Citizens’ panel calls for Denmark to end all live-animal exports

A citizens’ panel wants Denmark to stop exporting live animals within five years, including the millions of live pigs sent abroad each year.

Denmark exported 17 million live pigs last year, just under half of the country’s total production. The panel says animals should no longer be transported abroad for slaughter. Instead, slaughtering and processing should take place in Denmark, with exports sent as finished products.

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We believe we must put an end to the export of live animals.

“We believe we must put an end to the export of live animals,” the panel said in one of its recommendations. It added: “If we are to export, it should be as a finished product.”

The 36 citizens were appointed by parliament to develop proposals for improving animal welfare. They will submit a report containing eight broad recommendations during a public hearing at Christiansborg on Tuesday. The hearing is chaired by Lars Aagaard, head of the Environment and Food Committee.

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If we are to export, it should be as a finished product.

Aagaard thanked the participants for engaging in the debate but expressed doubts about an outright ban. “I think that across the recommendations, some of them are rather wild and ultimate in their wording. That is because no economic calculations have been made for any of them,” he said.

He said the idea of reducing piglet exports and carrying out more slaughtering in Denmark pointed in the right direction. But he added that he became concerned when proposals took an absolute form without an economic assessment. The panel was established under the 2024 parliamentary agreement “Together for the Animals,” backed by nine parties.

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I think that across the recommendations, some of them are rather wild and ultimate in their wording. That is because no economic calculations have been made for any of them.