Four Irish carriers transporting unweaned calves to the Netherlands are facing fines after Dutch authorities found that the animals are not being fed during the sea crossing, despite legal requirements to provide food throughout transport.
The Dutch Food and Safety Authority (NVWA) said the enforcement action follows concerns over the treatment of calves during journeys from Ireland to mainland Europe.
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The Netherlands is a major destination for Irish dairy calves, with about 200,000 animals exported each year.
Most are destined for veal production. Their journey typically begins with a sea crossing from Ireland to France, followed by transport by road to the Netherlands.
Irish transporters bringing calves into the Netherlands will initially receive a warning and be given 12 months to establish a more “humane and animal-friendly manner” of transporting the animals.
If they fail to make the necessary changes, they will face a €3,000 penalty for a first violation. That amount will rise to €9,000 for a third breach and €27,000 for a fourth offence.
The measures will apply to transporters of unweaned calves entering or leaving the Netherlands who have been issued with an order subject to a penalty payment.
Dutch officials told RTÉ News that their position is clear: “calves that are still dependent on milk feeding must always receive the care and nutrition they require throughout the entire journey”.
“This is currently not the case. During the long sea voyage from Ireland to the control post in France, and subsequently by road to the Netherlands, these very young and vulnerable animals are not fed.”
According to the NVWA, the trucks involved are “not equipped with suitable feeding systems to provide warm milk, and each individual calf must be assisted in drinking”.
“The latter is practically impossible. The NVWA strives for animal transport in which all parties are committed to transporting animals in a humane and animal-friendly manner.”
Animal welfare groups claim that calves can die en route to the Netherlands
The agency said that “based on this conviction, we are imposing administrative orders subject to penalty on four Irish transport operators for failing to feed calves”.
“In doing so, the NVWA is following the advice of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which states that the interval between two milk feedings should not exceed 12 hours.”
EFSA also advises that unweaned calves should not spend more than eight hours being transported by truck.
The NVWA said the breach that “poses the greatest risk of suffering to the calves occurs at sea, between Ireland and France”. It acknowledged that this makes enforcement difficult because the authority’s powers operate within Dutch territory.
Nevertheless, the agency said it was “pushing the boundaries of its legal enforcement options to the fullest extent possible”.
It said the action covers “the entire transport operation from Ireland to the Netherlands”.
Its investigation also found that calves “require milk feeding not only during the sea crossing but also during transport from the control post in France to the Netherlands”.
Dutch authorities said the penalties were intended to send a “clear signal”. To meet the duty of care owed to calves that depend on milk, they said, “transport operations must be organised differently”.
In a separate move aimed at improving animal welfare, the Netherlands’ veal industry has set a target of ending imports of Irish calves by 2028.
Campaign to stop calf transports
In March of last year, Brittany Ferries resumed carrying live animals on its Rosslare-to-Cherbourg route after a 30-year hiatus.
Animal welfare organisations strongly opposed the decision, warning that unweaned calves travelling from Ireland to France could spend more than 24 hours without food, in breach of EU law.
After a sustained campaign against the transport of live animals by ferry, including protests at ports, Brittany Ferries confirmed that it would stop carrying live farm animals from Ireland to France from this autumn.
In 2025, Stena Line ended live animal transport on its Rosslare-Cherbourg service, leaving Irish Ferries as the only company facilitating such journeys to the continent.
Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon has said his department is prepared to assess and approve vessels that could be used to transport livestock out of Ireland.
‘We have to stand up for these vulnerable animals’
Annebeth van Aartsen, a veterinarian with the NVWA, said: “We have to stand up for these vulnerable animals that need to be taken care of.
“We tried to discuss this at EU level but no actions have been taken.
“We want to send a signal to the European Commission and are hoping that giving transporters a year before imposing fines gives us time to start a conversation at EU level.”
Animal welfare groups have welcomed the Dutch authority’s decision.
Caroline Rowley, director of Ethical Farming Ireland, said: “It’s great to see an authority finally taking a stand to ensure legislation is respected. It’s just a shame this action isn’t coming from Ireland.
“Numerous studies have proven how much these young and vulnerable animals suffer due to extended feed deprivation during these long journeys so we very much welcome this move by the NVWA.
“The Dutch authorities care more about the welfare of Irish calves than our own Government does.”
Last year, Brittany Ferries resumed transporting live animals between Rosslare and Cherbourg
Lesley Moffat, an ethologist and director of Eyes on Animals, said that “legislation only protects animals if someone actually checks what happens along the way”.
“We recorded the journey times and documented that calves barely three weeks old were left without milk for more than 30 hours. That fieldwork forms the basis for the enforcement request that has now finally prompted the NVWA to take action.”
Another animal welfare organisation, Dier&Recht, said the intervention “strikes at the very foundation of these transports”.
Frederieke Schouten, a member of the group and a vet, said the calves “must be given warm milk individually during the journey, but this is not practically feasible in a fully loaded truck”.
“The calves are still far too young and need help drinking from a teat.
“We expect the Dutch veal sector, including VanDrie Group, to finally take both the welfare of these animals and the law seriously and to stop importing unweaned Irish calves.”
The Irish dairy farmers’ organisation ICMSA said it was “studying the announcement and its implications and will comment in due course”.
