The Dutch government, through a proposal by the Party for the Animals and approved by the House of Representatives, will be pushing for a European import ban on shrimp that has been bred using eyestalk ablation techniques.

“The EU has already stopped importing fur from dogs, cats and seals, for example, due to the cruel treatment imposed on these animals. It is therefore only logical to abolish this animal-unfriendly product too,” said Party for Animals MP, Ines Kostić.

The Minister of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality will also be calling on Dutch supermarkets to stop selling these mistreated shrimp. Recently, the largest supermarket in the Netherlands, Albert Heijn, took shrimp produced with this technique off their shelves. The company recently joined a partnership for more sustainable shrimp production in Latin America and has also published a shrimp welfare policy that aims, from Q1 2025, to eliminate eyestalk ablation and transition to electrical stunning.

Other major retailers, including Marks & Spencer and John Lewis Partnership/Waitrose from the UK, have also committed to keeping their supply chain free from eyestalk ablation.

Various international seafood certification standards, such as GLOBALG.A.P., have also required eyestalk ablation to be banned.