Polish parliament to debate bill on ending export of kosher, halal meat Proponents of the practice argued the ruling applied to the entire industry, while opponents said for-export slaughter without stunning was illegal.
By Katarzyna Markusz – JTA
Poland’s ruling party said Tuesday that it will introduce a bill to make kosher and halal meat permissible for Poles but not for export.
“This is an act that will be supported by all good people in Poland. I am convinced of it,” Jaroslaw Kaczynski, president of the Law and Justice, said at a Warsaw news conference announcing the measure, which deals with several issues of animal welfare.
The legal status of Poland’s kosher and halal meat industry — the country is a major exporter — became unclear in 2013 when the parliament banned the slaughter of animals without prior stunning. But the following year, the Constitutional Court ruled the ban unconstitutional. Its decision, however, said only that the ban on ritual slaughter “for the needs of religious minorities in Poland was unconstitutional.
