Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, in a written answer on 17 July 2026, defended the continued entry of Chinese meat products into the EU despite a February 2026 audit finding systematic animal welfare violations, arguing that China has submitted a corrective action plan and that a follow-up audit is scheduled for the second half of 2026. The answer, responding to a question from ECR MEP Jessika van Leeuwen, confirms that the Commission accepted China's plan as satisfactory and will not suspend imports unless the plan fails or proves inadequate. This leaves EU producers exposed to competition from imports that may not meet EU animal welfare standards, while consumers have no guarantee that imported products comply with EU requirements.
The question was prompted by audit CT-2025-0037, published on 12 February 2026, which found that no Chinese slaughterhouse using electronic stunning had the mandatory monitoring equipment required since 2019, that a water bath designed for two animals was used for ten, and that no procedure existed to reject non-compliant batches. The audit concluded that shortcomings were systematic and that the certification system did not support EU import declarations. Van Leeuwen asked on what basis products continued to enter the EU after that finding, what objective criteria trigger import suspension, and why the missing equipment went unnoticed for six years.
Várhelyi's answer contains no numerical targets or deadlines for corrective action beyond the scheduled follow-up audit. It reiterates the general principle that the Commission may suspend imports if the competent authority fails to provide an adequate action plan, but does not specify what threshold of non-compliance would trigger such a measure. The Commissioner noted that a previous audit in 2017 had not identified significant animal welfare shortcomings, and pointed to a 50% increase in third-country audits already reflected in the 2026 audit programme. The answer provides no explanation for why the monitoring equipment deficiency went undetected for six years, nor does it commit to suspending imports before the follow-up audit verifies implementation.
The Commission prioritises continued trade and reliance on corrective action plans over immediate import suspensions, even in the face of systematic non-compliance. Institutional follow-up: The on-site audit in the second half of 2026 will determine whether China's corrective measures are effective; if not, the Commission may consider suspending imports, but no timeline for that decision is given.