Following the October 2022 announcement, German federal and Länder veterinary authorities no longer issued German veterinary export certificates for cattle, sheep, and goats destined for fattening and slaughter in non-EU third countries, with the withdrawal of breeding animal certificates taking effect from 1 July 2023. Eurogroup for Animals characterised the measure as significantly restricting the ability of exporters to ship such animals directly from Germany to non-EU countries, because these exports depend on the official certificates being available. The BMEL and Eurogroup for Animals both note that exports may continue via other EU member states, as EU law allows animals to move between member states before being exported to third countries. NGO commentary from Deutscher Tierschutzbund treats the measure as insufficient absent a comprehensive national export ban, noting that the federal government “shies away” from a full prohibition. In February 2025, BMEL presented to the European Commission an outline for a new national regulation conditioning exports of certain live animals to non-EU countries on bilateral or multilateral agreements with third countries on specified standards; this proposal remains at the announced stage and is a distinct Development pending confirmation of its status.

Anticipated Effects

If applied as written and not circumvented through alternative certification routes via other EU member states, the withdrawal of German veterinary certificates would be expected to reduce direct exports of live cattle, sheep, and goats for breeding, fattening, and slaughter from Germany to non-EU countries, since these shipments require official certificates under EU and bilateral rules.

If exporters reroute animals through other EU member states where certificates remain available — as acknowledged by BMEL itself — the measure would be expected to shift some trade flows geographically rather than eliminating them, with uncertain net effects on total animals in third-country export channels.

If combined with the later German proposal conditioning exports to third countries on bilateral welfare-standard agreements, the 2022–2023 certificate withdrawal could form part of a broader approach in which live exports are only resumed under specific conditions; this would conditionally tighten control over which destinations can receive livestock from Germany.

Significance Rationale

Assigned Reduces Exploitation (impact direction) because the withdrawal of German veterinary certificates removes the legal-administrative basis for direct exports of cattle, sheep, and goats from Germany to non-EU third countries for breeding, fattening, and slaughter. The measure directly restricts the procedural precondition for these export flows. The redirection question is material and documented: BMEL itself acknowledges that exporters may reroute animals through other EU member states where veterinary certificates remain available, which would redirect rather than eliminate some trade. Whether the measure produces a net reduction in animals exported from Germany and the EU to third countries is not established in available sources.

Assigned Alters Legal Basis (impact type) because the primary mechanism is an administrative change to what is procedurally authorised: by withdrawing German veterinary certificates, BMEL alters the administrative basis under which exporters can ship cattle, sheep, and goats directly from Germany to non-EU countries for these purposes.

Assigned Moderate significance because the measure affects direct exports from Germany specifically, not EU-wide export flows. The acknowledged possibility of rerouting via other EU member states limits the system-level effect. Within Germany’s direct export channels, the impact on the availability of the certification required for these shipments is material, but the overall effect on the number of animals entering third-country export flows depends on whether rerouting occurs and at what scale.

The duration and persistence of the scale change in German live exports of cattle, sheep, and goats to non-EU countries is not established in available sources; no post-2023 quantitative series for these export flows by species have been identified in sources consulted.