The Flemish Parliament has told the EU that it plans to ban the sale and production of kangaroo meat and leather, with violations punishable by hefty fines and prison sentences of up to five years.<\/p>\n
Belgium is the world\u2019s second-largest importer of kangaroo products, particularly through Flanders, according to the parliamentary proposal banning\u00a0manufacturing and sales. In 2017, Belgium imported 632,000 kilograms of kangaroo meat \u2013 or 27% of Australia\u2019s total exports that year, the proposal reads.<\/p>\n
Under EU law, member states must notify<\/a> the European Commission of measures that restrict the sale of certain products, as these can affect the functioning of the single market.<\/p>\n The Flemish decree<\/a> notes that Belgium\u2019s main supermarket chains \u2013 including Delhaize, Colruyt, Aldi, Lidl, and Carrefour \u2013 have already removed kangaroo meat from their shelves. However, the meat is still used in pet food and sold in some restaurants and speciality butchers.<\/p>\n \u201cFlanders contributes disproportionately to animal suffering in Australia,\u201d the text states.<\/p>\n Representatives from an Australian animal welfare group and members of the Aboriginal community visited the Flemish Parliament in October 2024 to call for a halt in the trade of such products.<\/p>\n If approved, and after the Commission gives its greenlight, the Flemish decree would enter into force in July 2026.<\/p>\n An ongoing debate<\/p>\n Critics have long raised concerns over methods used while hunting kangaroos, including nighttime shootings, the killing of females with joeys \u2013 which means baby kangaroos die alongside their mothers \u2013 and non-lethal shots that leave animals injured.<\/p>\n But kangaroo populations fluctuate sharply depending on climate conditions, and debate<\/a> continues in Australia over whether human intervention is needed to prevent overgrazing or starvation.<\/p>\n In 2024, Australian authorities set a quota<\/a> of 1.4 million kangaroos for commercial killing \u2013 but only 532,000 were actually shot, around 36% of the quota.<\/p>\n