Livestock Slaughterhouses in Palestine, 2017

The State Audit and Administrative Control Bureau (SAACB) wrote a report on the performance of the entities concerned with organizing and managing the work of livestock slaughterhouses, which stated the following:

The average annual household expenditure of the Palestinian family in the northern governorates in 2017 on meat and poultry exceeded 5,000 shekels per year.!

The number of slaughters in 2017 in the northern governorates (West Bank) amounted to approximately 516,795 heads of sheep (goats and ewes), and 194,960 heads of cattle; only 20% of these were slaughtered in slaughterhouses..!!

The SAACB carried out a performance audit task to verify the effectiveness of slaughterhouse management procedures by local bodies, and the effectiveness of the measures taken by the entities concerned to curb slaughtering outside slaughterhouses, and to ensure that procedures were carried out in accordance with technical and health standards and conditions according to standards and principles, so as to ensure no harm to citizen health.!

Through the audit conducted by the Bureau of the entities concerned, namely: (Ministry of Local Government and local bodies, municipal livestock slaughterhouses, Ministry of Health, Ministry of National Economy, Ministry of Agriculture, the Public Safety Committee in the governorates) the Bureau reached the following results:

1- The absence of procedures by the entities concerned to provide slaughterhouses in the northern governorates: here it falls upon the Palestinian government to take the necessary measures to preserve citizen health; it also falls upon the Ministry of Local Government to prepare plans, draw up necessary policies, and put in place the procedures and legislation necessary to follow up the construction of slaughterhouses for local bodies with populations over 10,000. The number of local bodies to which this applies is 55, which are responsible for establishing a municipal slaughterhouse, yet only 9 municipalities complied with establishing municipal slaughterhouses according to proper procedure.!

2- Weakness of the legal framework regulating the work of slaughterhouses and oversight of meat, and the existence of shortcomings in the legal framework organizing this due to diffusion of responsibility among the entities concerned and failure to clarify the role of each entity in a manner that prevents conflicts in the work of the entities concerned.!

3- Weak effectiveness of the supervisory procedures and inspection tours carried out by the staff of the competent bodies that supervise slaughterhouses directly or indirectly! This is due to lack of coordination among these bodies and absence of clear plans and policies regarding oversight of slaughterhouses.

4- Low compliance rate with providing health and environmental requirements in slaughterhouses. The Bureau found shortcomings by municipalities in providing health and environmental requirements in slaughterhouses in line with health and environmental conditions. The compliance rates in providing health and environmental requirements in some municipal slaughterhouses were as follows: Qalqilya Municipal Slaughterhouse: compliance rate in providing health and environmental requirements in slaughterhouses 17%; Nablus Municipal Slaughterhouse 24%; Salfit Municipal Slaughterhouse compliance rate 13%; Tulkarm Municipal Slaughterhouse 19%!!

5- Weak effectiveness of supervisory procedures over butcher shops by the competent authorities, due to lack of coordination among bodies and absence of plans and policies regarding oversight of butcher shops by the competent authorities.

The procedures and mechanisms applied by the entities concerned with oversight of slaughterhouses and meat do not convince the Bureau that those entities are working effectively to ensure preservation of citizen health and protection from health risks. For example, a weakness was noted in the capacity of local bodies to manage slaughterhouse resources and use them effectively, which confirms that those animals are not being examined before and after slaughter and that some may be sick or injected with substances preventing their slaughter...or other issues among the risks resulting from slaughtering animals outside slaughterhouses..!

Weak procedures, organizing policies, and planning for oversight of meat outlets, and absence of oversight of inspectors and the reports issued by them, and the impact of that on the efficiency and effectiveness of inspections, which resulted in absence of deterrent measures against slaughtering outside slaughterhouses.!!

Responses to the Bureau's observations were provided by the Ministry of National Economy, which contacted Consumer Protection Associations to comply with the Bureau’s observations; the Ministry of Local Government also responded, taking the Bureau’s observations seriously and promising to clearly direct local bodies. The Ministries of Health and Agriculture did not respond within the legal period available for receiving responses. Of the municipalities, Qalqilya Municipality and Nablus Municipality replied within the legal period, and some observations were amended and others affirmed, while the municipalities of Tulkarm and Salfit did not reply within the legal period..

We strongly hope that all entities concerned will correct all this weakness, negligence, and lack of attention to citizens' health, and confirm implementation of the corrective measures... The observation that only 20% of slaughtering occurs inside slaughterhouses is shocking, and indicates lack of responsibility among some centers of responsibility that are involved... It was also noted that some centers of responsibility and some municipalities did not respond to or pay attention to the Bureau’s report and observations, which must be stopped by holding them accountable for obvious negligence and dereliction; the citizen's health is the one harmed and exposed to serious risks because of this shortcoming and negligence...!

·       On 16-11-2020