South America

Abstract

This chapter gives an overview of the long-distance transport of animals for slaughter inSouth America, with special regard to inherent sociocultural, livestock production, climaticand geographic conditions, as well as trade, stakeholders, legal framework, research andtraining in the fi eld. Information for Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia,Paraguay, Perú, Uruguay and Venezuela is presented.Within South America cattle and sheep production are characterized mainly by grazing,usually in extensive systems; pig and poultry production are signifi cant intensive activities insome countries. In this region there are some of the world's most important beef productionand exportation countries (Brazil, Argentina); there are also some countries where, even witha small cattle population, meat exports are an important part of the economy (Uruguay) orhave access to high-meat-price markets because of good animal health conditions (Chile).Meat exportation provides a good opportunity to make improvements in quality assuranceschemes and good livestock practices that consider animal welfare as a component in theproduction chain on farm, during transport and at slaughter. Livestock producers as wellas veterinary services in each country are aware that international commercial agreementsnot only require them to fulfi l sanitary and animal health regulations but also other requirementsof consumers, among them ethical considerations for product positioning.The evidence presented here shows that exports of live animals occur mainly for breedingand only very occasionally for slaughter. The transport of live animals for slaughterwithin each country occurs mostly for relatively short distances (300-500 km), but it alsooccurs over long distances (1000-1500 km) or for long durations. There is a great variationin the conditions of the transport of farm animals within South American countries: if commonlytransport duration is between 1 and 12 h, it can occasionally reach up to 60 h. Thisis due mainly to a combination of bad roads, bad weather conditions and the existence ofseveral intermediate dealers. In some cases the animals transported are facing very bad conditions,causing strong risk of welfare deterioration and in others, the risk is minor and thewelfare of transported animals is not under strong pressure. Bad practices during loading,transport and unloading of animals are common, as well as overstocking the trucks. There isa large difference between countries from the southern part of the region (Brazil, Uruguay,Paraguay, Argentina, Chile), and those from the central and northern part of the region,the latter being less developed, with more sociocultural problems which tend to take priorityover animal welfare issues.Most South American countries are members of the World Organisation for AnimalHealth (OIE), and delegates exist in each country, who have already been given the responsibilityfor animal welfare issues and to bring national regulations into line with OIE recommendations.Increasing regional research and training of human resources at all levels of themeat chain is seen as an important tool to achieve this goal. © WSPA 2008.