea transport and especially among conveyors. Since September 2022, SEPAB has formed a group of women and men who go to sea for a few days collaborating hand in hand with the crew and whose key word of their missions is ” animal welfare“:

• Ensure that the physiological needs of the animals are met throughout the crossing (feeding plan, advice and routine supervision of sailors, etc…).
• Monitor good environmental conditions for animals (temperature, humidity, air velocity, ammonia concentration).
• Ensure the comfort of animals (litter, advice and supervision mulching operation, densities, access to the trough and drinker, etc…).
• Ensure traceability of crossing information (travel report, animal welfare self-assessment diagnosis, etc…).

Local support and european relay

This project to design a shared digital tool for animal management during sea transport received financial support from the Occitanie Region.

SEPAB’s EXPORTWELL approach was presented to the European Parliament and Commission on 30 March 2023.