Francisco Guerreiro calls for measures to fight illegal wildlife trade

Lisbon, 11 June 2020 – MEP Francisco Guerreiro (PAN) signed a letter to the European Commission (EC) calling for measures to fight illegal wildlife trade as a way to prevent future pandemics. 

Following the online conference on “Covid-19 pandemic: zoonotic diseases that originate from wildlife trade and consumption or from intensive livestock farming”, with the participation of several outstanding academic experts, the Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals of the European Parliament wrote a letter to the EC with some of the meeting’s main conclusions.

The signatories remind in that letter that “COVID-19 is not the first disease transmitted to people from animals, and it surely will not be the last” and that the solution must include introducing stronger measures to fight illegal wildlife trade, by pushing for a global ban on so-called wet markets and bush meat imports, and by protecting natural habitats.

They also alert that protecting public health also requires a different approach to animal farming, because there is no denying that industrial animal agriculture in general is a powerful incubator of diseases.  

“Several bacteria hosted by farmed animals, such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli, are amongst the main causes of foodborne zoonotic illness in humans, with almost 350,000 confirmed cases in the EU in 2018 attributable to these three pathogens alone”, they write. 

The MEPs conclude that the Covid-19 crisis is the latest reminder that humans need to undergo an entire change of attitude and that establishing the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2030 and the Farm to Fork Strategy offer a unique opportunity to set a brand-new course. 

Read the full letter below.

Share this post